Auxis rochei (Risso, 1810)

Mylona, Dimitra, 2021, Catching tuna in the Aegean: biological background of tuna fisheries and the archaeological implications, Anthropozoologica 56 (2), pp. 23-37 : 29

Auxis rochei (Risso, 1810) –

Bullet tuna, Κοπάνι/τορνέτα

Maximum length for bullet tuna is around 50 cm and maximum weight is around 1.9 kg, depending on the fishing area they come from ( Valeiras & Abad 2006b). Common length in the Aegean is 36-38 cm. It is widely distributed in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Bullet tuna are preyed upon by tuna, sharks and dolphin fish. They have a strong schooling behavior and they form large schools of similar sized individuals. They are often confused with Auxis thazard , which are morphologically similar (but rather uncommon in the Aegean). In the summer they swim near the surface and approach land, while in the winter they move to deeper waters. They are mostly caught with surface gear ( Valeiras & Abad 2006b; Papanastasiou 1976: 498, 499).

In the Aegean (especially its eastern coasts) the spawning period is reported to be from May to September with the peak observed in June, July and August ( Bök & Oray 2001; Kahraman et al. 2010: 6816). Bullet tuna is caught in all parts of the Aegean, the only restricting factor being the accessibility of certain areas to the dominant fishing gear (in this case, the round nets called gri-gri in Greek and Turkish) ( Koli & Platis 1998: 33). In the spring catches, most of the fish are 34-36 cm in length, while the smallest ones are 28-30 cm. In summer catches the most common size is 18-20 cm long, while some individuals can be very small indeed (10-12 cm) Koli & Platis 1998: 64, 65).