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TUNNY (Thunnus thynnus)

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 410 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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TUNNY (Thunnus thynnus)

TUNNY (Thunnus thynnus) , one of the largest fishes of the See also:

FAMILY

family of mackerels, belongs to the genus of which the bonito (Th. pelamys) and the albacores (Th. albacora, Th. alalonga, &c.) are equally well-known members. From the latter the tunny is distinguished by its much shorter See also:

PECTORAL

pectoral fins, which reach backwards only to, or nearly to, the end of the first dorsal fin. It possesses nine See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short finlets behind the dorsal, and eight behind the anal fin. Its See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour is dark bluish above, and greyish, tinged and spotted with silvery, below. The tunny is a pelagic See also:

fish, but periodically approaches the See also:

SHORE

shore, wandering in large shoals, within well-ascertained areas along the See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast. It not infrequently appears in small companies or singly in the See also:

ENGLISH

English Channel and in the See also:

German Ocean, probably in pursuit Tunny. of the shoals of pilchards and See also:

HERRINGS, BATTLE OF THE

herrings on which it feeds. The regularity of its See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance on certain parts of the coasts of the Mediterranean has led to the See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of a systematic See also:

FISHERY (LAW OF)

fishery, which has been carried on from the See also:

time of the Phoenicians to the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

day. Immense See also:

numbers of tunnies were caught on the See also:

SPANISH

Spanish coast and in the See also:

Sea of See also:

Marmora, where, however, this See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry has much declined. The Sardinian tunnies were considered to be of See also:

SUPERIOR

superior excellence. The greatest number is now caught on the See also:

north coast of See also:

SICILY (Ital. Sicilia)

Sicily, the See also:

FISHERIES

fisheries of this See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island supplying most of the preserved tunny which is exported to other parts of the See also:

WORLD

world. In See also:

ancient times the fish were preserved in See also:

salt, and that coming from See also:

SARDINIA (Gr. 'IXs'o"uva, from a fancied resemblance to a footprint in its shape, Ital. Sardegna)

Sardinia, which was specially esteemed by the See also:

Romans, was known as Salsamentum sardicum.

At present preference is given to tunny preserved in oil. Many of the fishes, especially the smaller ones, are consumed fresh. The tunny occurs also in the Pacific and is much sought for by anglers on the coast of See also:

SOUTHERN

southern See also:

California, where tuna-fishing has become a fashionable See also:

SPORT (a contracted or shortened form of "disport," to amuse, divert oneself, O. Fr. se dis porter or deporter, to leave off work, hence to play, Lat. dis-, away, and portare, to carry; the origin of the meaning lies in the notion of turning away from ser

sport; but several other See also:

SPECIES

species seem to take its See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place in the Indo-Pacific ocean. It is one of the largest fishes, attaining to a length of ten ft. and to a See also:

WEIGHT

weight of more than a thousand pounds. In connexion with the extremely active See also:

LIFE

life of these fishes allusion should be made to the fact, first ascertained in 1839 by See also:

John (See also:

BROTHER

brother of See also:

Sir See also:

HUMPHRY, OZIAS (1742-1810)

Humphry) See also:

DAVY, SIR HUMPHRY

Davy, that the temperature of the See also:

BLOOD

blood of a tunny may be considerably higher than that of the surrounding See also:

WATER

water, a See also:

DISCOVERY

discovery which disposed of the time-honoured See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division of vertebrate animals into warm-blooded and See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold-blooded. The See also:

variations and movements of the tunny and albacores were studied with See also:

SPECIAL

special care by See also:

King See also:

Carlos of See also:

PORTUGAL

Portugal, who published in 1899 a large illustrated memoir entitled A Pesca do See also:

ALUM

alum no See also:

ALGARVE, or ALGARVES

Algarve in 1898 (See also:

LISBON (Lisboa)

Lisbon). This memoir is accompanied by excel-See also:

LENT (0. Eng. lenclen, " spring," M. Eng. lenten, lente, lent; cf. Dut. lente, Ger. Lenz, " spring," 0. H. Ger. lenzin, lengizin, lenzo, probably from the same root as " long " and referring to " the lengthening days ")

lent figures of the different species of Thunnus and charts of their See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution in the See also:

ATLANTIC

Atlantic.

End of Article: TUNNY (Thunnus thynnus)

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