Bony fish · Scombriformes · Scombridae

Little Tunny

Euthynnus alletteratus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The little tunny is a small tuna with a blue back crossed by a pattern of broken dark lines and several black spots between the pectoral and pelvic fins. It swims in fast schools through the warm waters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, chasing small fish and squid.

Weight

up to 16.5 kg

Size

40 cm – 1.2 m

Lifespan

10 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanCarnivore Colonial Fish Ocean

64countries 36parks 80dive sites7same family

Fun facts

GeneralIt shoals in numbers that set the surface boiling as it hunts sardines.
Like the other tunas, it keeps its muscles above the temperature of the water thanks to a network of blood vessels that recovers heat, which lets it swim faster and for longer.
It cannot stop swimming: it has to keep water flowing over its gills in order to breathe.
It forms large schools mixed with other scombrids of similar size, and groups itself by size.
It is among the least commercially valued tunas because of its dark flesh, and a good share of its catch goes to cheap canning, to bait or to local consumption.
Like the other tunas, it is a regional endotherm: it keeps parts of its body above water temperature thanks to a countercurrent heat-exchange system.
It must swim continuously to breathe, because it ventilates its gills through its own forward motion.