PERCH-LIKE FISHES 15* 



The Albacore gives pretty good sport to the anglers of 

 California, who use bone, rag or feather " jigs towed at a 

 fair pace astern of the boat. The record fish was taken at 

 Santa Catalina in 191.2, and weighed 66 lb. 4 oz. 



The name " Albacore " comes from a Portuguese word 

 " Albacora ", said to be derived from two Arabic words, " al 

 bacoro ", meaning " a little pig ". The scientific name, Germo, 

 is from the French name for the fish, " Germon " ; alalunga 

 is used in Sardinia, being derived from ala, wing, longus, long. 



YELLOW-FINNED ALBACORES. 

 (Genus Neothunnus.) Fig. 50. 



Related to the Tunnies and Albacores, and distinguished 

 from them mainly by anatomical features. The full-grown 

 fish may be easily recognized by the shape of the soft dorsal 

 and anal fins, which form long, pointed, sickle-shaped lobes, 

 and by the somewhat large size of the finlets. The pectoral 

 fins are long, but only extend as far as or nearly as far as the 

 level of the front of the anal fin, but not beyond it as in the 

 Albacores. The coloration is essentially the same as that of 

 the Tunnies and Albacores, but the soft dorsal and anal fins, 

 as well as the finlets, are bright yellow, often with dark edges, 

 the yellow hue being particularly brilliant in the young fish. 



Grow to a length of 6 to 9 feet and a weight of at least 

 400 lb. 



Two species which grow to a large size are recognized, 

 one- from the Atlantic and another from the Pacific, and there 

 are probably one or two smaller species. The Atlantic Yellow- 

 finned Tuna or Long-fin Albacore (N. argentivittatus) has been 

 recorded from such widely-separated parts of the tropical and 

 subtropical Atlantic as Portugal, Madeira, the Canaries. 

 Angola, St. Helena, Bermuda, Florida and the West Indies. 

 The Pacific species (N. macropterus) has been recorded from 

 the Maldives, India, Ceylon, the East Indies, Japan, the 

 Hawaiian Islands, Mexico, California and the Galapagos 

 Islands. This is the " Yellow-fin Tuna " of Southern Cali- 

 fornia, the " Ahi " of Hawaii, and in Japan is known as 

 " kihata ", " kiwada ", " itoshibi " or" gesunaga ". 



