I estmiated tlie Icngtlis of 26 of the 35 specimens 

 with the regressions. The longest vertebral frag- 

 ment available was always used to estimate the 

 lengths. For exami^le, if the vertebral column was 

 intact, the regression with the length of all verte- 

 brae as the variable was used rather than any of 

 the other regressions. Pertinent data on tlie ju^'e- 

 nile alba("ore are in table 2. 



Table 2. — Record of juvenile albacore from stomachs of 

 billjishes caught in Pacific Ocean, 1962-66 



Date 



Albacore 



Standard 

 length 



Predator 



Location cf 

 Species Weight capture (off the 



coast of) 



August 1. 1962' 



August 13, 1962 !__.. 

 September 13, 



1962.1 

 November 2, 1962 1. 



Do 



August 16, 1963 



September 16, 1963.. 



November 4, 1963... 



November 7, 1963. . 



February 6, 1964 



February 20, 1964,.. 



Februarj- 25, 1964... 



March 4, 1964... 

 March 17, 1964. 

 June 29, 1964.... 



Cm. 



18,4 Blue marlin 



2 13. Striped marlin. 



= 18.1 Blue marlin 



Kq. 



132. 4 Kona, Hawaii. 



29. 5 Waianae, Oahu. 

 93. 9 Do. 



25. 7 Striped marlin. 



128.0 do 



Ml.l do 



114.2 Blue marlin 



M6. ShortbiU 



spearfish. 



 11. 9 Blue marlin 



1 11.4 



231.0 Striped marlin. 



35.4 



233.6 

 235.5 

 234.6 

 235.0 

 29.5 



.do. 

 .do- 



July 17, 1964 211,0 



....do 



....do. 



ShortbiU 



spearfish. 

 ....do 



Julv27, 1964... 

 August 3, 1964. 



2 9,0 

 2 12.8 



September 15, 1964. 



November 3. 1964... 



AuffUSt24, 1965 



Do 



Striped marlin. 

 ShortbiU 

 spearfish. 

 5 do 



August 26, 1965.. 



Do 



October 6. 1965.. 

 October 18, 1965. 



October 28, 1965 



November 4, 1965... 



November 8, 1965... 

 November 10, 1965.. 



November 12, 1965.. 

 December 20. 1965.. 

 January 20, 1966 



2 14.5 

 2 12,0 

 27.8 



2 12.2 

 13.1 



17.8 

 2 19,8 



16,7 



Striped marlin. 



Blue marlin 



ShortbiU 



spearfish. 

 do 



Blue marlin 



do 



Striped marlin. 



do 



2 1 



1 ShortbiU 

 spearfish. 

 17.4 Striped marlin. 

 25,0 do 



2 16,4 do 



2 18,1 Blue marlin 



28, 9 Striped marlin. 



29,9 

 32,2 

 19.5 

 65.8 



15.9 



59.4 



19,5 



147 9 



26,8 

 20 9 

 10,9 



12,7 

 10,9 



13,6 



39,9 

 S2.2 

 16 



13,2 

 72.6 

 49.4 

 36.7 



22.2 



5,4 



33,6 

 36,7 



29.0 

 42.6 

 39.0 



Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Kalapana, 



Hawaii. 



Do. 



Do. 



Napoopoo, 



Hawaii. 

 241 km. south of 



Oahu. 

 161 km. south 



of Oahu. 

 West Lanai. 

 Waianae, Oahu. 

 Do. 



483 km. south 



of Oahu. 

 Waianae, Oahu. 

 483 km. south 



of Oahu. 

 Upolu Pt., 



Hawaii. 

 Waianae, Oahu. 



Do. 

 Cape Kumu- 



kahi. Hawaii. 

 Waianae, Oahu. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Ilio Pt., 



Molokai. 

 Cape Kumu- 

 kahi, Hawaii. 

 Do. 



Do. 

 483 km. south 



of Oahu. 

 Waianae, Oahu. 



Do. 



Do. 



1 Data from Yoshida (1965). 



2 Estimated from regressions. 



AGE AND GROWTH 



Because the juvenile albacore were collected 

 from the stomachs of billfishes, any size selectivity 

 by the billfishes could affect the analysis of the 

 growth rate of the juveniles. Bias could be intro- 

 duced by interspecific and intraspecific differ- 

 ences in the size of juveniles eaten by billfishes 

 (e. g., larger billfish preying on larger juveniles). 



It is i)ossible that billfishes do not feed on small 

 juveniles. Fish shorter than 7 cm. SL were not 

 found in the stomachs of the billfishes. 



Other factors that may affect the estimation of 

 growth are (1) changes in spawning season from 

 year to year (the data for all years were pooled), 

 (2) individual variation in growth, and (3) size- 

 associated differences in schooling behavior and 

 distribution of juvenile albacore so that the entire 

 size range of juvenile fisli would not be available to 

 the predators. These factors are probably only a 

 few of the many that may affect the data. I assume 

 that all these factors have not seriously biased the 

 data and that the juveniles eaten by billfishes are 

 fairly representative of the poi)ulation. 



The standard length of the juvenile albacore is 

 plotted against sampling date in figure 1. As 

 would be expected, a considerable amount of vari- 

 ation in the size of juveniles is evident, j^articu- 

 larly between August and November. Despite the 

 scatter of the points, an increase in size with time 

 is evident. A test showed that a seeond-degree 

 polynomial provided a better fit to the data than 

 a linear regression (^=7.491* ; d.f. = l, 32) . It was 

 decided, however, to use the simpler linear regres- 

 sion because of the possible heterogeneity of the 

 data, as discussed above. For example, most of the 

 larger juveniles were found in striped marlm 

 stomachs. 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I i| I I I 



_L 



I I I ill I ill I ill I ill I 



Figure 1. — The size and sampling date of juvenile alba- 

 core found in billfish stomach.s. 



EARLY LIP^E HISTORY AND SPAWXIXG OF ALBACORE L\ HAWAUAN WATERS 



207 



