s> 



The dorsal surface is dark blue with a violet cast,, When the fish 

 is excited, violet patches appear. The belly of the fish is of a 

 brownish-grey colore and on the sides of the fish there are seventeen 

 vertical stripes composed of cobalt spotso Scattered over the dorsal 

 fin are black spots the size of soy beanso All of the fins are dark 

 bluOj the caudal fin sometimes having a brownish casto In life the 

 body is covered with a thick brown slimoo The flesh is reddish in colore 



This species occurs from the northeastern coast of Japan southj 

 and is comparatively abundant in the Kinan Sea Areao These fish spawn 

 in t'ormosan v/aters from April to Augusto Compared to other spearfishes 

 this species shows a conspicuous tendency to enter coastal water areas o 



This species attains a body length of SjOOO millimeters and a 

 weight of 60 kilogramso 



The main points of difference between this species and lo gladius 

 reported from the Indian Ocean area, are the presence in gladius of a 

 number of short, thick spines between the two dorsal fins, which are 

 absent in this species., and the smaller number of black spots on the 

 dorsal fin in gladius „ In juvenile fishes of this family , the dorsal 

 and anal fins are single^ separating into two fins as the fish develops 

 Consequentlyj it is thought possible that at some stages of development 

 there may be some fin rays remaining at the posterior end of the first 

 dorsal fino Among the species recorded by Jordan and Evermann there 

 are some which are clearly juveniles, and it is entirely possible that 

 the number of species actually in existence is less than the number 

 reported by them^ 



Genus Kajikia Nakamurap 1946* 



The body is elongate and rather stout „ The height of the first 

 dorsal fin is slightly greater than the body depth and the longest rays 

 form two steps at the extreme anterior end of the fin„ The profile of 

 the anterior portion of the dorsal fin is indistinctly concaveo The 

 body is covered with slender^ bony scaleso The ventral fins are either 

 equal to or slightly shorter than the pectoral finso There are on the 

 side of the body, 10 or more vertical stripes fonned of cobalt spotso 

 Two species occur in Japanese waters. 



Hitherto, this genus and the subfamily Marlinae have both been 

 placed in the genus Makaira ^ Laceplde, 1803, The original description 

 of Makaira is however^, extremely incompletoo The species of this genus 

 differ morphologically from Makaira in many points, and therefore it 

 has seemed proper to set up this genus as a separate groupo 



* Taihoku Imperial University^ Memoirs of the Science Department 

 (unpublished)o 



59 



