Dogtooth Tuna, Gymnosarda unicolor (Rüppell 1836)


Other Names: Dog-tooth Tuna, Peg-tooth Tuna, Scaleless Tuna, White Tuna, White-flesh Tuna

A Dogtooth Tuna, Gymnosarda unicolor, in Fiji, October 2013. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:

A brilliant bluish-black tuna with a silvery belly, a black leading edge on the first dorsal fin, whitish tips on the soft dorsal and anal fins, large conical teeth, and a wavy lateral line.

Although renowned as fierce fighting fish and much sought after by sports fishers, Dogtooth Tuna are not highly regarded as table fish.

Video of Dogtooth Tuna.


Cite this page as:
Schultz, S. & Bray, D.J. 2019, Gymnosarda unicolor in Fishes of Australia, accessed 28 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/723

Dogtooth Tuna, Gymnosarda unicolor (Rüppell 1836)

More Info


Distribution

Rowley Shoals and Cape Leveque, Western Australia, and Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea, to Darwin, Northern Territory, and Cape York, Queensland, to off Coffs Harbour, New South Wales; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. The species is absent from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Elsewhere the Dogtooth Tuna occurs in the tropical Indo-west-central Pacific.

Pelagic and oceanadromous, mostly offshore around coral reefs.

Features

Dorsal fin XIII-XV, 0, 12-14; Anal fin 12-13; Pectoral fin 25-28; Gill rakers 11-14.

Second dorsal and anal fins followed by 6-7 and 6 finlets respectively. Body elongate and moderately compressed. Mouth large, maxilla (upper jaw), reaches to middle of eye, teeth large and conical, 14-31 in upper jaw and 10-24 in lower jaw. First gill arch with 11-14 gill rakers. Pectoral fins short, not reaching to below 10th first dorsal fin spine. Body mostly naked, with a well developed corselet, bands of scales along bases of dorsal and fins, patches of scales around pectoral and pelvic fin bases. Caudal peduncle with well developed keel, flanked on each side by a smaller keel. Lateral line undulates strongly. Swimbladder present.

Size

To at least 200 cm and 130 kg.

Colour

Bluish-black above, silvery below, with a black leading edge on the first dorsal fin, and no spots, stripes, lines or other markings.

Feeding

Preys on small schooling fishes such as jacks, trevallies, surgeonfishes, and caesionids.

Biology

Mature at around 65 cm fork length and spawn during summer months.

Fisheries

Although of minor commercial importance in parts of its range, the flesh is of relatively poor eating quality (especially when compared with many other species of tuna). The Dogtooth Tuna is a highly regarded sports fish.

Conservation


Remarks

Adults may be ciguatoxic in some areas.

Etymology

The generic name is from the Greek, gymno meaning "naked" in reference to its lack of scales, and sarda referring to the bonitos. The specific name unicolor means "single colour".

Species Citation

Thynnus (Pelamis) unicolor Rüppell 836, Fische des Rothen Meeres: 40, Pl. 12 (fig. 1), Jidda, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea.

Author

Schultz, S. & Bray, D.J. 2019

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Dogtooth Tuna, Gymnosarda unicolor (Rüppell 1836)

References


Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls. 

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp. 

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21 

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp. 

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Collette, B.B. 2001. Scombridae. pp. 3721-3756 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218. 

Collette, B.B. & Chao, L.N. 1975. Systematics and morphology of the bonitos (Sarda) and their relatives (Scombridae, Sardini). Fishery Bulletin (U.S.) 73(3): 516-625 figs 1-70 

Collette, B., Di Natale, A., Fox, W., Juan Jorda, M. & Nelson, R. 2011. Gymnosarda unicolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T170342A6756661. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T170342A6756661.en. Downloaded on 10 July 2019.

Collette, B.B. & Nauen, C.E. 1983. FAO species catalogue. Scombrids of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of tunas, mackerels, bonitos and related species known to date. Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Vol. 2. Rome : FAO. 137 pp. 81 figs 

Fraser-Brunner, A. 1950. The fishes of the family Scombridae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 12 3(7): 131-163 figs 1-35 

Gill, T.N. 1862. On the limits and arrangement of the family of scombroids. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 14(3): 124-127 

Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp. 

Günther, A. 1860. Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the acanthopterygian fishes in the collection of the British Museum. Squamipinnes, Cirrhitidae, Triglidae, Trachinidae, Sciaenidae, Polynemidae, Sphyraenidae, Trichiuridae, Scombridae, Carangidae, Xiphiidae. London : British Museum Vol. 2 548 pp. (as Pelamys nuda)

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3) 

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293

Marshall, T.C. 1964. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coastal Waters of Queensland. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 566 pp. 136 pls. 

Pepperell, J. 2010. Fishes of the Open Ocean a Natural History & Illustrated Guide. Sydney : University of New South Wales Press Ltd 266 pp. 

Randall, J.E. 1980. A survey of ciguatera at Enewetak and Bikini, Marshall Islands, with notes on the systematics and food habits of ciguatoxic fishes. Fishery Bulletin 78: 201-249.

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs. 

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs. 

Rüppell, W.P.E. 1836. Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig. Fische des Rothen Meeres. Frankfurt Vol. 2, pp. 29–52, pls 8–14. 

Russell, B.C., Larson, H.K., Hutchins, J.B. & Allen, G.R. 2005. Reef fishes of the Sahul Shelf. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Supplement 1 2005: 83-105


Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37441029

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:10-300 m

Fishing:Sports fish

Habitat:Reef associated, offshore

Max Size:248 cm FL

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