Bmall. The Japanese name of this species was fornnerly given as nnazara , but since it is 

 generally called kurokawa or kurokajiki . I have assigned it the connmon name kurokajiki as 

 being more suitable. 



Habits 



This fish is much less common in Formosan waters than the other species, however, the 

 catch increases somewhat around the fishing season, that is, in February and March. The 

 results of the work of the ShonEin Maru in the East Philippine Sea, June to August 1937, showed 

 that this species is very plentiful there at that season. There is also at this season a great dis- 

 parity in the sex ratio, females being extremely rare. 



5) Makaira marlina (Jordan and Evermann) white marlin, shir oka jiki (new name) 



Plate 15, figure 1 



Shirokawakajiki or shiro (Suo, Keelung, Takao), katahari (whole island); Formosan 

 name X ^ -^ ^, (S^). 



Makaira marlina-- Jordan and Evermann. Occ. Papers Calif. Acad. Sci. XII, p. 59, 1926. 



Tetrapturus mitsukurii (?)--Tanaka, Shigeo. Illustrated atlas of useful, harmful, and 

 admirable aquatic animals and plants, p. 163, 1933. 



Morphology - D. Ill, 10-12, XXIII-XXV, 7. A - H, 10-11, 7, V - I, 2. Vertebral 

 count-24 (11+ 13). 



Body very stout, gigantic specimens are not unusual. The dorsal profile anterior to the 

 first dorsal fin, where the body depth is greatest, projects conspicuously, for which reason the 

 fish has the name of katahari (square shoulders). 



The body length is 2. 17 times the head length, 4.46 times the body depth (a), and 5,85 

 times the body depth (b). The head length is 1. 52 times the snout length and 5. 75 times the 

 interorbital space. The length of the upper jaw is 1.95 times the length of the lower jaw. The 

 upper jaw is short, the proportion of the length of the head minus the snout to the snout length 

 in this species being 3. 14. The distance from the eye to the first dorsal fin is 4. 33 times the 

 eye diameter. The caudal peduncle tapers down sharply and the ratio between its depth and the 

 body depth is 6. 12. The development of the dorsal fin is inferior to that in other species, the 

 ratio to the body depth being 1.61. A number of the most anterior rays of the fin are conspicu- 

 ously thickened, and because the more posterior rays diminish in length sharply, the fin presents 

 a conspicuously falcate shape. The pectoral fins are quite well developed, and because they 

 stand out from the sides of the body at a right angle, they have gained for the fish the Formosan 

 name of "erect wing spearfish. " The proportion of the length of these fins to the body depth is 

 1. 14. The ventral fins are very small. The first anal fin is suitably developed, as are the 

 second dorsal and the second anal, both of which have 7 fin rays. The caudal fin is of a normal 

 shape, and there are two pairs of projections, an upper and a lower, on the caudal peduncle. 



The vertebral count is 24 (11 + 13), and the palatine teeth are quite vestigial. The more 

 anterior branchiostegal rays are long and slender, but the more posterior ones are markedly 

 thickened, the most posterior ray being almost triangular in shape. The pelvic girdle, unlike 

 those of other species, has the right aad left sides fused together so that they are difficult to 

 separate. The pectoral girdle is broad and has a peculiar fornn. The upper jaw is somewhat 

 broader than in other species and is flattened so that its cross section is elliptical. 



In life the dorsal surfaces are steel blue and the belly is white, and before the slime has 

 dried the body as a whole presents a rather milky white color, accounting for the ncmie "white- 

 skinned marlin. " The dorsal and anal fins are a clear cobalt blue, the pectorals and the caudal 

 fin are dark purple, and there are no markings of amy sort on the sides of the body. In fish which 



29 



