Figure 5. — Distribution of swordfish. Xiphias gladius, based on catch data from Japanese longline fishery during 1964-69. 

 A. Good fishing grounds. B. Presumed northern and southern limits of swordfish. 



Guinea (Fig. 5). Based on data of commercial 

 catches, the limits of distribution appear to be about 

 lat. 50°N to 35°S in the Pacific, lat. 45°S in the Indian 

 Ocean, and lat. 45°N to 40°-45°S in the Atlantic (Fig. 

 5). This species is more abundant in coastal waters, 

 but distribution is scattered and continuous in tropi- 

 cal open sea areas. 



Istiophorus platypterus 



This species is distributed in the tropical and 

 temperate waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 

 Good commercial fishing grounds are located in 

 waters of the eastern tropical Pacific from Baja 

 California to Ecuador, the Coral Sea and around 

 New Guinea, the East China Sea, the adjacent wa- 

 ters of southern India and Ceylon, and the Mozam- 

 bique Channel (Fig. 6). The latitudinal limits of/. 

 platypterus appear to extend from lat. 40°-45°N in 

 the North Pacific and about lat. 40°S in the South 

 Pacific, and in the Indian Ocean as far south as lat. 

 40°S. In the Japan Sea, sailfish migrate northward 

 with the Tsushima Current during summer and mi- 

 grate southward against the current during autumn. 



Istiophorus albicans 



This species is distributed in the tropical and 

 temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Good 

 commercial fishing grounds are located in the Gulf of 



Mexico, the Gulf of Guiana, and the coastal waters 

 off South America from Panama to Brazil (Fig. 6), 

 The distributional limits are about lat. 40°N to lat. 

 35°-40°S in the Atlantic Ocean. 



Tetrapturus angustirostris 



This species is widely distributed in tropical and 

 temperate offshore waters of the Indian and Pacific 

 Oceans. Catches of this species are always low, 

 except in the northwestern Pacific between lat. 15° 

 and 30°N, where catches are relatively higher from 

 about November through February (Nakamura, 

 1951; Royce, 1957; Ueyanagi, 1963). The distribu- 

 tional limits are about lat. 35°N to 35°S in the Pacific 

 and Indian Oceans (Fig. 7). 



Tetrapturus belone 



This species is distributed in the Mediterranean 

 and Adriatic Seas (Fig. 7) and is relatively rare. It 

 occurs most commonly in the central Mediterranean 

 (de Sylva, 1972). This species is not taken commer- 

 cially. 



Tetrapturus pfluegeri 



This species is known with certainty only from the 

 western North Atlantic where it occurs from south- 

 ern New Jersey to Venezuela and from Texas to 



50 



