Telling them apart
Little Tunny vs Skipjack Tuna
Look at the belly. A little tunny carries three to five dark fingerprint spots below the pectoral fin. A skipjack carries four to six bold horizontal stripes running along the belly. Neither mark appears on the other fish.
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Side by side
| What to look at | Little Tunny | Skipjack Tuna |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Euthynnus alletteratus | Katsuwonus pelamis |
| Belly | Fingerprint spots | Bold horizontal stripes |
| Back markings | Wavy worm-like marks above the lateral line | Plain dark blue-purple, unmarked |
| Scales | Bare except the shoulder corselet | Bare except the shoulder corselet — no help here |
| Where | Inlets, beaches and nearshore structure | Further offshore, on breaks and weed lines |
| On the table | Dark and strong; usually released or used as bait | Genuinely good, and the mainstay of canned tuna |
Why the difference matters
They mix in the same offshore schools and get called the same thing constantly, but a skipjack is worth taking home and a little tunny generally is not. Both are also frequently called bonito, which is a third fish entirely. Check the belly before deciding what to do with the fish.
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
Full entries
Each fish has its own page with every field mark, the rest of its look-alikes, where it holds and the conditions it feeds in: Little Tunny and Skipjack Tuna.
Or skip the key entirely — photograph the fish and Global Fishing League names the species, returns the scientific name with it, and files the catch with the tide, pressure, water temperature and everything else it came from.