Nutrition
When thinking about nutrition of the Albacore tuna, two things may come into mind. One may be the nutrition that you may receive by eating this tuna. However, the main discussion on this page will be the nutrition of the Albacore tuna, such as the type of foods that are eaten by this species. If you would like to know more about the nutrition that you may receive yourself from this tuna, feel free to check out the page on omega 3 fatty acids.
Let’s begin with the nutrition of the Albacore
tuna. To determine the different foods that this
species eats, one
must cut open the gut and begin examining the different contents
inside. However, I
will just explain to you what can be found inside the stomach. First
off, Albacore tuna can be considered a top carnivore in the ocean.
They have eaten things such as
crustaceans, other fish species,
mollusks, squids and zooplankton. They have also eaten some plant
foods such as phytoplankton, therefore they could be considered omnivores
as well. However, the species that comprises
most of what is found inside the stomach of the Albacore tuna is the
anchovy. Like I had mentioned in the adaptation page, Albacore tuna
have a high metabolic rate. This high metabolic rate means that the
tuna must eat a large amount of food to fuel this high metabolism,
sometimes consuming a large percent of their body weight. This
percent can range from about 20-30% each day. Due to this, they also
have a well-developed circulatory system which helps for quick
digestion.
Another interesting fact about the nutrition of the Albacore tuna is that their diet seems to vary seasonally depending on their location. For example, Albacore tuna depend on the anchovy from July to September. However, squid can be found in the tuna’s stomach from May to June, but seems to disappear from their stomachs from July to September. This is probably because of the migration of the squid.
