104 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL VIII, January, 1954 
to the fishery, they would also imply a pattern 
of multiple spawning. The data did not allow 
an estimation to be made of the number of 
times aku may spawn each season. 
It would appear probable, in consideration 
of the minimum size at maturity together 
with the growth rate as estimated from the 
length frequency curves, that aku require a 
year in which to reach maturity. 
The significant reduction in the proportion 
of female fish in the landings during the fall 
and early winter months, coupled with the 
reduced catches experienced during this pe- 
riod, may indicate that the female fish become 
less available to the fishermen at this time 
than the males. This differential availability 
of females would seem to occur coincident 
with the end of the spawning period. This 
change was found not to be associated with 
shifts in the sizes of fish landed. 
REFERENCES 
Bonham, Kelshaw. 1946. Measurements of 
some pelagic commercial fishes of Hawaii. 
Copeia 1946 (2); 81-84, 2 figs. 
Brock, Vernon E. 1944. Contribution to 
the biology of the albacore {Germo alalunga) 
of the Oregon coast and other parts of the 
North Pacific. Stanford Univ,, Ichthy. BuL 
2 (7): 199-248. 
LilJegren, C. O. 1943. Naval architecture as 
art and science, xii + 212 pp. Cornell Mari- 
time Press [New York]. 
Mark, J. C., and M. B. Schaefer. 1949. 
Definitions of body dimensions used in 
describing tunas, U, S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Fish. Bui. 47. 51: 241-244, 1 fig. 
Snedecor, George W. 1948. Statistical meth- 
ods. xvi + 485 pp. Iowa State College Press, 
Ames, Iowa. 
Walford, Lionel A. 1946. A new graphic 
method of describing the growth of ani- 
mals. Biol BuL 90(2): 141-147. 
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