ABSTRACT 



Various hard parts of large (93-128 cm.) albacore, Germo alalunga (Bonnaterre), 

 from Hawaiian waters and smaller fish (50-112 cm.) from the central North Pacific 

 were examined for marks that could be used in determining age in this species. A 

 cursory examination of the opercular bones and fin spines revealed no usable marks. 

 A study of scale samples from 100 albacore showed that only one-half of them were 

 readable, and these only with a considerable degree of subjectivity. 



Several workers in other areas have reported apparent success in aging albacore 

 by means of the rings on the vertebral centra. Their results could not be duplicated 

 in the present study. In attempts to read the rings in the vertebrae of 212 Hawaiian 

 and 53 central North Pacific albacore, the authors found little agreement between the 

 counts of the different readers or even between successive counts by the same reader. 

 Indications were seen that the rings on the vertebrae are not annuli but rather that 

 they may be growth marks laid down randomly with time. As a clue to relative age, 

 however, they may provide an explanation of the unbalanced sex ratio of large albacore, 

 for they indicate the possibility that among mature fish the males grow faster than the 

 females. 



The results of this study, though largely negative, are presented for the information 

 of those engaged at present in similar studies and for others who may work on this 

 problem in the future. 



