False Albacore -- What's in a name?

[David Churbuck]

Tom:
Okay, probably few fish have more names than Euthynnus alltetteratus . You cite "false albacore", "albies", "fat alberts", and my favorite: "little tunny"

What's the deal. Albies and Fat Alberts I can understand. But what's so false about these fish, or little for that matter.

And why do they call them Bonito in florida? What do they call Atlantic Bonito in Florida?

[Tom G.]

David, False Albacore (Euthynnus alletteratus) and all tuna belong to the same family as mackeral, Scombridae. Fisheries manangement personnel officially recognize Euthynnus alletteratus by the common name "little tunny" to distinguish this red-fleshed fish from the white-fleshed tuna we call Albacore (Thunnus alalunga). Albacore have beautiful, firm white meat that is sought after by the canning industry and marketed as "solid white" tuna. The name "little tunny" has yet to catch on with the fly fishing community who have given them numerous names and nicknames. This gave me all sorts of problems when I was doing research for the book. When non-fishing friends and relatives would ask me what my book was about, a response of False Albacore brought strange looks and comments such as "why don't you write about the real ones?"

False albacore are considered a nuisance fish in Florida and fishermen there don't care what they call them, but usually they are incorrectly refered to as Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) or just bonito.

Tom:
Okay, probably few fish have more names than Euthynnus alltetteratus . You cite "false albacore", "albies", "fat alberts", and my favorite: "little tunny"

What's the deal. Albies and Fat Alberts I can understand. But what's so false about these fish, or little for that matter.

And why do they call them Bonito in florida? What do they call Atlantic Bonito in Florida?