What family includes tunas, mackerels, and bonitos?

What family includes tunas, mackerels, and bonitos? The answer is Scombridae.

Scombridae is the fish family that includes tunas, mackerels, bonitos, Spanish mackerels, and the butterfly kingfish. These mostly marine, predatory fishes are generally streamlined open-water swimmers found in tropical and temperate oceans around the world.

Many scombrids are built for speed. They typically have two dorsal fins, retractable fin grooves, a deeply forked caudal fin, and small finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins. Tunas are especially notable because several species can maintain parts of their body warmer than the surrounding water, helping them remain active while hunting.

The family is broader than the everyday word “tuna.” True tunas belong mainly to the tribe Thunnini, while bonitos belong to Sardini and familiar mackerels occupy other lineages within the family. Thus, “mackerel family” is a useful common description, but Scombridae is the formal taxonomic name.

Scombrids also matter commercially: tuna, mackerel, and bonito support major fisheries and are widely eaten. Their fast swimming and predatory lifestyles make them important ocean food-web species.