Taxonomy of Tunas, Seerfish, Barracudas, Cobia and Dolphinfish

Tunas belonging to the family Scombridae are known for their cosmopolitan distribution, occuring both in temperate and tropical waters. In Indian waters, they are represented by nine species belonging to six genera. Among these, five species, Kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis), frigate tuna (Auxis thazard), bullet tunas (Auxis rochei), longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) and bonito (Sarda orientalist) occur in coastal/neritic waters. Oceanic species in the Indian waters are represented by yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), dogtooth tuna (Gymnosarda unicolor) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus). They are distributed all along the mainland and Island territories of India. Coastal tunas have been exploited both as an incidental by-catch and also as a targeted resource. Oceanic tunas are being exploited as a targeted fishery in some parts of the country and as an incidental catch in several coastal states. They are mainly exploited by gillnets, longlines, handlines, pole and lines, troll lines, purse seines, ring seines and trawls based on the fishing ground and targeted species