Which fish species sold for a record $3.1 million at a Tokyo auction?

The fish species sold for a record $3.1 million at a Tokyo auction was bluefin tuna, specifically a Pacific bluefin tuna. The fish sold for 333.6 million yen at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market on 5 January 2019.

The tuna weighed about 618 pounds, or roughly 280 kilograms, and had been caught near Ōma in northern Japan. New Year’s opening auctions in Tokyo are famous for spectacular prices because winning bidders gain enormous publicity, especially when the buyer is a prominent sushi company. The auction price therefore reflects marketing and prestige as well as the fish’s quality.

Bluefin tuna are prized for their fatty belly meat, known as toro, and roughly 80% of Pacific and Atlantic bluefin tuna is consumed in Japan. The record fish was Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis—not yellowfin tuna, koi carp, or beluga sturgeon. Bluefin is also a group name that includes Pacific, Atlantic, and southern bluefin species.