ing to note that this area appears to be the southern-most Hmit of the 

 migration of the so-called silver marlin of the Pacific. While this fish is 

 caught in most of the tropical and subtropical areas of the Central Pacific, 

 its range along the western coast line of North and South America appears 

 to be limited to the mouth of the Gulf of Lower California on the north and 

 south to the area under consideration. There have been a few reportedh 

 caught south of the Gulf of Guayaquil in the vicinity of Mancora, Peru 

 but no definite records were available to substantiate this. 



Black marlin were found to be predominant in about the same season 

 as in the northern part of Peru on the south side of the Gulf of Guayaquil. 

 Again, the fish appears in the greatest abundance from June through 

 October. The only marked difference in the fish is its size. While the 

 average fish caught in the Mancora area of Peru is between 700 and 800 

 pounds, the average fish caught off southern Ecuador run less than 500. 

 Also, it is interesting to note that 1,000 pound black marlin are rarely 

 caught in Ecuador but are fairly common 200 miles south in Peru. A small 

 fish in the 200 to 300 pound class is seldom seen in the Peruvian waters 

 studied, yet they are very common in the adjacent Ecuadorian waters. 

 According to the ichthyological studies conducted during the expedition, 

 the size of the fish appears to be correlated with sex, the females being the 

 larger. 



The striped marlin in this vicinity of Ecuador arrive in their greatest 

 quantity much earlier in the year than the blacks. From the information 

 available, it appears that they arrive at their peak in the months of March, 

 April and May, which are roughly the best months for the same fish off the 

 northern coast of Chile. As in the case of the black marlin, there is a 

 reduction in the size. It appears that they weigh 120 to 140 pounds. The 

 few caught during the period of the expedition in these waters were very 

 small, averaging around 100 pounds. It is interesting to compare the three 

 zones in which the expedition studied the striped marlin. In northern 

 Chile the fish averaged very close to 300 pounds. From central to northern 

 Peru the average was about 180 to 200 pounds and finally they declined 

 to the above mentioned weights in southern Ecuador. From morphometric 

 standpoint these fish are similar in every respect. 



A third species of marlin is recorded from this area. It is possible that 

 this fish may be identical with the blue marlin of the Atlantic. It is hoped 

 to clarify this in the near future. The fish itself is not common in this 

 particular part of the Pacific or any other area with the exception of the 

 Hawaiian Islands. This marlin may occur any month of the year off the 

 coast of Ecuador and on an average the few caught run considerably 

 larger than those recorded northward in the Gulf of Panama. During the 

 month the expedition was based at Salango, two specimens were observed 



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