664 



Fishery Bulletin 103(4) 



White marlin 

 Blue marlin 



0-25 26-50 51-75 76-100 101-125 126-150 151-175 176-200 201-225 226-250 >250 



Depth bins (m) 



White marlin 

 Blue marlin 



0<12 12-14 14-16 16-18 18-20 20-22 22-24 24-26 26-28 28-30 30-32 32-60 



Temperature bins (m) 



Figure 4 



Total time at depth (upper panel) and time at temperature (lower panel) for white 

 marlin iTetrapturus albidus) and blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) tagged with 

 popup satellite archival tags during April and May 2003. Tags monitored marlin 

 for 30 and 40 days. 



some oocytes exhibiting an early state of final oocyte 

 maturation, including migration of the nucleus towards 

 the oocyte periphery and yolk coalescence (Fig. 5, lower 

 panel). 



A total of 23 neuston net tows were made in the gen- 

 eral area of the recreational fishery from 23 April to 

 17 May 2003 (Fig. 1). These tows yielded 18 larval 

 billfishes. Molecular identification was successful for 

 12 larvae: 8 white marlin and 4 blue marlin (Table 2). 

 Half of the white marlin larvae were 3-4 mm standard 

 length (SL), two were 4-5 mm SL, one was 6.2 mm SL, 

 and one was 12.1 mm SL (Fig. 6). The one positively 

 identified blue marlin larva captured in April was 4.6 

 mm SL; the remainder taken in May were 3.5 mm SL, 



5.1 mm SL, and 10.4 mm SL. Sizes of the six unidenti- 

 fied billfish larvae ranged from 3 to 6 mm SL (Fig. 6). 



Discussion 



Larval sampling with neuston tows and histological 

 analyses of adult ovaries confirmed spawning activity 

 of white marlin in the vicinity of Punta Cana during 

 April and May (2003). Co-occurrence of larval blue 

 marlin and white marlin in samples indicated that the 

 two species share this spawning location. White and 

 blue marlin spawning activity in the vicinity of Punta 

 Cana, as indicated from the data presented in our study, 



