Figure 1. — Ontogenetic change in body form of striped marlin. 

 A. 7.9 mm SL, B. 21.2 mm SL, C. 121.5 mm body length, D. 1,050 

 mm body length, E. 1,882 mm body length. (From Nakamura, 

 1968.) 



in distribution to the tropics, where a permanent ther- 

 mocline exists, but penetrate higher latitudes in the 

 warm season. Atypical of the distribution of most 

 scombroids, the striped marlin seems to prefer the 

 more temperate waters. In the Pacific the distribution 

 resembles that of the albacore, Thunnus alalunga, 

 and bluefin tuna, T. thynnus, in contrast to that of 

 the other billfishes and tunas (Howard and Ueyanagi, 

 1965; Parin, 1968), however, in the Indian Ocean the 

 striped marlin distribution is centered in warmer 

 waters. 



Striped marlin occur throughout the warmer waters 

 of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The species ranges 

 eastward to the coast of the American continents and 

 westward to the African coast. Off South Africa they 

 are found a slight distance into Atlantic waters 

 (Talbot and Penrith, 1962). Extreme poleward dis- 

 tribution has been recorded to lat. 40° -45° in both 

 hemispheres. In the north this occurs in the Kuroshio 

 extension, primarily between long. 165° E and 180°, 

 but also at long. 150°W (Fisheries Agency of Japan, 

 Research Division, 1969-71). In the southern 

 hemisphere this occurs in the Agulhas Current 

 (Talbot and Penrith, 1962; Fisheries Agency of Japan, 

 Research Division, 1969-72) and also rarely at long. 

 105°E (Fisheries Agency of Japan, Research Division, 

 1969), which appears to be West Wind Drift water. On 

 the eastern perimeter of the Pacific, Point Conception 

 (lat. 35°N) and Chanaral, Chile (lat. 29°S) appear to 

 be the northern and southern limits of distribution. 



The broad geographical distribution of this species 

 makes it difficult to generalize on the physical and 

 biological characteristics of the areas inhabited. 

 Temperature, however, is one parameter which has 

 been considered to influence total distribution. The 

 20° and 25° C isotherms tend generally to bound the 

 total distribution at least in the western Pacific 

 (Howard and Ueyanagi, 1965). 



1.32 Cytomorphology 

 No data available. 



1.33 Protein specificity 

 No data available. 



2 DISTRIBUTION 



2.1 Total Area 



In the eidogical classification of Parin (1968) the 

 striped marlin is holoepipelagic, i.e., it inhabits the 

 isothermic surface pelagic layer of the ocean at all 

 stages of its life cycle. Such species are chiefly limited 



2.2 Differential Distribution 



2.21 Spawn, larvae, and juveniles 



Although information is lacking on the distribution 

 of eggs, there are several reports (Ueyanagi, 1959, 

 1964; Jones and Kumaran, 1964; Nishikawa and 

 Ueyanagi, 1969) pertaining to the distribution of lar- 

 vae. 



In the Pacific, larvae have been observed in the 

 northwestern Pacific (west of long. 180°) between lat. 

 10° and 30°N; and in the South Pacific (west of long. 

 130°W) between lat. 10° and 30°S. The larvae are 

 most abundant in early summer, with the peak oc- 

 currence in the northwestern Pacific during May- 

 June, and in the South Pacific in November- 

 December. The seasonal occurrence of mature females 

 coincides with that of the larvae (Ueyanagi, 1964). 

 While the distribution of larvae is not known for the 



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