the second dorsal it descends below the median line of the side of the body whenoe 

 it follows an vindulating oourse to the keel. The scales are small and are found 

 all over the body. There is an air bladder. The pectorals are large and their 

 posterior edges are rounded. Large obscure spots are arranged in two rows along 

 the center of the sides of the body. The back is dark blue -green and most of the 

 fins are black. The fish attaint a length of 7 or 8 feet and a weight of 165 to 

 260 pounds. It is oily and the flavor is said to be inferior. It ranges north to 

 Chiba Prefecture on the Pacific coast and to Akita Prefeotu]*e in the ,fepan Sea, 

 while to the south it extends to the coasts of China and Formosa. It is taken only 

 rarely. It feeds on sardines and oarangids. 



Sarda orientalis (snjikatsno ) 



Called haga'^uo , ki tsunekatsuo , shimakatsuo , and sabakatsuo in Nagasaki, tggan 

 in Kanagawa, and hSffan in Chiba. 



D. 19, 15, 7 or 8. A. 15, 5 or 6. Vert. 25 / 20. Gill-rakers 4/9. 



The body is short and thick, becoming somewhat longer proportionately in old 

 fish. The teeth in both Jaws are compressed, rounded on both edges, and bent inward* 

 They are uneven in siee. There is one row of teeth on the palatines, but none on 

 the vomer, l^e scales are very small, except for those on the corselet, which are 

 rather large. The lateral line is undulating, and runs from the neck at somewhat of 

 a slant to the middle of the tail. There is no air bladder. The back is grayish 

 indigo, and there are about six longitudinal stripes. Posterior to the second dor- 

 sal there are short markings lying in between these stripes. The dorsal fins are 

 black. The species likes warm waters and is particularly abundant around Ejnishu, 

 however, it is widely distributed and is seen in seme nvsabers everywhere south of 

 Hokkaido on both the Pacific and Japan Sea coasts. It swims near the surface in 

 rather turbid coastal waters and does not form large schools. The largest specimens 

 are around 3 feet long. In the TCkyo region fish with ripe ovaries are seen in the 

 latter part of Jtme, but in KyushiT it appears that they spawn in the spring. They 

 are said to gi-ow very rapidly. Juveniles about 9.6 inches long have about eleven 

 odorless treoisverse stripes which cut across the stripes of the back leaving 

 eleven or twelve dark-colored transverse bands. They are voracious and easily take 

 artificial lures. The flesh is soft and of rather poor quality. They are taken 

 mixed in with oarangids, mackerel, and skipjack. Sometimes they also come into nets 

 which are used along the shore. 



Many iohthyologlsts consider this species to be identical with that found off 

 Chile in South America, but the Chilean species has vert. 22 / 22 and gill-rakers 

 9/17 and is a completely different speoiee* 



Oymnosarda nuda (iscmagnro ) 

 D. 14, 13, 7. A, 12, 6. Vert. 19 / 19. Gill-raker« 2/10 



The body is apindle-ehaped and appeara to be soaleless, however, there are 

 scales on the corselet and lateral line and around the fins, but most of them are 

 hidden under the skin and cannot be seen. Both Jaws have strong teeth whi oh some- 

 what resemble those of «ie hagatsuo [S. orientalis ]# There are no teeth <» *n« 

 vomer, but villif orm teetii can be seen developing on the paUtines and on the 

 tongue. The lateral line roughly follows the outline of the back from !*• "**'^°f,. 

 end to the last spine of the first dorsal whenoe it runs obliquely to a point ventrai 

 to the first f inlet. The back is purplish-indigo and the fine are all black. 



