Parathunnus Kishinouye 1923 



The cutaneous blood vessel passes through "che myotome of the 

 seventh vertebrao There are no clusters of small blood vessels on the 

 surface of the liver, and the posterior cardinal vein is not joined to 

 the Cuvierian ducto The pectorals are long^ reaching to the second 

 dorsalp and the second dorsal and the anal are of moderate height. The 

 head is large, and in most cases the number of gill-rakers is 9 / 18 s 27. 

 One species occurs in Japanese waterso 



3, Parathunnus mebachi (Kishinouye) 



In Japanese mebachi ^ daruma, darumashibi , mebuto , and simply 



bachic 



and 



Q 



First dorsal with 14 = 15 spinesj, second dorsal with 13 rays 

 finletso Anal with 13 rays and 9 finlstso Gill-rakers 8 - 10 / IBo 



Number of scales in one longitudinal row about 190o 



The body length is a little more than 3 times the head length 

 and 3o3 - 3o5 times the body deptho The length of the head is 6 times 

 the diameter of the eye and 3 - 3c, 5 times the length of the snouto 



Figure 9o — - Parathunnus mebachi o 



The body is remarkably stout with a short caudal region 

 tapering abruptly to the caudal peduncle. The head and eyes are largeo 

 The dorsal profile is markedly curved^ and the ventral outline is even 

 more so. The anus is located about midway between the tip of the snout 

 and the tip of the caudal fino The scales are large, particularly those 

 of the corselet. The lateral line forms a gently undulating curve above 

 the base of the pectorals„ The pectorals are long and taper gradually 

 to their tips. In a fish of about 1 meter length the tips of the 

 pectorals reach to beneath the first dorsal finlet, and if this line is 

 extended vertically it will pass through the center of the base of the 

 anal fin. In old fish these fins are shorter and they hardly extend 

 beyond a point below the origin of the second dorsalo The second dorsal 

 and the anal are of moderate sizej, comparatively narrow^ and more or 

 less falcate. They are of roughly the same size and shape and their 

 height slightly exceeds that of the first dorsalo The posterior part 

 of the first dorsal is generally convexo 



The air bladder is well developed, and has two projections on 

 its anterior edge. The kidneys are prolonged posterior ly^. The intestine 

 is the longest among the tunas, and its third loop is close to its first 

 loopo In the liver each lobe is thick and triangularo 



The dorsal surfaces are gray or blakish, while the sides and 

 belly are silver^'' v.'hite. The dorsal fins are gray with their edges and 

 tips only slightly tinged with yellow. The finlets are more or less 



30 



