Of the 51 scombrids in the collections, only 8 (16%) 

 were captured in day tows. Postlarval scombrids ap- 

 parently 1) are able to see and avoid nets approaching 

 at 5 knots, or 2) engage in diel vertical migrations and 

 are only available to surface samplers during twilight 

 or night. 



Dooley (1972) reported taking young (37-78 mm) 

 Scomber japonicus schooling with Trachurus lathami 

 and Decapterus punctatus. Our S. japonicus 

 specimens were all taken in association with juveniles 

 oi Decapterus punctatus (and was the only scombrid 

 species so associated). Judging from our catches in 

 January, February, and May, and Dooley's (1972) 

 catches in March, this species probably spawns dur- 

 ing winter and spring in the South Atlantic Bight. 



We did not catch enough postlarval Spanish 

 mackerel to determine the length of the spawning 

 period, but in 1967 spawning began at least as early as 

 May off the east coast of Florida. We caught larvae in 

 Gulf V plankton samplers as far north as Jacksonville 

 on 10 May (unpublished) and the size of the postlar- 

 vae caught on 8 May indicates an onset of spawning 

 perhaps as early as late April. The postlarvae reported 

 on here were all taken within 15 miles (27.81 km) of 

 shore while smaller larvae were taken as far offshore 

 as 62 miles (114.95 km), indicating an offshore spawn- 

 ing and inshore migration with growth. 



XIPHIIDAE 



Xiphias gladius Linnaeus 



swordfish 



D-67-4 May 



NN-4, 2, 20.6-23.9 

 D-67-16 Oct 



FF-4, 1, 26.4 



FF-6, 2, 31.0-94.5 

 GG-7. 1, 25.9 

 D-68-1 Jan-Feb 

 PP-2, 1, 21.5 

 PP-3, 1. 28.0 



Our data do little to support the contention of Arata 

 (1954) and Taning (1955) that swordfish spawning oc- 

 curs in two centers in the Atlantic: 1) west of the 

 Florida Straits in the Gulf of Mexico; 2) in the 

 southern part of the Sargasso Sea. The specimens we 

 caught off Georgia in October could have arrived from 

 the former area via the Florida Current and from the 

 latter area via the Antilles Current. The specimens 

 caught in the Florida Straits in May and February 

 probably originated in the Gulf of Mexico. 



ISTIOPHORIDAE 



Istiophorus platypterus 

 (Shaw and Nodder) 

 sailfish 

 D-67-4 May 



LL-4, 1, 79.3 

 Makaira nigricans Lacepede 

 blue marlin 

 D-67-8 Jul-Aug 



NN-3, 1, 14.8 

 Unidentified (a.) 

 D-67-4 May 



LL-5, 2, 49.3-58.5 



NN-3, 1, 37.8 

 PP-2, 2, 34.4-42.9 



Unidentified (b.) 



D-67-4 May 

 NN-3, 1, 13.1 

 NN-4, 1, mut. 



D-67-8 Jul-Aug 

 BB-4, 3, 10.4-11.8 

 BB-6, 8, 10.9-24.3 

 CC-6, 3, 13.4-15.4 

 DD-6, 1, 8.1 

 FF-6, 1, 12.3 



GG-6, 1, 15.3 

 KK-6, 3, 11.9-16.9 

 LL-5, 1, 27.4 

 NN-2, 1, 11.0 



NN-3, 1, 17.7 

 NN-4, 1, 10.3 

 D-67-16 Oct 

 NN-3, 1, 8.5 



The blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, was positively 

 identified by its vertebral count (11 + 13) and short 

 snout length relative to eye diameter. The sailfish, 

 Istiophorus platypterus, was identified by vertebral 

 count (12 -I- 12) and dorsal fin formula (44 spines, 7 

 rays). The five specimens in "Unidentified (a.)" have 

 12 + 12 vertebrae (thus eliminating M. nigricans) and 

 49 or 50 total dorsal fin elements (too low a count for 

 Tetrapterus pfluegeri). Distinguishing between the 

 remaining two species of western North Atlantic 

 istiophorids at this size is not possible. The 27 

 specimens in "Unidentified (b.)" have 12 -I- 12 

 vertebrae and long snout length relative to eye 

 diameter. Because posterior dorsal fin rays are not 

 visible on X-rays, no counts were made. All specimens 

 between 8.1 and 16.9 mm FL have two secondary 

 spines on the vertical limb of the preopercle (Fig. 18), 



Figure 18. — Head of hypothetical istiophorid larva showing pair 

 of secondary preopercular spines. 



but the diagnostic significance of this is not clear. 

 Voss (1953) showed one such spine on sailfish larvae 

 3.9-6.3 mm, and no spines on specimens 8.0 mm and 

 larger. Ueyanagi's (1963) illustrations showed 1) one 

 spine on sailfish 5.1-13.2 mm and none on a 20.3 mm 

 specimen, and 2) one spine on Tetrapterus sp. larvae 

 4.5 and 5.0 mm and two spines on specimens 12.0- 

 21.2 mm. Gehringer's (1956) illustrations showed two 

 spines on sailfish larvae 11.3-20.9 mm (except one 

 spine on a 14.6 mm specimen), and mentioned that 

 character in his text, thus ruling out "artist's license". 

 Until the ontogeny of all istiophorid species is de- 

 scribed and compared, the 27 specimens at hand must 

 remain unidentified. 



STROMATEIDAE 



Nomeus gronovii (Gmelin) 

 man-of-war fish 

 D-67-4 May 



LL-5, 1, 18.3 

 D-68-1 Jan-Feb 



DD-6, 1, 15.8 



LL-3, 1, 28.8 



PP-2, 3, 10.1-18.7 



Peprilus triacanthus (Peck) 



butterfish 



D-67-4 May 



AA-2, 2, 12.0-12.2 



CC-6. 1, 19.0 



EE-1, 2, 23.5-24.2 



EE-5, 1, 18.8 



EE-6, 1, 14.8 



FF-2, 11, 14.5-39.6 



FF-3, 40, 11.3-52.1 



30 



