Istiophorid Fishes — WlSNER 
65 
Until very recently none of the studies of 
the food habits of marlin has disclosed any 
ingested fish that show the marks of having 
been slashed by or impaled on the spear. 
Hubbs and Wisner (1953), for example, found 
no evidence of fish having been damaged by 
the spear. A more definitive study of stomach 
contents for the 1952 and 1954 seasons in 
San Diego has substantiated these findings. 
Miss Francesca LaMonte (correspondence) 
states: "In no case have I ever seen anything 
that seemed to have been slashed by the spear 
or impaled upon it." 
RECORDED USES OF THE SPEAR 
The fact that the spear has been retained 
since possibly Upper Cretaceous, and cer- 
tainly since Eocene times (Berg, 1940), in- 
dicates that it is much more of an aid than a 
hindrance to the fish. That the spear may, on 
occasion, be used to obtain food by stabbing, 
or as a weapon, is illustrated by the following 
observations. Anonymous writers (1955 a, b) 
recorded that during a cruise into tropical 
waters south of Hawaii, "An interesting in- 
cident was the landing of a huge white marlin 
[Istiompax marlina (Jordan and Snyder)], es- 
timated to have weighed around 1,500 pounds, 
which had in its stomach a freshly killed 
yellowhn tuna 5 feet in length and weighing 
157 pounds. . . . The tuna had been speared 
clean through its body twice before being 
swallowed." 
Another such observation from Hawaiian 
waters, again provided by Mr. Vernon E. 
Brock (correspondence), is as follows, "... 
the use of the spear to stab another fish does 
occasionally occur. One such observation by 
the skipper of the territorial research vessel 
was made off the Kona coast of Hawaii a 
number of years ago when a marlin was ob- 
served at the surface of the sea with its spear 
thrust through the body of a dolphin [Cory- 
phaena hippurus\ . The dolphin was struggling 
vigorously and the marlin would rear out of 
the water in an apparent attempt to prevent 
the flopping fish from working free of the 
spear.” 
Zane Grey (1926: 48) reported finding a 
snapper with a round hole in it in the stomach 
of a marlin caught in New Zealand waters. In 
Tahitian waters Grey (1931: 229) quoted 
Captain Mitchell, his fishing companion, as 
reporting his bonito bait rammed clear 
through by a marlin. Farrington (1937: 221) 
reported big dolphin "batted” into the air by 
marlin and that numbers of dolphin have 
been caught that had holes in them where 
marlin spears had pierced them. 
This author has very recently studied a 
frigate mackerel, Auxis sp., and a sierra mac- 
kerel, Scomberomorus sierra ] ordan and Starks, 
removed from marlin landed at Mazatlan, 
Sinaloa, Mexico in March, 1954. These fish, 
respectively 300 and 430 mm. long, each bore 
the marks of a spear thrust through the mid- 
section, respectively above and below the 
lateral lines. Each fish was removed by the 
author from undamaged, freshly caught 
striped marlin and wrapped and stored until 
studied. Unquestionably, the marks were 
made by spears as the holes were large and 
had been torn out through the dorsomedian 
flesh of the Auxis , and through the ventro- 
median flesh in the Scomberomorus . Several 
other fish of the same species groups and 
similar in body sizes bore no marks of the 
spear. 
Gudger (op. cit ., pp. 271-274) cited several 
reports from reputable observers which in- 
dicate that battles occur between swordfish 
and spearfish, and between members of these 
two families and sharks. Broken spears have 
been found imbedded in the flesh of each, 
some obviously having been there for some 
time. Voss (op. cit.) reported catching a sail- 
fish that had the broken bill of another sail- 
fish projecting [through the body] on either 
side. 
SPECULATION ON THE USES OF THE SPEAR 
It seems probable that the spear is used 
both as an aid in food-getting and as a weap- 
on. It is a rather moot question whether the 
cited stabbings and "battings" of larger fish 
