Auxis

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Genus of fishes

title: "Auxis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["auxis", "scombridae", "marine-fish-genera", "taxa-named-by-georges-cuvier"] description: "Genus of fishes" topic_path: "general/auxis" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auxis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of fishes ::

| name = Frigate and bullet tunas | fossil_range = | last = Sepkoski | first = Jack | title = A compendium of fossil marine animal genera | journal = Bulletins of American Paleontology | volume = 364 |page=560 | year = 2002 | url = http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class | access-date = 2008-01-08 }} -- | image = Auroc u0.png | image_caption = Bullet tuna, Auxis rochei | taxon= Auxis | authority = Cuvier, 1829 | type_species = Scomber rochei | type_species_authority = Risso, 1810 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text.

Auxis is a genus of ocean-dwelling ray-finned bony fish in the family Scombridae, and tribe Thunnini, also known as the tunas. Auxis, commonly and collectively called the frigate tunas, is one of five genera of tunas which comprise the Thunnini tribe.

Species

There are four extant species in the genus Auxis, which were formerly regarded as two polytypic species, each with two subspecies. In 2021, the extinct species Auxis koreanus was described from the Neogene of South Korea.

Extant species

Extinct species

Description

Auxis can reach a length of 50 -. They have a strong, fusiform body with a sharpened head. The teeth are small and conical. The two dorsal fins are separated by a wide gap. The pectoral fins are short. They have a dark, blue-black back, the top of the head may be deep purple or almost black. The belly is whitish and without streaks or spots.

Distribution

These fishes are widespread in all tropical and subtropical seas and oceans, and both mentioned species are present in the Mediterranean Sea with their subspecies (A. thazard thazard and A. rochei rochei).

Ecology

Auxis species are the predominant prey of pelagic gamefish off of the east coast of the United States.

As food

In Japan the two species in the genus are collectively called , and this is also the common genus name. In Japanese cuisine, these fish are processed into ja, a product much like ja, though not really used in fine-dining restaurants or as condiment, but as a fish stock ingredient at more budget type popular-dining places, e.g., ja noodle shops.

Although fresh fish might be eaten as sashimi or grilled, it has a lot of dark-red meat (ja), so it is valued much less than the similar ja (skipjack tuna). And it degrades quickly so shipment out to market is limited. The frigate tuna (ja) is considered superior between the two.

Fossil record

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Scombridae_-_Auxis_propterigius.JPG" caption="Fossil of ''Auxis propterigius'' from [[Monte Bolca"] ::

Fossils of Auxis have been found in the Miocene of South Korea and the Pliocene of Italy and United States (age range: from 15 to 3.6 million years ago.).

References

References

  1. {{FishBase genus. (2018)
  2. (2021). "First discovery of the genus ''Auxis'' (Actinopterygii: Scombridae) in the Neogene of South Korea". Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana.
  3. (29 April 2019). "Time to Protect Our Bullet Tunas". Sport Fishing Mag.
  4. (2025). "A new tuna specimen (Genus ''Auxis'') from the Duho Formation (Miocene) of South Korea". Peer Community Journal.
  5. [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=83289 Paleobiology Database]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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