shorter (17.5-19.2 vs. 19-27), and the pelvics longer 

 (26.0-26.7 vs. 14-22). The larger of these was described 

 by de Sylva (1963) as having the adult characteristics 

 nearly fully developed. 



1.32 Cytomorphology 



The genetic make up of the white marlin has not 

 been dealt with in any detail. 



1.33 Protein specificity 



Edmunds (1972) analyzed samples from over 100 

 white marlin captured in the middle Atlantic Bight, 

 off the Bahamas, in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and 

 off Venezuela electrophoretically for the forms of the 

 proteins transferrin, esterase, 6-phosphogluconate 

 dehydrogenase (PGD), malate dehydrogenase 

 (MDH), hemoglobin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), 

 and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) pres- 

 ent. He concluded that these analyses provided no 

 basis for separating the white marlin from these areas 

 into different subpopulations. 



2 DISTRIBUTION 

 2.1 Total Area 



The white marlin is distributed over nearly all of 

 the Atlantic Ocean from lat. 35°S to 45°N, including 

 the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (Figs. 4, 5). 

 Most of this range is documented by catches of the 

 Japanese longline fishery (Ueyanagi et al., 1970; 

 Mather, Jones, and Beardsley, 1972). Data from other 

 fisheries (Furnestin et al., 1958; Postel, 1959; 

 Rodriguez-Roda and Howard, 1962; Robins, 1974), 

 however, establish the presence of the species in the 

 eastern North Atlantic near the Strait of Gibraltar. 

 The white marlin has occasionally been recorded out- 

 side this area, perhaps on the basis of strays. Legendre 

 (1928) and Desbrosses (1938) reported individual cap- 

 tures west of Brittany, France, Tortonese (1940, 1961, 

 1962, 1970), Lozano Cabo (1958), and Rodriguez-Roda 

 and Howard (1962) recorded a few catches in the 

 western Mediterranean. Also, Japanese longliners 

 have taken a few white marlin near lat. 45°S and long. 

 50°W, and near lat. 40°S and long. 15°E (Ueyanagi et 

 al., 1970). The distribution of the Japanese longline 

 effort does not provide complete coverage of the 

 Atlantic Ocean in all seasons. Therefore the seasonal 

 distribution of the species and the limits of its normal 

 range, particularly in the South Atlantic, may not be 

 completely defined. 



Pollutants such as chlorinated hydrocarbons 

 (Harvey et al., 1972), petroleum (Horn, Teal, and 

 Backus, 1970; Morris, 1971), and plastics (Carpenter 

 et al., 1972) have found in the surface waters of areas 

 inhabited by white marlin, but what effect, if any, 

 these may have on this species is unknown. 



The known distribution encompasses most of areas 

 (Rosa, 1965) ASW (Atlantic, SW) and ASE (Atlantic, 

 SE), as well as the part of ANW (Atlantic, NW) south 

 ot lat. 45°N, and the Atlantic portions of PSW 

 (Southern Ocean, W) near South America and Africa. 

 Natural regions (Rose, 1965) included are the New- 

 foundland waters (5.2.1); the Florida, Gulf Stream, 

 and Atlantic Drift Current waters (5.3.1-.2,-.3 

 [rarely]); the Sargasso Sea and Azores waters (5.4.1- 

 .2); the western part of the Mediterranean Sea (5.5.1 

 [rarely]); the Gulf of Mexico, Carribean Sea, 

 Bahama, Atlantic North Equatorial Current, and 

 Cape Verde waters (5. 6.1, -.2,-. 3,-. 4,-. 5); the Guinea 

 region (5.7); the Atlantic South Equatorial Current 

 region, E. Brazilian, S.E. Brazilian, Benguela 

 Current, and S.W. African waters (5.8.1-.2,-.3,-.4,-.5); 

 the Atlantic southern gyrals (5.9.1); and the Agulhas 

 waters (1.5.4 [rarely]). 



This area is so large that it is difficult to classify. 

 The distribution varies seasonally, however, reaching 

 the higher latitudes in the respective hemispheres 

 during the local warm seasons only. For the most part, 

 white marlin are found in deep (over 100-m) blue 

 water with surface temperatures over 22° C and 

 salinities of 35-37% . Some seasonal feeding concen- 

 trations and migrations, however, occur in waters 

 with characteristics differing from one or more of 

 these. Average air temperatures of regions where 

 white marlin occur are usually moderate to warm, 

 15°-28°C. Currents of from 0.5 to 2 knots occur over 

 much of their habitat. The productivity of most of this 

 distributional area is considered to be low. 



2.2 Differential Distribution 



2.21 Spawn, larvae and juveniles 



The early stages of the life history of white marlin 

 are little known. As a result of collections of larvae 

 3.0-3.5 mm long made from RV John Elliot Pillsbury, 

 24 July- 13 August 1964, de Sylva postulated three 

 spawning grounds for white marlin in the western 

 North Atlantic (Stephens, 1965). These were north- 

 east of the Little Bahama Bank, off Abaco Islands, 

 northwest of Grand Bahama Island (both in region 

 5.6.2), and southwest of Bermuda (region 5.4.1). 

 Ueyanagi et al. (1970) state that white marlin migrate 

 to subtropical waters to spawn, with peak spawning in 

 early summer. They record collections of larvae at 

 only a few of a very large number of collecting sta- 

 tions (Fig. 6) in November-April. Four collections 

 were made in the central South Atlantic (near lat. 

 20°N, long. 20° W). Two were in the western South 

 Atlantic; one near lat. 22°S and long. 32°W, and one 

 near lat. 8°S and long. 35°W, just off the eastern- 

 most part of Brazil. Two were in the central North 

 Atlantic, near lat. 20°N and long. 35°W. Another was 

 in the western North Atlantic, near lat. 8°N, long. 

 50°W. 



62 



