A bluefin tuna caught off northern Japan has sold for the record price of $395,000 at auction in Tokyo.

Prices of the endangered tuna are expected to rise further because catches of the fish are becoming rarer.

The 340-kilogram tuna was caught on Tuesday on a long-line off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

It was flown to Tokyo overnight and put up for auction at the city's Tsukiji fish market yesterday morning.

The winning bid was put jointly by a Tokyo restaurant and a Hong Kong sushi chain.

That is equivalent to nearly $1,200 per kilogram.

The previous record tuna price in Japan was $240,000, paid 11 years ago.

Tuna is one of the fish dearest to Japanese hearts, and bluefin is one of the most prized tunas.

Japan consumes over half of the world's bluefin tuna even as supplies dwindle and fishing quotas are tightened.