- Frigate tuna
Taxobox
name = Frigate tuna
image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
status = LC
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Actinopterygii
ordo =Perciformes
familia =Scombridae
subfamilia =Scombrinae
genus = "Auxis "
subspecies = "A. thazard thazard"
trinomial = "Auxis thazard thazard"
trinomial_authority = (Lacepède, 1800)The frigate tuna or frigate mackerel, "Auxis thazard thazard", is a
subspecies oftuna , in the familyScombridae , found circumglobally intropical oceans in open surface waters to depths of 50 m (164 ft). Its length is between 30 and 65 cm (12 and 26 in).The frigate tuna is a comparatively small and slender tuna. It has a triangular first
dorsal fin , widely separated from the second dorsal fin, which, like the anal andpectoral fin s, is relatively small. There are the usual finlets of the tuna. There is a small corselet of small scales around the pectoral region of the body.Frigate tunas are blue-black on the back with a pattern of zig-zag dark markings on the upper hind body, and silver-white below. The fins are dark grey.
They feed on small fish,
squid ,planktonic crustacean s, andstomatopod larvae .References
*
* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand1982 ) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
* IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.. Downloaded on 28 September 2007.
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