122 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 
than the length of the head and without conspicuous stripes on the 
body. ‘The color is deep blue on the back but with greenish reflections, 
Fig. 66. The tuna (Thunnus thynnus). 
and the lower parts are silvery. When freshly caught it is very 
brillant with a play of metallic colors. It is sometimes canned with 
the albacore under the same label, and is said to be equally good. Or 
perhaps it is better to say that it is canned under its own label, for the 
albacore is, unfortunately, canned under the label of tuna. 
This fish is found in all warm seas, occurring as far north on our 
coast as San Francisco. It is known as the tunny on the Atlantic coast. 
The name we apply to it, tuna, is the name that is current in the 
Mediterranean. In the Atlantic it is reported to reach a weight of 
1,500 pounds, and individuals weighing a thousand pounds are not 
very rare. None is recorded on the California coast nearly that large. 
The largest taken with hook and line weighed only 251 pounds. The 
tuna is probably the hardest fighting marine fish that is classed as a 
game fish. Devoted to its capture under certain regulations as to light 
tackle is the Tuna Club of Santa Catalina Island. 
The Yellow-Finned Albacore (Thunnus macropterus). 
This species, like the albacore and tuna, is a heavy-bodied fish. It 
may be known by its pectoral, which is shorter than in the albacore 
and longer than in the tuna. The pectoral reaches nearly or quite to 
Fig. 67. ‘The yellow-finned albacore (Thunnus macropterus). 
the front of the anal fin, but nct past it as in the albacore. The fin is 
longer than the length of the head. There are no conspicuous stripes 
on the body. The soft dorsal and anal fins are higher than those of 
the albacore, and the finlets are lemon-yellow. 
