z6o DISCOVERY REPORTS 



Particulars of the fish recorded in 1949 are included in Table 14. Sufficient remained of the barra- 

 cuda (Sphyraena sp.) for it to be identified (Plate II, fig. 3). The remains of the Atlantic albacore 

 (Thynnus alahinga) were recognized by the whalemen, who are also fishermen, as a Peixe de galha 

 which Nobre (1935, p. 253) gives as the local Azores vernacular name of this species. Davis (1874, 

 p. 262) mentions that the presence of albacore is a good sign when cruising for sperm whales, although 

 his explanation is not that the whales are following the albacore, but rather vice versa, that the whales 

 disturb flying fish which jump and so betray themselves to the albacore. 



Table 14. Fishes from the stomachs of sperm whales examined at Horta betzveen 1949 and 1954 



Stan- 



Whale no., sex, 

 and length 



F8, $, ii-om. 



Date 

 21 July 1949 



Position of capture 



F18, $, 11-3 m. 

 F19, S, 127 m. 



F21, <§, i6-om. 



1 Aug. 1949 

 10 Aug. 1949 



Species of fish 

 in stomach 



Sphyraena sp. 



? Sphyraena sp. 

 ? Sphyraena sp. 



Large gadiform 

 teleost 

 Thynnus alalunga 



Ceratias holbolli 



dard Total Weight 

 length length in 



in cm. in cm. 

 (129)* 



(82)* 

 (63)* 



12 Aug. 1949 Twenty miles south- 

 west of Capelinhas 

 Lighthouse, Fayal 

 38°2i'N,29°o8'W. 

 F292, cJ, 15-5 m. 19 Aug. 1954 Ceratias holbolli 



F291, 3, 16-5 m. 4 Aug. 1954 Ceratias holbolli 



F261, (J, 9-6 m. 18 June 1954 Ten miles west of Himantolophus 



Capelinhas Light- groenlandicus 

 house 38 37' N, 

 29 03' W. 

 F262, (J, 12-0 m. 18 June 1954 Ten miles west of Himantolophus 



Capelinhas Light- groenlandicus 

 house 38 37' N, 

 29°03'W. 



Himantolophus 

 groenlandicus 

 28 May 1954 South-west of Cape- Two large ceratioid 

 linhas Lighthouse fishes 



26 June 1954 South-west of Cape- 

 linhas Lighthouse 



18 July 1954 South-west of Cape- 

 linhas Lighthouse 



One large ceratioid 

 fish 



Three large cera- 

 tioid fishes 



F322, g, 15-0 m. 



29 Sept. 1954 South-west of Cape- One large ceratioid 

 linhas Lighthouse fish 



74"4 

 72-3 

 42-2 



35' 6 39-8 



3 o-; 



kg. Remarks 



— * Headless specimens 



partially digested 



— Identification of second 



and third specimens 

 uncertain (see Plate 



n, %• 3) 



— Digested : skull only 



— Mostly digested: head 



and fragments of the 

 backbone only 



— Identified from a skin 



fragment (see Clarke, 

 195°. P- 30) 



8- 18 Partially digested 

 7-58 Partially digested 

 3-52 Partially digested 



2-78 Almost intact (see Plate 

 II, fig. 8.) 



0-97 Partially digested 



— Described as^ badly 



digested and not sent 

 to England 



— Described as badly 



digested and not sent 

 to England 



— Described as badly 



digested and not sent 

 to England 



— Described as badly 



digested and not sent 

 to England 



The fourth whale contained a piece of skin from a large specimen of the bathypelagic angler fish 

 Ceratias holbolli, and this record has been discussed elsewhere (Clarke, 1950, p. 30). During 1954 

 Senhor Reis collected twelve more large ceratioids (Table 14), some almost intact, from sperm whale 

 stomachs, and he and Mr Collins have kindly shipped to me the least damaged individuals, which 



