336 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



farther forward than in the false albacore; i. e., 

 under the middle of the second dorsal fin, instead of 

 under the first dorsal flnlet. 



Another distinctive character (shared, however, 

 by the false albacore, p. 335) is that it has no body 

 scales except along the lateral line, and covering 

 a very prominent corselet on the forward and 

 upper part of the trunk, which is outlined in the 

 illustration (fig. 178) . Its lateral line curves down- 

 ward suddenly below the second dorsal which is 

 not the case in its relative alleteratus (p. 336). 



The first dorsal fin (about 15 spines) is not 

 only much longer, relatively, than that of the 

 mackerel, but its upper edge is abruptly concave 

 behind the second spine, with the last 9 or 10 

 spines much shorter. The second dorsal is tri- 

 angular, with concave rear edge; almost the whole 

 of it stands in front of the anal; the anal is as 

 large as the second dorsal and of about the same 

 shape. There are about 8 little finlets behind 

 the second dorsal, and about 7 finlets behind the 

 anal. The pectorals are of moderate size, reach- 

 ing back only about midway of the first dorsal. 

 The tail fin is very short but broad and lunate 

 in outline. 



Color. — Deep steel blue above, with the lower 

 part of the sides, the throat and the belly shining 

 white. Each side is barred behind the corselet 

 with 4 to 6 longitudinal blue or brown stripes, 

 the upper ones terminating at their intersection 

 with the lateral line, the lower 3 or 4 fading out 

 as they near the caudal peduncle. 79 



" The number of stripes is different in different geographic regions; Ameri- 

 can fish usually show only 4; 7 have been described for Japanese specimens; 

 there usually are 4, and sometimes 5 or 6, on each side in the European bonito. 



Size. — This bonito grows to a length of about 

 30 inches. 



General range. — -Warmer parts of all the great 

 oceans, the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — A specimen 

 obtained at Provincetown in 1880 by J. Henry 

 Blake is the only record for this oceanic fish in 

 the Gulf, but it sometimes appears in numbers 

 about Woods Hole, where 2,000 to 3,000 were 

 taken in 1878, but where it did not show again 

 until October 1905. 



False albacore Euthynnus alleteratus (Rafinesque) 

 1810 



Little Tunny; Bonito 

 Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 258. 



This bonito resembles the striped bonito (p. 335) 

 very closely in body form, in size and arrangement 

 of its fins, and in the fact that its body has no 

 scales except on the forward and upper part of 

 the trunk, the corselet, and along the lateral line. 

 But it is distinguishable from the striped bonito 

 by its color pattern, for it is above its lateral 

 line that its sides bear dark markings, not below. 

 And its lateral line does not bend downward 

 appreciably below the second dorsal fin. 80 Also, 

 its anal fin originates relatively farther back than 

 in the striped bonito, i. e., under the first dorsal 

 finlet instead of under the middle of the second 

 dorsal fin. 



M For further differences between the species of Emhimnus, see Fraser 

 Brunner, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 12, vol. 3, 1950, p. 150. 



Figure 179. — False albacore {Euthynnus alleteratus), Woods Hole. From Jordan and Evermann. Drawing by 



H. L. Todd. 



