Atlantic Bonito

Upper jaw teeth 16 to 26; lower jaw teeth 12 to 24; vomerine teeth sometimes present; supramaxilla intermediate (Collette & Chao, 1975:fig. 32f) ; 16 to 23 gillrakers on first arch. First dorsal fin with 20 to 23 spines, length of fin base 29.1 to 33% of fork length; dorsal finlets usually 8; 14 to 17 rays in anal fin; anal finlets usually 7; pectoral fin rays 23 to 26, usually 24 on 25. Vertebrae 26 to 28 precaudal plus 23 to 27 caudal, total 50 to 55, more than in any other species of Sarda. Colour: dorsal stripes oblique, with a greater angle than in other species of Sarda.

Tropical and temperate coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean and Black seas (Collette & Chao, 1975:fig19. 70). In the western Atlantic, it has been taken at several localities along the outer coast of Nova Scotia but its usual northern limit is Cape Ann, Massachusetts. It is uncommon around southern Florida, present in the northern Gulf of Mexico, but apparently absent from most of the Caribbean Sea. It is known from Colombia and Venezuela and is much more common south of the Amazon River to northern Argentina. In the eastern Atlantic, it has been taken from near Oslo, Norway south to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Maximum fork length in the Black Sea is 85 cm and 5 kg weight; in the western Atlantic, the largest fish caught is reported as measuring 91.4 cm fork length and weighing 5.4 kg; common to 50 cm fork length and about 2 kg weight. The all-tackle angling record is a 7.6 kg fish with a fork length of 78 cm taken in the Canary Islands in 1980. Minimum length at first maturity is about 39.5 cm in males and 40.5 cm in females.

An epipelagic, neritic,schooling speciesthat can adapt to gradual but not sudden changes in the environment and may occur in water temperatures between 12° and 27° C and salinities between 14 and 39 °/ooS, entering estuaries such as Miramichi and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In most parts of the Mediterranean spawning occurs between May and July, but off Algeria it extends from March to May. In the eastern Atlantic, it occurs from December to June, including peaks in January and April, off Dakar, and from June to July in Moroccan waters. In the northwestern Atlantic, bonitos spawn in June and July. Adults prey primarily on small schooling fishes, the choice of species depending on the locality. In the Gulf of Mexico, it was also found to feed on a number of invertebrates like squid and shrimps. It can swallow relatively large prey, and both the juveniles and the adults are known to be cannibalistic.

There are fisheries of various sizes throughout most of the range of S. sarda. The species is particularly important in the Mediterranean and Black seas where it is taken by trap net, ring net, gillnet, trammel net, purse seine, beach seine, and hook and line (Demir, 1963). In the period from 1978 to 1981, 11 countries reported catches of S. sarda from Fishing Area 37, steadily increasing from 9 400 to about 29 400 t per year (FAO, 1983). Fishing in the Black Sea peaks between May and October, while in the Mediterranean it may vary from area to area or even extend throughout the year. The yearly world catch reported for the species in the above period tended upwards from 14 892 to 41 385 t (FAO, 1983). Fishing in the eastern tropical Atlantic takes place between October and May, while it extends throughout the year off Morocco. In the Bay of Biscay, the season is much shorter, from mid-April to mid-May, however, Spanish vessels may extend their operation through November. Peak fishing of the Spanish fleet all around the peninsula is in late spring and in fall. In the western Atlantic (Gulf of Maine), Atlantic bonito is taken between June and October. The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 37 240 t. The countries with the largest catches were Turkey (17 900 t) and Mexico (2 314 t).