FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 79, NO. 4 



The purpose of this paper is to bring together the 

 widely scattered information on A. superciliosus , 

 summarize its life history, and correct certain 

 inconsistencies in the literature. We present mor- 

 phometric, meristic, and other quantitative data, 

 including descriptive accounts of specimens from 

 Florida and the central Pacific, compare the big- 

 eye thresher with other species of threshers, and 

 discuss its taxonomic history. 



MATERIAL 



1. SHG-A2 (S. H. Gruber, private collection); 

 adult female, 356 cm TL (total length), weight 140 

 kg; Straits of Florida several kilometers east of 

 Miami Beach, Fla.; captured on 29 June 1977 by 

 sport fishermen on a hook baited with squid at 30 

 m depth in water about 400 m deep. The specimen 

 was photographed, measured, and dissected, and 

 two early fetuses, both eyes, skin patch, and the 

 tail were saved. The jaws were used in a taxi- 

 dermist's mount and were not available, but the 

 teeth were photographed before the fish 

 was mounted. The fetuses are males, 207 and 

 213 mm TL. 



2. SHG-A7; adult male, 356 cm TL; Straits of 

 Florida several kilometers east of Pompano 

 Beach, Fla.; captured at 1000 h e.d.t. on 4 July 

 1979 by commercial longliner at 40 m in water 

 about 400 m deep. The specimen was photo- 

 graphed, measured, and dissected. Head, jaws, 

 vertebral column (precaudal), tail, and claspers 

 were saved. The spiral valve was sent to M. 

 Dailey, Long Beach, Calif., for parasite investiga- 

 tion. One eye was sent to G. Hughes, Canberra 

 City, Australia, for retinal study. 



3. SHG-A5; adult female, 320 cm TL; Straits of 

 Florida several kilometers east of Miami Beach, 

 Fla.; captured on a longline at 40 m at 2200 h e.s.t., 

 14 March 1979. The water depth was 350 m. The 

 head was removed, dissected, and saved with the 

 jaws intact. 



4. SHG-A6; subadult female, 306 cm TL; caught 

 on same set as no. 3 above. 



5. SHG-A3; subadult male, 291 cm TL; Straits of 

 Florida, 35 km east of Palm Beach, Fla.; captured 

 on 24 July 1979 by commercial longliner at 30 m in 

 water about 120 m deep. The specimen was 

 photographed, measured, and dissected, and the 

 jaws, vertebrae, and head saved. 



6. SHG-A4; immature male, 150 cm TL; east 

 of Hatteras, N.C.; captured on a longline on 

 6 May 1979. The specimen was photographed and 



measured. No parts were saved as the whole shark 

 was used in taxidermy. 



7. Shoyo Maru voyage 13, SM-9-n-64-3; Nankai 

 Regional Fisheries Laboratory, Japan; immature 

 female, 279 cm TL, weight 62 kg; eastern Central 

 Pacific, lat. 0°38' N, long. 124°23' W; captured 

 on a longline on 9 February 1964. The specimen 

 was photographed, measured, and dissected by 

 Susumu Kato'^; skin, jaws, reproductive organs, 

 eyes, nasal sac, and parasites saved. 



8. LJVC-0355 (L. J. V. Compagno, private col- 

 lection), S/ioyo Man/ voyage 13, SM-ll-n-6493; im- 

 mature female, 287 cm TL, weight 59 kg; eastern 

 Central Pacific, lat. 3°16' S, long. 128°18'W; 

 captured on a longline on 11 February 1964. The 

 specimen was measured and preserved intact by 

 Susumu Kato (footnote 3), later photographed and 

 dissected by Compagno; skin, jaws, cranium, eyes, 

 vertebral column, and fins saved. 



9. Shoyo Maru voyage 16, SHO-16-2; 461 cm TL; 

 Mediterranean Sea, lat. 36°39' N, long. 17°51' E; 

 captured on a longline on 2 December 1966. 

 Specimen measured by Izumi Nakamura^ and 

 data presented to Susumu Kato (footnote 3). 



10. Shoyo Maru voyage 16, SHO-16-22; 2 indi- 

 viduals, 343 and 347 cm TL; lat. 13°36.4' N, 

 long. 75°34.2' W; captured on a longline on 

 4 February 1967. Specimen measured by Izumi 

 Nakamura (footnote 4) and data presented to 

 Susumu Kato (footnote 3). 



11. LACM-F-89; no length or sex data; Odawara, 

 Japan, 1968; jaws only, teeth counted by Bruce 

 Welton^ 



12. CAS (California Academy of Science, San 

 Francisco, Calif.) Ace. 1963-X: 7; adult male, 372 

 cm TL; off San Clemente Is., southern California, 

 23 July 1963; partly dissected and preserved, 

 jaws dried; previously reported by Fitch and 

 Craig (1964). 



13. LACM-F-88; male, presumably adult, 378 

 cm TL; 25 km ESE of east end of Santa Catalina 

 Is., Calif.. 30 June 1967; jaws only, teeth counted 

 by Bruce Welton (footnote 5). 



14. LACM-F-90; immature female, ca. 305 

 cm TL; southern California, probably Santa Mon- 



■'Susumu Kato, Southwest Fisheries Center Tiburon Labora- 

 tory, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 3150 Paradise 

 Drive, Tiburon, CA 94920. 



■"Izumi Nakamura, Fisheries Research Station, Kyoto Univer- 

 sity, Maizuru, Kyoto 625, Japan. 



Bruce Welton, Department of Paleontology, Los Angeles 

 Mu.seum of Natural Historv, 900 Exposition Boulevard. Los 

 Angeles, CA 90007. 



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