Bluefin tuna, T. thynnus (Yokota et al. 1961; de Jager 

 et al. 1963; Matthews et al. 1977) 



Kawakawa, Euthynnus affinis (Ronquillo 1954; 

 Philippine Islands) 



Little tunny, E. alletteratus (Dragovich 1969) 



Skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis (Kishinouye 

 1917, 1923, Japan; Ronquillo 1954; Yokota et al. 

 1961; Batts 1972, North Carolina) 



Yellowfin tuna, T. albacares (Kishinouye 1917; Naka- 

 mura 1936, Celebes Sea; Mead 1951, eastern tropi- 

 cal Pacific; Ronquillo 1954; King and Ikehara 

 19.56; Yokota et al. 1961; Alverson 1963, eastern 

 tropical Pacific; de Jager et al. 1963; Watanabe 

 1964; Dragovich 1969; Matthews et al. 1977) 



Billfishes 



Black marlin, Makaira indica (Nakamura 1942, 



Taiwan; Watanabe 1964) 

 Atlantic blue marlin, M. nigricans (Krumholz and de 



Sylva 19.58, Bahamas; Erdnian 1962, Puerto Rico) 



Perhaps because of their abundance, Auxis are con- 

 sidered forage elements which occupy an important 

 position in the food chain. In the eastern Pacific, A. 

 thazard are of no commercial importance but they con- 

 tribute to the tropical skipjack and yellowfin tuna 

 fishery indirectly, because they constitute a significant 

 part of the food of adult yellowfin tuna. In the western 

 Pacific, Auxis, because of their distribution and abun- 

 dance close to land masses, form a relatively high 

 proportion of the forage of tunas and billfishes that are 

 similarly distributed (Watanable 1964). 



The size oi Auxis consumed by large predators varies 

 considerably. Klawe (1963) noted that specimens of A. 

 thazard found in the stomachs of skipjack tuna, yellow- 

 fin tuna, and kawakawa varied from 60 to 125 mm, but 

 Watanabe (1964) has shown that Auxis up to 320 mm 

 may fall prey to large tunas and billfishes (Table 18). In 

 the Atlantic. Krumholz and de Sylva (1958) reported 

 that Auxis ranging in size from 200 to 250 mm have been 

 recovered from stomachs of blue marlin caught near 

 Bimini in the Bahamas. 



Table 18.— Size-frequency distribution ot AuxU found in the stomachs of tunas and marlins (Watanabe 1964). 



Body length (cm) 



Period 



•Ian. 19.53 

 Feb. 19.53 

 Nov.-Dec. 19.56 

 Dec. 1951- 

 Mar. 19.52 



9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 



18 1 7 — 



A - Banda Sea. north of Timor Island. Indonesia. 

 B ■ Sawu [Saru] Sea. .south of Flores Island. Indonesia. 

 C - Off the coast of Queensland. Australia. 

 n - Off the southern coast of Shikoku, .Japan. 



3.35 Parasites, diseases, injuries, and abnor- 

 malities 



Indo-Pacific sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus (Jones 

 19.58. India; Idyll and de Sylva 1963, western 

 Atlantic) 



.Striped marlin, Tetrapturus audax (Royce 1957, cen- 

 tral Pacific) 



White marlin, T. alhidus (Idyll and de Sylva 1963; 

 Davies and Bortone 1976, northeast Gulf of Mex- 

 ico) 



Other Species 



Barracuda, Sphyraena sp. (Idyll and de Sylva 1963) 



Lancetfish, Alepisaurus sp. (Matthews et al. 1977) 



Mahimahi, Coryphaena hippurus (Ronquillo 1954; 

 Idyll and de Sylva 1963; Rose and Hassler 1974, 

 North Carolina) 



Porpoise, Stenella sp. (Perrin et al. 1973, eastern trop- 

 ical Pacific) 



Thresher shark, Alopias yulpinus (Whitley 1964, 

 Australia) 



Tiger flat head, Neoplatycephalus richardsoni (Whit- 

 ley 1964) 



Wahoo, Acanthocyhium solandri (Idvll and de Sylva 

 1963) 



Table 19, extracted from MacCallum and MacCal- 

 lum (1916), Linton (1940), Manter (1940, 1947, 1954), 

 Vervoort (1965), Lewis (1967), Pillai (1967), Silas 

 (1967a), Silas and Ummerkutty (1967), and Mamaev 

 (1968), lists the monogenetic and digenetic trematodes, 

 cestodes, and copepods that are parasitic on Auxis. 



Table 19. — Monogenetic and digenetic trematodes, cestodes, and 

 parasitic copepods on Auxis (Mact^allum and MacC^allum 19iri; Lin- 

 ton 1940; Manter 1940. 1947, 19.54; Vervoort I9B5; Lewis 19fi7; Pillai 

 1967; Silas 1967a; Silas and Ummerkutty 1967; Mamaev 1968). 



Type of parasite 



Family 



Sp'>cies 



Monogenetic trematode 

 Digenetic trematode 



Parasitic copepod 



Hexostomatidae 

 Bucephalidae 

 Fellodistomidae 

 Didymozoidae 



Gorgoderidae 

 Dasyrhynchidae 



(^aligidae 



Bomolochidae 



Hexoxtoma auxidi 

 Rhipidocotyle capitatum 

 Tergextia laticollis 

 Didymozoon auxis 

 I'hacclotrema claviforme 

 Opepherotrema planum 

 Colocyntotrema auxis 

 Phyllodislomum lancea 

 Callitetrarhynchus 



gracilis 

 Caligus macarnvi 

 C. productus 

 C. auxisi 

 Bomolochus mycterobius 



33 



