2 DISTRIBUTION 

 2.1 Total area 



The genus Auxis is distributed worldwide in tropical 

 and subtropical waters.. The confusion surrounding the 

 identification of the two species of Auxis is reflected in 

 their reported distribution in the world's oceans. Fitch 

 and Roedel (1963) concluded from their study that A. 

 rochei was cosmopolitan in distribution whereas A. 

 thazard was restricted to the Pacific. Collette and Gibbs 

 (1963a) expressed uncertainty about the presence of 

 both species of Auxis in the Atlantic but stated that 

 both probably do occur there. Richards and Randall 

 (1967) independently confirmed that adult A. thazard 

 do occur in the Atlantic. 



The distribution of A. thazard cannot be separated 

 from that oi A. rochei at the present time because of dif- 

 ficulties in the past in distinguishing one species from 

 the other (Yabe et al. 1963). Therefore, the reported dis- 

 tribution in the literature for either A. thazard or A. 

 rochei is questionable and needs to be critically reex- 

 amined. The following discussion takes into account the 

 distribution of both species. Figure 8 shows the distri- 

 bution of Auxis adults in relation to water tmd land 

 areas. 



In the Pacific Ocean, Auxis occur off the coast of the 

 United States between Santa Catalina Islcmd and San 

 Clemente Island off California southward into the east- 

 em tropical Pacific extending as far south as lat. 18° S 

 (Radovich 1961; A. Ch. de Vildoso^). They have also 

 been reported from the Hawaiian (Matsumoto 1960a) 

 and Marquesas Islands (Nakamura and Matsumoto 

 1967). In the western Pacific, they occur off the coast of 

 Japan as far north as Hokkaido, off Korea, off the coast 



^A. Ch. de Vildoso. Institute del Mar. Calla 

 December 1975. 



Peru. pers. coramun. 



of China mainland near southern Manchuria and Ning- 

 po, around Formosa, and in waters surrounding the 

 Ryukyu and Bonin Islands (Rosa 1950). Southward, 

 Auxis have been reported from Samoa Islands and 

 Papua New Guinea (Jordan and Scale 1906), the Philip- 

 pine Islands (Herre 1953), along the eastern and south- 

 ern coasts of Australia (Scott 1962; Laevastu tuid Rosa 

 1963; Whitley 1964), Tasmania (Lord 1927), and New 

 Zealand (Roberts et al. 1977). 



The usual latitudinal range reported for Auxis in the 

 tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean is 

 from lat. 45°N to 35°S (CoUignon see footnote 2; Miyake 

 and Hayasi 1972). In the eastern Atlantic, they occur 

 infrequently as far north as Bergen, Norway, and the 

 canal of Oslo Harbor (Rosa 1950) and in waters around 

 the British Isles (Went 1955, 1956, 1958, 1967; Rae 1963; 

 Went and Kennedy 1969; Wheeler and Blacker 1969). 

 Auxis also occur in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. 

 Southward, they are found in waters off the Republic of 

 South Africa and offshore around Ascension and St. 

 Helena Islands. In the western Atlantic, the northern- 

 most occurrence o{ Auxis is off Barnstable, Mass., in the 

 Gulf of Maine (Mather and Gibbs 1957). Southward in 

 the western Atlantic, Auxis have been reported from 

 the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlan 

 tic as far south as Mar del Plata, Argentina (Lopez 

 1961). 



In the eastern Indian Oceam, Auxis have been 

 reported from the east coast of India and southward 

 along the Indonesian Archipelago to Cape Leeuwin near 

 the southern tip of Western Australia (Rosa 1950; Jones 

 and Silas 1964; Nair et al. 1970). The western Indian 

 Ocean distribution of Auxis extends from the west coast 

 of India offshore to the Maldive and Laccadive Islands, 

 the coast of Iraq in the Persian Gulf (Mahdi 1971), the 

 Red Sea (Ben-Tuvia 1968), and from the Gulf of Aden 

 southward to the coast of Natal in the Republic of South 

 Africa (Williams 1963; Nair et al. 1970). 



Figure 8.— The distribution of Auxis spp. adults in relation to water and land areas in the world's ocean. 



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