Marine Life

Longtail tuna

Nigoo dhigu kanneli

Thunnus tonggol

The Thunnus tonggol is a neritic species commonly found around the coasts of India, but it is extremely rare in Maldivian waters; in fact, only one specimen has been positively recorded from the Maldives, which was caught by a team from the Marine Research Section while carrying out tuna tagging in the One-and-a-half Degree Channel in February 1994. Earlier records of it from the Maldives appear to be erroneous.

Details

§ 01

size: Max. 1.3 m
color: Back dark blue or black. Lower sides and belly silvery white with colourless elongate oval spots arranged in horizontal rows. Dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins blackish.
order: Perciformes
family: Scombridae
image url: https://assets.explore.mv/fishes/thunnus-tonggol.png
habitat and biology: This species inhabits the epipelagic and neritic zones, avoiding regions with low salinity and murky waters. It forms schools of different sizes and is an opportunistic feeder, consuming cephalopods, crustaceans, and fish.
distinctive characters: The species of tuna is medium-sized, with few gill rakers (19-27 on the first arch), a moderately long pectoral fin (with 30-35 rays), a ventral surface of the liver that is not striated, and a right lobe of the liver that is much longer than the other two. The swimbladder is either absent or rudimentary near the middle of the base of the first dorsal fin.