Canned tuna chunks in vegetable oil

Skipjack is the most common species of canned and pouched lightmeat tuna available on the US market. Skipjack are similar in flesh to Yellowfin, but are a relatively smaller tuna. Skipjack can weigh up to 40 pounds, but typically range from 6 to 8 pounds. The fish get their name because of their lively movement in the water where they seem to skip along the surface.

Skipjack are common in tropical waters throughout the world, but like other tuna travel great distances throughout the ocean during their lives. They are found in surface waters and to depths of 850 feet during the day, but seem to stay near the surface at night. Skipjack prefer warm, well-mixed surface waters and are often found in large surface swimming schools, sometime of up to 50,000 fish, throughout the Pacific.

These tuna feed on fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and mollusks, but are themselves an important prey species for large pelagic fishes and sharks.