NOTES 
The Occurrence of a Black Marlin, Tetrapterus mazara, without Spear 
Although it is quite commonly believed 
that the spearfishes are dependent upon the 
use of their spears as weapons for securing 
food, this is not necessarily the case as is 
demonstrated by the following observation. 
A 5 45 -pound black marlin (Tetrapterus 
mazara Jordan and Snyder), which was with- 
out a spear, was taken recently on long-line 
fishing gear, in Hawaiian waters. The spec- 
imen, with others of the same species, was 
brought into the auction room of the Kyodo 
Fishing Company, Ltd., on October 24, 1949. 
The appearance of the specimen indicated 
that the spear had been lost by injury. There 
was no indication that the loss was at all 
recent although considerable scar tissue was 
present on the snout. Even though the fish 
was without a spear the specimen was equal 
in condition to the normal fish of the same 
species. This seems to disprove the belief that 
the spear is necessary for natural and ade- 
quate feeding. Unfortunately, length meas- 
urements of black marlin of this size are not 
practicable as the fish are cut in pieces to 
facilitate transporting to market. 
According to the operators of the auction, 
spearfishes without spears have been observed 
before in the Honolulu market, although 
such occurrences are very rar e.— Harvey L 
Moore , Section of Biology and Oceanography , 
Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations , U. S'. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Honolulu , Hawaii 
Additional Records Confirming the Trans-Pacific Distribution 
of the Pacific Saury, Cololabis saira (Brevoort ) 1 
During January, 1948, the senior author 
and Dr. O. R. Smith of the U. S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service collected 10 specimens of 
Cololabis saira (Brevoort) by submerged 
light and dip net while aboard the tuna- 
fishing vessel "Oregon” en route from San 
Diego, California, to the Hawaiian Islands. 
One specimen 39.0 mm. long was taken on 
January 4 at 28° 22' N, 137° 12' W. Seven 
specimens, 30.0, 31.5, 33.0, 34.5, 34.5, 35.0, 
and 36.0 mm. in length, were captured on 
January 6 at 25° 14' N, 144° 41' W. One 
specimen 33.0 mm. long was taken on Janu- 
ary 7 at 23° 52' N, 148° 41' W. A final 
1 Published by permission of the U. S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service. 
48.0 mm. specimen was captured on Janu- 
ary 9 at 23° 04' N, 153° 19' W. All meas- 
urements are standard length. 
These additional records of occurrence of 
the Pacific saury substantiate Hubbs’s conclu- 
sion from morphological comparison that C. 
saira and C. brevimstris are not distinct spe- 
cies (Hubbs, Univ . Calif, Pub. Zool. 16 (3) : 
157, 19l6) 5 and Schultzs note ( Copeia , 
1940 (4): 270), based on his collection of 
specimens in the oceanic areas between San 
Francisco and Honolulu, indicating that C, 
saira is transpacific in distribution .—Milner 
B. Schaefer and John W. Reintjes , Section of 
Biology and Oceanography , Pacific Oceanic 
Fishery Investigations , U. S: Fish and Wild- 
life Service, Honolulu, Hawaii 
[ 164 ] 
