Bonitos are a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
of medium-sized,
ray-finned
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...
predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
y fish in the family
Scombridae
The mackerel, tuna, and bonito family, Scombridae, includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of 51 species in 15 genera and two subfamilies. All species are in the subfamily Scombrinae, except the butterfly ...
– a family it shares with the
mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
...
,
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
, and
Spanish mackerel
Scomberomorini is a tribe of ray-finned saltwater bony fishes that is commonly known as the Spanish mackerels, seerfishes or seer fish. This fish closely resembles the King Mackerel. This tribe is a subset of the mackerel family (Scombridae) – ...
tribes, and also the
butterfly kingfish
The butterfly kingfish (''Gasterochisma melampus'') is an ocean-dwelling ray-finned bony fish in the mackerel family, Scombridae – a family which it shares with the tunas, mackerels, Spanish mackerels, and bonitos. Unlike the 50 species from th ...
.
Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists of eight
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
across four
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
; three of those four genera are
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
, having a single species each. Bonitos closely resemble the
skipjack tuna
The skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'') is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the balaya (Sri Lanka), bakulan/kayu (North Borneo), tongkol/aya (Malay Peninsula/Indonesia), aku (Hawaii), cakal ...
, which is often called a bonito, especially in Japanese contexts.
Etymology
The fish's name comes from the Spanish ''bonito'' 'pretty'.
['']Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
'', 3rd edition, 2018
''s.v.''
/ref> An older theory suggests that it comes from an Arabic word ''bainīth'', but that may have been derived from Spanish as well.
Species
* Genus '' Sarda'' ( Cuvier, 1832)
** Australian bonito
The Australian bonito, horse mackerel or little bonito, ''Sarda australis'' is a fish of the family Scombridae and is found in eastern Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pac ...
, ''S. australis'' (Macleay, 1881)
** '' Sarda chiliensis'' (Cuvier, 1832)
*** Eastern Pacific bonito
''Sarda chiliensis'', the eastern Pacific bonito, is a marine species of bonito
Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tri ...
, ''S. c. chiliensis'' (Cuvier, 1832)
*** Pacific bonito
Pacific bonito, ''Sarda lineolata'', is a marine species of bonito that is a game fighter but not highly thought of as a food fish. While it has been considered to be a subspecies of ''Sarda chiliensis'', recent treatments recognize it as a specie ...
, ''S. c. lineolata'' ( Girard, 1858)
** Striped bonito
The striped bonito (''Sarda orientalis'') is a species of marine perciform fish. They have been recorded at lengths of , though they are commonly no longer than . Distributed through the Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeograph ...
, ''S. orientalis'' (Temminck
Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director.
Biography
Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...
& Schlegel
Schlegel is a German occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Anthony Schlegel (born 1981), former American football linebacker
* August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), German poet, older brother of Friedrich
* Brad Schlege ...
, 1844)
** Atlantic bonito
The Atlantic bonito (''Sarda sarda'') is a large mackerel-like fish of the family Scombridae. It is common in shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, where it is an important commercial and game fish.
De ...
, ''S. sarda'' (Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include:
A–F
* (1859-1914), French rabbi
*Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur
*Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter
* (born 1972), German motor journal ...
, 1793)
* Genus '' Cybiosarda'' ( Whitley, 1935)
** Leaping bonito, ''C. elegans'' (Whitley, 1935)
* Genus ''Gymnosarda
The dogtooth tuna ''Gymnosarda unicolor'', also known as white tuna, is a species of pelagic marine fish which belongs to the family Scombridae.
Description
The dogtooth tuna can reach a length of in males and a weight of .Collette, B.B. and C. ...
'' Gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
, 1862
** Dogtooth tuna
The dogtooth tuna ''Gymnosarda unicolor'', also known as white tuna, is a species of pelagic marine fish which belongs to the family Scombridae.
Description
The dogtooth tuna can reach a length of in males and a weight of .Collette, B.B. and C. ...
, ''G. unicolor'' ( Rüppell, 1836)
* Genus '' Orcynopsis'' Gill, 1862
** Plain bonito, ''O. unicolor'' (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)
Food
Pacific and Atlantic bonito meat has a firm texture and a darkish color. The bonito has a moderate fat content. The meat of young or small bonito can be of light color, close to that of skipjack tuna
The skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'') is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the balaya (Sri Lanka), bakulan/kayu (North Borneo), tongkol/aya (Malay Peninsula/Indonesia), aku (Hawaii), cakal ...
, and is sometimes used as a cheap substitute for skipjack, especially for canning purposes, and occasionally in the production of cheap varieties of katsuobushi
is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'', sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes. ''Katsuobushi'' or similarly prepared fish is also known as .
Shaved ''katsuobushi'' and dried ke ...
that are sold as ''bonito flakes''. Bonito may not, however, be marketed as tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
in all countries. The Atlantic bonito
The Atlantic bonito (''Sarda sarda'') is a large mackerel-like fish of the family Scombridae. It is common in shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, where it is an important commercial and game fish.
De ...
is also found in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
, where it is a popular food fish, eaten grilled, pickled ('' lakerda''), or baked.
See also
* Other fish sometimes called "bonito" include skipjack tuna
The skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'') is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the balaya (Sri Lanka), bakulan/kayu (North Borneo), tongkol/aya (Malay Peninsula/Indonesia), aku (Hawaii), cakal ...
, ''Katsuwonus pelamis''
References
Citations
Sources
*
{{Taxonbar , from = Q3473576
Scombridae