Figure 13.— Relative abundance (number of larvae per 1,000 m' of water strained at the surface) of i4iu;i» in November-April, baaed 

 on plankton collections made in the eastern tropical Pacific. Dashed lines enclose area under investigation by Inter-American 

 Tropical Tuna Commission in 1952-59; black dots indicate positions of plankton hauls with zero catches. (Klawe 1963.) 



OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. APR AUG. 



Figure 14. — Average monthly catches, log,, (number caught =1), 

 of larva Auxia during cruises in October- February, April, and 

 August to the entrance of the Gulf of California (Klawe et al. 



1970). 



A axis have also been reported to spawn in waters 

 around the Marquesas Islands (Nakamura and Matsu- 

 moto 1967). From samples of tuna larvae collected at the 

 diel variability station (station occupied for 24-h 

 periods), Nakamura and Matsumoto found that skip- 

 jack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, larvae were most 

 numerous followed by Auxis larvae. Because currents 

 around the Marquesas Islands are suspected to be weak, 

 Auxis larvae as well as those of other tunas could not 

 have drifted very f£u- from the spawning site; therefore, 



18 



