Photo: Hugues Evano (IFREMER, Délégation océan Indien (DOI), Département Ressources Biologiques et Environnement (RBE), F-97420 Le Port, France) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Description
- 📏 up to 2 m
- 🌊 open water, pelagic
The yellowfin tuna is a powerful tuna with yellow fins and a yellow lateral line. Very fast, it travels long distances in schools. It is one of the most fished tunas in Polynesia and the basis of many recipes, including the famous raw fish in coconut milk (ʻiʻa ota).
Legend
According to the legend of Raiatea, a fisherman whose hook had snagged in the hair of the sea god Ruahatu woke him up: furious, the god threatened to destroy the lands, but he spared the repentant fisherman and his family by sending them to take refuge on the motu Toamarama, before the waters rose and swallowed the island.
Source: Legend of Ruahatu (Raiatea), curioustaxonomy.net / Flood Myths
The Tahitian name of this species is not yet confirmed in our sources.
Tahitian names: sources being verified. French name: Thon jaune.
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