yellowfin tuna from New Caledonia tend to have 

 smaller heads and longer dorsal and anal fins 

 than fish from further east. 



reported for yellowfin near Hawaii. The average 

 stage of maturation seems to be more advanced 

 on the east coast of New Caledonia than on the 

 west coast. 



Legand, M. 



Quelques donnees biometriques sur les 

 albacores de la region ouest de 1 a 

 Nouvelle-Caledonie. (Conference 

 Paper III - 11. J (In Legand, M. and 

 B. Wauthy. In Press. Premieres 

 donnees sur l'albacore et les poissons 

 de longue-ligne. Centre d'Oceano - 

 graphie, Institut Francais d'Oceanie, 

 Noumea, Nouvelle-Caledonie, Rapport 

 Scientifique No. 24. ) 



Data (8 morphometric and 1 meristic 

 characteristics) were collected on 143 albacore 

 tuna caught to the west of New Caledonia. There 

 is a suggestion of sexual dimorphism in pectoral 

 fin length, but not in other characters studied. 

 In general, results were similar to those of 

 Kurogane and Hiyama for the Northern Coral 

 Sea, but different from their results in the 

 Northwest Pacific. The average number of gill 

 rakers was 28. 7 + 1. 2. 



Legand, M. 



Longueur, repartition des sexes et mat- 

 uration sexuelle des thons a nageoires 

 jaunes de Nouvelle-Caledonie. /Con- 

 ference Paper VII - 3. J (In Legand, M. 

 and R. Desrosieres. I960. Premieres 

 donnees sur le thon a nageoires jaunes 

 en Nouvelle-Caledonie. Office de la 

 Recherche Scientifique et Technique 

 Outre-Mer, Institut Francais d'Oce- 

 anie, Rapport Scientifique No. 11, 

 p. 7-20.) 



Most yellowfin tuna taken near New Cale - 

 donia are 55 - 85 cm. standard length; much 

 smaller numbers of larger fish occurred. The 

 ratio of males to females is 1:1. 3. This ratio 

 has been observed in similar size yellowfin in 

 other parts of the Pacific, whereas for extremely 

 large fish it is 1:0. 6. The proportion of females 

 is much higher at the beginning of the spawning 

 season and very low at the end. Sexual maturity 

 is achieved at a larger size in males than in 

 females. Minimum gonad development is ob- 

 served between April and August, but even at 

 other seasons the individuals observed were far 

 from complete ripeness. Spawning may occur 

 between October and March, with a peak during 

 summer; similar observations, with respect to 

 the Northern Hemisphere in summer, have been 



Legand, M. , and R. Desrosieres 



Enquete preliminaire sur les contenus 

 stomacaux des thons a nageoires 

 jaunes des cotes deNouvelle - 

 Caledonie. /Conference Paper 



VII - 4.J (I_n Legand, M. and 



R. Desrosieres. 1960. Premieres 

 donnees sur le thon a nageoires jaunes 

 en Nouvelle-Caledonie. Office de la 

 Recherche Scientifique et Technique 

 Outre-Mer, Institut Francais 

 d'Oceanie, Rapport Scientifique 

 No. 11, p. 22-31.) 



The stomach contents of 148 yellowfin 

 tuna taken by trolling along the south coast of_ 

 New Caledonia in December 1958 and April 1959 

 were examined. In 1958, average fish weight 

 was 7. 1 kg. , and average content volume 11. 2 ml. 

 Of identified organisms, 51.9 percent were fish, 

 22.5 percent cephalopods, and 25.6 percent 

 crustaceans. In 1959, average fish weight was 

 8.3 kg., and average content volume 26.1 ml. 

 Stomachs contained 71. 7 percent fish, 4. 3 per- 

 cent cephalopods, and 24.0 percent crustaceans. 

 Content composition varies diurnally. A mini- 

 mum of fish and a maximum of crustaceans 

 are found in the morning. The percentage of 

 almost completely digested material is practi- 

 cally nil in the morning and increases during 

 the day. Balistoidea, Ostraciidae, Tetraodon- 

 tidae, Diodontidae, Acanthuridae larvae, 

 Dactylopterus, and stomatopods were the main 

 food items. 



Legand, M. , and B. Wauthy 



Importance presumee d' Alepisaurus sp. 

 dans le cycle biologique des thons de 

 longue-ligne au large de la Nouvelle- 

 Caledonie. /Conference Paper VII - 

 14. J (In Legand, M. and B. Wauthy. 

 In Press. Premieres donnees sur 

 l'albacore et les poissons de longue - 

 ligne. Centre d' O c e a n o g r a p h i e, 

 Institut Francais d'Oceanie, Noumea, 

 Nouvelle-Caledonie, Rapport Scien- 

 tifique No. 24. ) 



In experimental longline fishing foralba- 

 core off New Caledonia, 76 Alepisaurus sp. 

 (probably A. ferox) were caught, making this 

 the second most numerous species in the catch, 



29 



