COMPARISON OF YELLOWFIN TUNA OF HAWAIIAN WATERS AND THE AMERICAN WEST COAST 373 



The various biometric differences demonstrated 

 herein are of about the same magnitude as the 

 differences between yellowfin tuna from the waters 

 of the American west coast and from the Atlantic 

 off Africa (Schaefer and Walford 1950). In some 

 cases, such as the lengths of second dorsal and anal 

 fins, the differences between the two samples from 

 the Pacific are even more striking than the differ- 

 ences between African and American west-coast 

 samples. If it is borne out by further study that 

 the variation within oceans is about as great as 

 the variation between them, it will be necessary 

 to regard all the yellowfin tunas as belonging to a 

 single species. It is particularly desirable that a 

 series of specimens be examined from the Indian 

 Ocean, whence comes the type of A'^. argentimttatus, 

 which has priority among the several descriptions 

 of species of Neofhunnus, in order to settle the 

 question of nomenclature. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Fr.^ser-Brtjnner, A. 



1950. The fishes of the family Scombridae. Ann. Mag. 

 Nat. Hist., Ser. 12, vol. 3, pp. 131-163, 35 figs. 

 GODSIL, H. C. 



1948. A preliminary population study of the yellowfin 

 tuna and the albacore. California Div. Fish and 

 Game, Fish. Bull. No. 70, 90 pp., 7 tables, 22 figs. 



GoDsiL, H. C, and R. D. Byers 



1944. A systematic study of the Pacific tunas. California 

 Div. Fish and Game, Fish. Bull. No. 00, 131 pp., 18 

 tables, 76 figs. 

 June, Fred C. 



1950. Preliminary fisheries survey of the Hawaiian-Line 

 Islands area. Part I — The Hawaiian long-line fishery. 

 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Com. Fish. Rev., vol. 

 12, No. 1, pp. 1-23, 8 tables, 18 figs. 

 Kendall, Maurice G. 



1946. The advanced theory of statistics. Vol. II. 521 

 pp. Charles Griffin & Co., London. 

 Marr, John C, and Milner B. Schaefeb 



1949. Definitions of body dimensions used in describing 

 tunas. TJ. S. Fi.sh and Wildlife Service, Fishery Bull. 

 No. 47, vol. 51, pp. 241-244, 1 fig. 

 Martin, W. R. 



1949. The mechanics of environmental control of body 

 form in fishes. L^niv. Toronto Studies, Biol., No. 58, 

 Pub. Out. Fish. Res. Lab., No. 70, 72 pages, 13 tables, 

 24 figs. 



Schaefer, Milner B. 



1948. Morphometric characteristics and relative growth 

 of yellowfin tunas (Meolhunnus macropicrus) from 

 Central America. Pacific Science, vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 

 114-120, 2 tables. 



ScHAEPEH, Milner B., and Lionel A. Walford 



1950. Biometric comparison between j'ellowfin tunas 

 (Neolhwmus) of Angola and of the Pacific Coast of 

 Central America. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Fish. Bull. No. 56, vol. 51, pp. 425-443, 3 tables, 

 15 figs. 



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