FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. I 



Table 2. — Frequency occurrence of organisms in the stomachs of 205 



skipjack tuna, 23 kawakawa, 24 yellowfin tuna and 1 common dolphin, 

 examined from cruise 117 of the Charles H. Gilbert. 



Predators 



Food items Skipjack Bigeye Yellowfin Common 



tuno tuna tuna dolphin 



No. % No. % No. % No. % 

 Fishes: 



Aconthuridae 45 22.0 1 4.3 4 16.7 



Balistidae 13 6.3 2 8.7 1 4.2 



Bramidae -- — — — ' ^-^ 



Corongidae 3 1.5 



Chaetodontidae 1 1 5.4 — — 1 4.2 



Dactylopteridae 1 0.5 



Engraulidae: 



StoUphorus buccaneeri 38 18.5 4 17.4 6 25.0 1 100 



Exocoetidae 5 2.4 



Gempylidaa 13 6.3 



Holocentridae 61 29.8 2 8.7 2 8.3 



Molidae 1 0.5 



Monacanthidae 3 1.5 I 4.3 — — 1 100 



Mullidae 2 1.0 



Ostraciidae 1 0.5 



Pomacentridae — — 1 4.2 



Scombridae: 



Katsuwonus petamis 19 9.3 



Unidentified 8 3.9 



Siganidaa 8 3.9 



Synodontidaa (?) 6 2.9 



Tetraodontidae 2 1.0 



Chum 66 32.2 



Unidentified 36 17.6 2 8.7 2 8.3 1 100 



Crustacea: 

 Amphipoda: 



Phronima sp. I 4.2 



Crab megalops 2 1.0 2 8.7 



Phyllasoma larvae I 0.5 



Shrimp 1 4.3 



Stomatopod larvae 7 3.4 3 13.0 1 4.2 



Mollusca: 



Squids 20 9.8 -- — 1 4.2 



Stomach empty 64 31.0 14 60.8 10 41.7 



NOTES ON 

 STOLEPHORUS BUCCANEERI 



DISTRIBUTION 



Strasburg (1960) described S. buccaneeri 

 from Hawaii and proposed the common name, 

 roundhead. His holotype was a specimen taken 

 in a nearshore bait seine haul close to Lehua 

 Island. He also found a few specimens in the 

 stomach contents of kawakawa caught about a 

 mile offshore from Oahu. Matsui (1963) found 

 this species in the bait samples he obtained 

 around the island of Maui. 



The abundance of 5. buccaneeri in Hawaiian 

 waters is not known. This is largely because 

 the Hawaiian skipjack tuna fishermen use the 



anchovy, Stolephorus purpureus, as their prin- 

 cipal baitfish. These two fish are almost identical 

 and therefore difficult to distinguish from one 

 another. Anchovies regurgitated on deck and 

 found in the stomach contents of tunas are as- 

 sumed to be their baitfish. At times, however, 

 Hawaiian skipjack tuna fishermen have reported 

 seeing skipjack tuna feeding on what they refer 

 to as "oflfshore nehu" (liberal translation of the 

 Japanese term used), which more than likely is 

 S. buccaneeri. The distribution of S. pui^pureus 

 is inshore while that of the S. buccaneeri seems 

 to be generally off"shore. It is therefore pro- 

 posed that another common name of S. bucca- 

 neeri might be offshore nehu. 



Besides Hawaii, Whitehead (1967) gave the 

 distribution of the S. buccaneeri as the Red Sea, 



138 



