SPEARFISHES OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC 



527 



weipjhing; loss tlian 110 pounds was laiidod in Oc- 

 tober and Xovombcr. In the Hawaiian market 

 data (tal)Ie 4) one modal group from 100 to 150 

 pounds occurs, but too few data arc available to 

 show other modes. 



Food 



No specific food studies of marlina have ap- 

 peared but Nakamura (1949) in his general dis- 

 cussion of the food of marlins indicates that they 

 feed on live food but will take dead bait or arti- 

 ficial lures and do not seek food on the bottom. 

 June (1951) has recorded the gluttony of one 

 specimen which contained a 158-pound bigeye 

 tuna.* Of our 10 specimens on which we have 

 food notes, 3 contained remains of the sunfish, 

 Mola, and 2 contained tunas, 1 a 30-cm. Katsu- 

 woruis (1 lb.), and 1 a 94-cm. Germo (40 lb.). An- 

 other contained vertebrae and fin rays which were 

 evidently from a fairly large fish, since the verte- 

 brae were 5 cm. long in the centrum and the fin 

 rays were about 20 cm. in length. This marlin 

 is probably as broadly carnivorous as the other 

 species of marlins which eat a great variety of fish 

 and squid. Certainly, if they can capture tunas 

 few other animals would be fast enough to escape 

 them. 



Spawning 



Nakamura (1949) stated that he had no con- 

 crete data on the spawning habits of marlina but 

 suspected from some data on the condition of the 

 gonads and the relative abundance of males and 

 females that it spawns off Formosa around August 

 to October. None of the POFI specimens had 

 ripening gonads. 



Seasonal occurrence 



The season for marlina in Formosa is from Octo- 

 ber through April, according to Nakamura (1938, 

 table 9; 1951, table 43) who gave catch statistics 

 for the Suo fish market. Off Cabo Blanco, Peru, 

 the sport fishermen have taken it throughout the 

 year, according to a personal communication from 



» ArttT this manuscript was wTitten, two similar records were obtained. 

 Joseph E. KinR of the I'OKI .staff refwrted that on April 4, 1955. a marlina 

 402 cm. fork lenRlh was taken on a lonijline at 1°49' N'.latitudeand 157°38' W. 

 longitude. It contained a yellowfin tuna 1.54 cm. fork length which was esti- 

 mated from lencth-weiglit curves to weigh 157 pounds. The marlina ,ip- 

 parently had taken the dead herring halt after eating the tuna tH'cau.s<> the 

 tuna showed no signs of being hooked nor d id it have l>ait In Its stomach. The 

 marlina was l)ooke<l normally in the jaw. The tuna bad two holes through 

 its body similar In size to the marlin's spear. E. S. Iver.sen, formerly of the 

 POFI statT, reported that a marlina 303 cm. fork length was taken on April 8, 

 1955, at 4°31' .\'. latitude anil lfiO°30' W. longitude, that contained a yellowfin 

 estimated to weigh 70 pounds. 



J. E. Morrow. Apparently, there has not been 

 enough fisiiiiig in the other parts of the Pacific 

 where marlina is plentiful to clearly establish the 

 best seasons. 

 Synonymy and references 



Makaira marlina, .Jordan and Hill, in Jordan and Ever- 

 mann, 1926:59, pi. 17 (Pacific coast of Mexico); Grey, 

 1928:47 (New Zealand); Walford, 1937:48 (Baja Cal- 

 ifornia, Pacific coa.st of Panama); Nakamura, 1938:29 

 (Formosa); Nakamvira, 1942 (Formosa); Farrington, 

 1949:151 (New Zealand, Australia, Pacific coast of 

 Panama and Mexico); Brock, 1950:146 (Hawaii); 

 June, 1951:287 (Hawaii); Nakamura, 1951:37 (west- 

 ern Pacific) ; Murphy and Otsu, 1954 (Caroline Islands). 



Marlina marlina, Hirasaka and Nakamura, 1947:15, 

 pi. 3, fig. 1 (Formosa); Nakamura, 1949:63 (western 

 Pacific, Indian Ocean). 



Makaira ampla marlina, Nichols and LaMonte, 1941:8, 

 fig. 1 (west coast of the Americas, New Zealand, Austra- 

 lia) ; LaMonte and Marcy, 1941:2 (Peru, New Zealand, 

 Australia, Hawaii, west coast of Mexico, California). 



Makaira nigricans marlina, Nichols and LaMonte, 

 1935b:328; Gregory and Conrad, 1939:443 (New Zea- 

 land, Australia); Gabrielson and LaMonte, 1950:27 

 (Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Peru, Pacific coast 

 of Panama and Mexico); Rosa, 1950:143 (California 

 to Peru, New Zealand, Australia, Tahiti); Morrow, 

 1954:819 (East Africa). 



Makaira ampla lahitiensis, Nichols and LaMonte, 1941:8, 

 fig. 3 (Tahiti, Hawaii); LaMonte and Marcy, 1941:2 

 (Tahiti, Hawaii). 



Makaira nigricans tahiliensis, Nichols and LaMonte, 

 1935a:l, fig. 1 (Tahiti); Nichols and LaMonte, 

 1935b:328; Gabrielson and LaMonte, 1950:28 (Tahiti, 

 Hawaii, Pacific coast of Mexico); 1950:144 (Pacific 

 coast of Mexico, Hawaii, Tahiti). 



Makaira mazara, LaMonte, 1955:336, pi. 9 (in part). 



Makaira mazara tahiliensis, LaMonte, 1955:342, pi. tO 

 (in part). 



Istiompax aiistralis, Whitley, 1931:18 (Australia). 



Istiompax dombraini, Whitley, 1954:60 (Australia); 

 1955:295 and fig. 293. 



Histiophorus gladius, Ramsay, 1881:295 (Australia). 



Makaira aiistralis. Fowler, 1934:400, 402 (Australia, 

 Tahiti). 



Makaira indica. Fowler, 1949:74 (Hawaii, Galapagos, 

 Tahiti). 



Shirokajiki, white marlin, Nakamura, 1944a (Formosa); 

 Van Campen, 1952:7 (Caroline Islands). 



Black niarhn, Farrington, 1953 (Chile, Peru, Ecuador, 

 Pacific coast of Panama and Mexico). 



Silver marlin, Farrington, 1949:152 (Hawaii, Tahiti) 

 (in part). 



Probable synonyms 



Telrapturus herscheli. Gray, 1838:313, pi. X(South Africa). 

 Ilisliophorus brevirostris, Phiyfuir and GUnther, 1866:53, 



145 (Zanzibar); Day, 1878:199, fig. 3, pi. 47 (India). 

 Tctrapluriis brevirostris, Rosa, 1950:160 (South Africa, 



Zanzibar, India, Indo-Pacific area); De Beaufort and 



