FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72, NO. 4 



120" 



130* 



OCTOBER 16 -APRIL 15 

 (DAY STATIONS) 



NO. of INDIVIDUALS per ca. ZOOm^ 



NematosceKs atlantica 



• 1-9 



• 10-49 



• > 50 



'# 



■» — t-wvr 



2Cr scr 40* 50» 60* 70* ao* 90* lOO* no" izo* isc (40" ISO- 



Figure 9. — Locality records and daytime abundance of larvae and juveniles oi Nematoscelis atlantica in the Indian Ocean: a - NE 



Monsoon period. 



like in the Pacific and Indian oceans, this species 

 also occupies the Atlantic equatorial zone provid- 

 ing communication between North and South 

 Atlantic populations. The German South Polar 

 Expedition (Zimmer, 1914) first recorded the 

 north-south continuity of A^. atlantica in the 

 Atlantic. In the eastern Atlantic between the 

 Equator and lat. 40°N, A^. atlantica constituted 

 over 50% of the total Nematoscelis present in each 

 sample. The northernmost record was at lat. 52°N 

 {Atlantis 11-9, station 371). This species was not 

 reported previously from the North Atlantic 

 central gyre (Mauchline and Fisher, 1969). In 

 the present collection many larvae, juveniles, 

 and mature adults were recorded from this area. 

 Mediterranean Sea records come from Ruud 

 (1936) and Casanova-Soulier (1968). In the South 

 Atlantic it was present in the Lusiad collections 

 (Figure 11a). Literature records in the South 



Atlantic show that it occurs in the Benguela Cur- 

 rent, extending as far as lat. 40°S (Mauchline 

 and Fisher, 1969). No samples were available 

 from the areas of the Argentine Basin. 



Pacific Ocean 



In the Pacific, A^. atlantica lives in the central 

 water masses of both hemispheres (Figure 11a). 

 Tfte approximate boundaries of distribution are 

 between lat. 13° and 38° in each hemisphere (Brin- 

 ton, 1962). It was not caught in the Naga collec- 

 tions from the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The 

 North Pacific population of this species appears to 

 be separated from those of the South Pacific and 

 Indian Ocean regions. It may be possible that 

 communication exists between Indian and South 

 Pacific populations through the oceanic waters 

 south of Australia. 



1056 



