On the breeding areas of the Swordtish (Xipliias) 



443 



In 1911, and for many years thereafter, Johs. Schmidt arranged with various Dan- 

 ish merchant vessels as well as with the Schooner Mari^rethe to fish for ccl larvae 

 with pelagic nets, especially in the surface layers of the Atlantic. Later, from 1929 

 to 1938, the collecting was extended to the Pacific. A few Xiphias fry were found in 

 these samples. These individuals were all taken in the area outlined above, i.e. in 

 the especially warm parts of the western Atlantic where there are high temperatures 

 down to a depth of at least 100 metres. When all the Danish records together with 

 the locahties for Xiphias fry given by Arata (1954) and by Lutken (1880) in the 

 Atlantic Ocean are plotted (Fig. 2), it is obvious that the portion of the western 

 Atlantic just described, and parts of the Caribbean, must be considered as the most 

 important spawning area for this species in the North Atlantic. Thus, all of Arata's 

 and some of LUtken's specimens came from the western Atlantic and Caribbean. 

 Lutken's specimens in the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, range from 10 to 51 

 mm in length, but only one is smaller than 20 mm in length. 



Fig. 3. Records of Xiphias postlarvae obtained during the cruise, February-May 1921 • positive 

 stations, • negative stations. Surface isotherms for 24° C and 25'' C indicated. 



Despite the extensive collecting by the Dana in the Indo-Pacific, especially in the 

 Marquesas-Fiji area, north of New Guinea, Malaya, west of Sumatra and in the 

 Madagascar area, only very few specimens were found (a total of seven specimens. 

 4-9-17-1 mm in length). These were Hmited to the area west of Sumatra, the South 

 China, Celebes and Banda Seas and off the Marquesas. Lutken (1880) also mentions 

 a few catches from a merchant ship (commanded by Captain A. F. Andrea) trom 

 the Reunion area (Fig. 2), the lengths of three of these specimens (preserved in the 

 Zoological Museum, Copenhagen) are 29-0, 29-5 and 44-5 mm. In addition to these, 

 fry are known in the Pacific, from the North Equatorial Current and trom the kuro- 

 shio Current (Yabe, 1951; Nakamura, 1951). We know of no other records ot try 

 from the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. Therefore, the boundaries ot the breeding areas 

 in these waters cannot be more sharply defined until more specimens are obtained. 



