| Scombrids | ||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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Scombridae is the family of the mackerels, tunas, and bonitos, and thus includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of about 55 species in 15 genera.
Scombrids have two dorsal fins, each of which can be depressed into grooves in the back, and a series of finlets between the rear dorsal fin and anal fin and the tail. The base of the tail is slender, and the caudal fin strongly divided. Species sizes vary by an order of magnitude, from the 20 cm of the island mackerel to the immense 458 cm recorded for the northern bluefin tuna.
Scombrids are generally predators of the open ocean, and capable of considerable speed.
Some members of the family, in particular the tunas, are notable for being endothermic (warm-blooded).