mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. Description The albacore has a streamlined, fusiform body with a conical snout, large mouth, and big eyes. Its body is dark blue dorsally, shades of silvery white ventrally, and covered by small scales. The pectoral fins begin slightly before the first dorsal fin and extend well beyond the front of the anal fin, usually as far as the second dorsal finlet, often as long as 30% of the fish's total length. Like the fish's body, the fins are dark blue on top, but change to a medium yellow color on the underside. They are markedly shorter in fish under in length, often resulting in confusion with T. obesus juveniles, which also have long pectoral fins, though these are rounded at the tips where the albacore's taper to a point. The first dorsal fin is a deep yellow and the second, which is smaller than the first, is a light yellow, as is the anal fin. It has 7–9 dorsal finlets and 7–8 anal finlets, dark blue and silvery white in color respectively, matching the part of the fish's body they are on. The caudal fin is also silvery white. At maximum length, the albacore is the smallest of the bluefin tuna. It reaches sexual maturity at and its common length is only slightly larger at . Males and females exhibit no sexual dimorphism. Distribution and habitat The albacore has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate waters across the globe and in every ocean as well as the Mediterranean Sea. Its latitudinal range extends from 59°N to 46°S. Its temperature range is . Its depth range is in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. It is most often found in surface waters in temperature, though larger individuals can be found in deeper waters . It can survive at temperatures as low as for short periods of time. It favors areas where warm and cool water mix. Migration A highly migratory species, schools of albacore travel great distances, though Atlantic and Pacific populations do not appear to mix. North Pacific albacore migrate to two regions of the Northeast Pacific: one off the northern part of Baja California, Mexico, and the other off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Every summer, North Atlantic albacore head to the Bay of Biscay off of France and Spain, but now arrive about 8 days earlier than they did 40 years ago. Since