Table 1. — Number of blue marlin, sailfish, and striped marlin sampled in 1967-70 

 at Buena Vista, Mazatlan, and San Diego. — Continued 



Months 

 Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total 



Mazatlan 

 Male 



1967 



1968 



1969 



1970 



Total 

 Female 



1967 



1968 



1969 



1970 



Total 

 San Diego 

 Male 



1967 



1968 



1970 



Total 

 Female 



1967 



1968 



1970 



Total 



— — 21 7— ______ 28 



_ _ 50 26 !_____ i 78 



13 42 30 30 5 1 — — — — — 121 



2 2 



13 42 101 63 6 1 — — — — 3 229 



— — 15 11 ______ _ 26 



— — 31 18 — — __ — — 4 53 

 16 48 36 29 9 3 _ — — — — 141 



__________ 6 6 



16 48 82 58 9 3 — — — — 10 226 



— — — — — — 22 50 — — — 72 



— — — — — — 1 35 33 — — 69 



— — — — — — 23 91 33 — — 147 



— — — — — — 35 126 — — — 161 



— — — — — — 6 85 32 — — 123 



— — — — — — 3 26 2 — — 31 



— — — — — — 44 237 34 — — 315 



and then again after lying flat. The fish while hang- 

 ing ranged from 1 mm shorter to 7 mm longer, the 

 average being 3 mm longer than when lying flat. 

 The mean difference was not significant. 



Definitions of Counts and Measurements 



The counts and measurements used in this study 

 are defined below. Though the terminology is not 

 identical, many of these are the same as those rec- 

 ommended by Rivas (1956). 



Dorsal rays — number of rays in second dorsal fin. 



Anal rays — number of rays in second anal fin. 



Fork length — tip of snout to posterior margin of 

 middle caudal rays. 



Mandible-fork length — tip of mandible with 

 mouth closed to posterior margin of middle caudal 

 rays. 



Eye-fork length — posterior margin of orbit to 

 posterior margin of middle caudal rays. 



Snout to mandible — tip of snout to tip of mandi- 

 ble with mouth closed. 



Table 2. — Frequency of dorsal and anal fin ray counts for 

 blue marlin, sailfish and striped marlin from the eastern 

 Pacific. 







Number of 



rays 





X 







5 



6 



7 



8 



Total 



s 



Dorsal fin rays 

















Blue marlin 



— 



13 



20 



— 



33 



6.61 



0.496 



Sailfish 



— 



24 



56 



— 



80 



6.70 



0.461 



Striped 

















marlin 



10 



223 



14 



— 



247 



6.02 



0.312 



Anal fin rays 

















Blue marlin 



— 



5 



27 



1 



33 



6.88 



0.415 



Sailfish 



1 



29 



48 



1 



79 



6.62 



0.538 



Striped 

















marlin 



40 



195 



7 



— 



242 



5.86 



0.420 



Snout to eye — tip of snout to anterior margin of 

 orbit. 



109 



