The chiefly British equivalent of
tuna; any one of several species of large oceanic fishes belonging to the Mackerel family, especially the common or great tunny (
Thunnus thynnus syn.
Albacora thynnus, formerly
Orcynus thynnus) native of the
Mediterranean Sea and the
Atlantic Ocean. It sometimes weighs a thousand pounds or more, and is extensively caught in the Mediterranean. On the American coast it is called
horse mackerel. See
Illust. of
Horse mackerel, under
Horse. [
1913 Webster]
" The little tunny (Gymnosarda alletterata) of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and the long-finned tunny, or albicore (Thunnus alalunga, see Albacore), are related species of smaller size."
[1913 Webster]