The albacore has a streamlined, fusiform body with a conical snout, large mouth, and big eyes.
Its body is dark blue dorsally, shades of silvery white ventrally, and covered by small scales.
The pectoral fins begin slightly before the first dorsal fin and extend well beyond the front of the anal fin, usually as far as the second dorsal finlet, often as long as 30% of the fish's total length.
Like the fish's body, the fins are dark blue on top, but change to a medium yellow color on the underside.
They are markedly shorter in fish under 0.5 m (1.6 ft) in length, often resulting in confusion with T. obesus juveniles, which also have long pectoral fins, though these are rounded at the tips where the albacore's taper to a point.
The first dorsal fin is a deep yellow and the second, which is smaller than the first, is a light yellow, as is the anal fin.
It has 7-9 dorsal finlets and 7-8 anal finlets, dark blue and silvery white in color respectively, matching the part of the fish's body they are on.
The caudal fin is also silvery white.
At 1.4 m (4.6 ft) maximum length, the albacore is the smallest of the bluefin tuna.
It reaches sexual maturity at 0.9 m (3.0 ft) and its common length is only slightly larger at 1.0 m (3.3 ft).
Males and females exhibit no sexual dimorphism.
The albacore has a streamlined, fusiform body with a conical snout, large mouth, and big eyes. Its body is dark blue dorsally, shades of silvery white ventrally, and covered by small scales. The pectoral fins begin slightly before the first dorsal fin and extend well beyond the front of the anal fin, usually as far as the second dorsal finlet, often as long as 30% of the fish's total length. Like the fish's body, the fins are dark blue on top, but change to a medium yellow color on the underside. They are markedly shorter in fish under 0.5 m (1.6 ft) in length, often resulting in confusion with T. obesus juveniles, which also have long pectoral fins, though these are rounded at the tips where the albacore's taper to a point. The first dorsal fin is a deep yellow and the second, which is smaller than the first, is a light yellow, as is the anal fin. It has 7-9 dorsal finlets and 7-8 anal finlets, dark blue and silvery white in color respectively, matching the part of the fish's body they are on. The caudal fin is also silvery white. At 1.4 m (4.6 ft) maximum length, the albacore is the smallest of the bluefin tuna. It reaches sexual maturity at 0.9 m (3.0 ft) and its common length is only slightly larger at 1.0 m (3.3 ft). Males and females exhibit no sexual dimorphism.
Albacore