RANDALL: SURVEY OF CIGUATERA AT MARSHALL ISLANDS 



SL, from the Marshall Islands and Line Islands 

 were examined during the present study. Nine of 

 these fishes had empty stomachs. The rest con- 

 tained the remains of fishes. 



Sphyraena forsteri Cuvier (Figure 12): This bar- 

 racuda is readily distinguished from all others by 

 its large eye, black blotch in the axil of the pectoral 

 fins, and spiniferous plates on its first gill arch 

 instead of gill rakers or no trace of rakers at all. 



de Sylva (1973:18) wrote that this species of 

 barracuda has been implicated in poisoning but 

 added that the examples appear to be misiden- 

 tifications of S. barracuda. Hiyama (1943, pi. 3, 

 fig. 9), however, did not confuse his specimens with 

 ■S. barracuda. He reported S. forsteri from the 

 Marshall Islands as slightly poisonous from feed- 

 ing flesh to cats and mice. 



Only two individuals of this species were caught 

 during the survey, both from Bikini and both the 

 same size (610 mm SL, 1.8 kg). Each produced a 

 toxic reaction of 2. 



The stomach of one of these fish contained fish 

 remains; the other was empty. 



Mugilidae (Mullets) 



Crenimugil crenilabis (Forsskal) (Figure 13): 

 This large mullet has a deeply emarginate caudal 

 fin, a black spot at upper pectoral base, and 37-39 

 rows of scales between the gill opening and the 

 caudal base. Widespread in the tropical Indo-West 

 Pacific region, it is usually seen in small aggrega- 

 tions in the shallows of lagoons and on outer reef 

 flats. It appears to feed on fine algae and detritus 

 from the substratum. After feeding on a sandy 

 bottom it has been observed to expel sand from its 

 gill openings. The spawning by a large school at 

 the surface at night in the Enewetak lagoon was 

 described by Helfrich and Allen (1975). Cre- 

 nimugil crenilabis has been reported as poisonous 

 by Randall (1958) from the Society Islands. It is 

 probably the species of mullet that Ross (1947) 



Figure 12.— Sphyraena forsteri, 540 mm SL, 1.2 kg, Enewetak, Marshall Islands. 



Figure 13. — Crenimugil crenilabis, 337 mm SL, Enewetak, Marshall Islands. 



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