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How to Describe Yellow-Fin Tuna Fish

Relating a can of tuna in the pantry to a live, predatory fish can be difficult, but after you teach a tuna-eater about how the fish looked before it ended up in the can, he may appreciate the sandwich-filler a little bit more. A useful trick to remembering details of a fish is to set the scene of a yellowfin swimming around and indulging in typical tuna behavior so your audience can associate characteristics with specific behaviors.

Instructions

- 1
  Describe the areas of the world the yellowfin lives in. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, these fish live in oceans all around the world. Yellowfin tuna are tropical and subtropical. A useful way to paint a picture of their habitat is to describe them as living in a wide band around the world with the Equator in the center of the band.
- 2
  List the major visual characteristics of the tuna. A yellowfin has an oval body shape with pointed ends (technically known as fusiform). The fish's mouth has small conical teeth and small eyes. The tail originates from a narrow rear end and is shaped like a wide and shallow letter "V". The fish has 2 fins on its back (dorsal fins), and 2 on its stomach. The side, or pectoral, fins stretch roughly between the front and rear dorsal fins along the center of the body.
- 3
  Contrast the different species of tuna with the yellowfin. A major identifier of a yellowfin tuna is the coloration of small finlets between the second dorsal fin and the tail. These finlets are yellow, hence the name yellowfin. These small fins are also present on the belly surface between the second belly fin and the tail. These finlets are bronze-colored in blackfin tuna. Pectoral fins are shorter in bigeye tuna, and don't reach from dorsal to dorsal fin like yellowfin. Conversely, albacore have longer pectoral fins that reach to the second finlet after the second dorsal fin.
- 4
  Add color to the mental picture of the tuna. The top of the body is metallic and dark blue or greenish. The color changes to silver-white on the sides and belly and the fish has lots of broken vertical stripes. A yellowish stripe of color runs along the side, reinforcing the yellowfin name.
- 5
  Give your audience an idea of how the yellowfin acts. The fish move around in a school together and will even school with other species of fish that are the same size. Yellowfin can grow to be 388 lbs. and as long as 110 inches, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, so the fish are quite large. Yellowfin eat other fish and crustaceans; this knowledge reinforces the information about the tuna's sharp teeth and powerfully predatory body.

Animals & Science