tic sailfish. Merrett (1971) found as many as 19.5 

 million eggs in sailfish from East African waters and 

 pointed out that fecundity increased sharply with fish 

 size. 



A definite relation between relative ovary weight 

 (ovary weight X lOVfish weight) in /. platypterus and 

 the state of gonad development has been established 

 (Merrett, 1971). Having demonstrated that egg 

 diameter is a reliable means of determining the state 

 of maturity of an overy, he compared the relative 

 ovary weight with this criterion. It was found that 

 while this character did not provide staging evidence 

 throughout the oogenic cycle, it could provide for ac- 

 curate diagnosis during the growth phase. Com- 

 parable application of relative testis weight was found 

 to be less meaningful due to the lack of seasonal varia- 

 tion in testis weight of the sailfish examined. From a 

 total of 111 male sailfish examined over a period of 3V2 

 yr, none was found to be in a running ripe condition, 

 although spermatozoa were present in all testes ex- 

 amined due to differential maturation of the lobules 

 within the gonad. It was suggested that the viability 

 of the male was maintained at all times, owing to the 

 possession of a muscular seminal vesicle in which 

 spermatozoa are stored. The vesicle is thought to be 

 capable of active expulsion of milt and subsequent 

 passive replenishment, at all times, by suction. 



3.16 Spawning 



In the Atlantic, Voss (1953) summarizing early ac- 

 counts, stated that, "From the literature it can be 

 seen that it has previously been considered, mostly 

 through capture of gravid females, that the sailfish 

 breed near or off the Florida coast and the consensus 

 of opinion gives the time as the early summer." Voss 

 also reported that larvae from 3.9 to 8.0 mm standard 

 length were captured on the east side of the Gulf 

 Stream from 29 May to 2 July. Voss believed that 

 sailfish move into shallow inshore waters to breed. 

 Gehringer (1956) stated that, "... spawning appears 

 to extend from April to September from south of Cuba 

 north to Carolina waters, and beyond the 100 fathom 

 line." Gehringer also indicated that there was a 

 northward shift of size occurrences of larvae as the 

 season progressed, indicating a corresponding 

 northward shift in general spawning season. De Sylva 

 (1957) indicated an extended spawning season in the 

 western Atlantic and that very young larvae were cap- 

 tured from late April until mid-August. He also cited 

 a personal communication with Al Pflueger who 

 stated that he had found ripe females off southern 

 Florida as late as October. Jolley (1974) found ripen- 

 ing females prominent among Atlantic sailfish ex- 

 amined during May through September. 



Spawning in the eastern Atlantic has been observed 

 all year long (Ovchinnokov, 1970), with peak intensity 

 during the summer months on the West African shelf 

 in the Conakry-St. Louis region. Ovchinnikov (1970) 

 stated that sailfish in the Conakry-Freetown region 



become mature in February, March, and April, and at 

 the end of April the fish spawn intensively. Ueyanagi 

 et al. (1970) reported taking sailfish larvae off Angola 

 and Sierra Leone in the period November to April. 

 Gehringer (1970) reported on 34 specimens from 13.8- 

 to 238.0-mm standard length captured in the Gulf of 

 Guinea in April, and Cadenat (1961) reported two lar- 

 vae from the same area in February and April, 35 and 

 44 mm total length. 



In the Gulf of Mexico, Baughman (1941a) stated 

 that several ripe females were taken late in the season 

 (probably late August) off the Texas coast, and fe- 

 males in all stages of maturity were captured in ear- 

 ly August. Based on the occurrence of larvae and the 

 surface current patterns in the Gulf of Mexico, 

 Gehringer (1956) concluded that two separate spawn- 

 ing areas existed in the Gulf, one in the southeastern 

 Gulf from April through August and the other in the 

 western Gulf from June through August. 



In the Pacific Ocean, sailfish apparently spawn 

 throughout the year in warm tropical waters 

 (Nakamura, 1932, 1940; Yabe, 1953; Ueyanagi, 1964). 

 Based on the distribution and occurrence of larvae, 

 Ueyanagi (1964) concluded that spawning took place 

 in inshore waters near islands. The capture of ripe 

 adults from the western Pacific has been reported by 

 Nakamura (1949) in May, July, August, and 

 December and by Ueyanagi (1964) in May, July, 

 November, and December. Ueyanagi stated that 

 although data were insufficient it appeared that the 

 spawning season in the northwest Pacific and the 

 South Pacific is in their respective summers. 



Laurs and Nishimoto (1970) reported on five 

 juvenile sailfish captured in September in the eastern 

 Pacific off Central America. Surface temperature was 

 29.1°C, and high standing stocks of zooplankton were 

 measured in the vicinity. Howard and Ueyanagi 

 (1965) stated that W. L. Klawe reported to them the 

 capture of juvenile sailfish in the equatorial waters of 

 the eastern Pacific in the months of February, April, 

 May, and December. Beebe (1941) reported the cap- 

 ture of two juveniles off the coast of Mexico, one in 

 March and the other in November, and Howard and 

 Ueyanagi reported on 11 juvenile sailfish taken in the 

 Gulf of Panama in September. Based on these ac- 

 counts, the spawning season in the eastern Pacific is 

 lengthy, and probably some spawning occurs all year 

 long. 



Jones and Kumaran (1964) concluded from the dis- 

 tribution of larvae in the Indian Ocean that sailfish in 

 the eastern Indian Ocean spawn west of Sumatra in 

 September and October, and in the western Indian 

 Ocean they spawn near Madagascar and the 

 Seychelles Islands in December and January. Morrow 

 (1964) examined sailfish at Taiwan and found running 

 roe and milt in July. He stated that sailfish examined 

 at Ceylon and the Maldive Islands in August and 

 September, the Seychelles in October and November, 

 and off the East African coast in January and March 



102 



