BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 
2 I I 
mature. The breeding grounds of the Bonito, like those of the swordfish, 
are doubtless in some remote quarter of the globe. The swordfish spawns 
in the Mediterranean, if nowhere else. The species is cosmopolitan, and 
occurs in nearly every quarter of the globe, though perhaps nowhere in 
greater abundance than along our own shores. 
On the California coast occurs a closely related species, the Pacific 
Bonito, Sarda cliilensis , which is thus described by Prof. Jordan : 
“This fish is everywhere known as the Bonito. The names ‘ Spanish 
Mackerel,’ ‘ Skipjack’ and ‘ Tuna ’ are also sometimes applied to it. It 
reaches an average weight of about twelve pounds, but the body is con¬ 
siderably longer and more slender than that of an Albicore of the same 
weight. It ranges from San Francisco southward to Chili, being abund¬ 
ant in Monterey Bay and about the Santa Barbara Islands in the summer 
and fall. It approaches to within half a mile of the shore, where, in 
company with the barracuda, it is taken in great numbers by trolling. 
It spawns in August or September. Its arrival is in early summer and its 
departure in the fall, at which season the young are said to be found 
abundantly in the kelp. It feeds chiefly on anchovies and squids. As 
a food-fish it is not held in high esteem, the fish being coarse. Great 
numbers are salted and dried, and are in that state considered far inferior 
to the barracuda and yellow-tail.” 
The Striped Bonito, Orcynns pelamys , already mentioned, is dis¬ 
tinguished from other species by the presence of four dark lines, which 
begin at the pectoral fin and run along the side of the belly to the tail, 
the sides of the common Bonito being of a silvery white. This species, 
is occasionally taken on the European coast, but has rarely been known 
to enter the Mediterranean. It is found in the Pacific on the coast 
of China and Japan, and is the species most commonly known to mariners 
as the Bonito, or Albicore, of the activity and voracity of which, as 
observed from the decks of vessels at sea, so many descriptions have been 
written. The first individual on our coast was that seen by Mr. Barnet 
Phillips in 1876. Another was taken by Mr. J. H. Blake at Province- 
town in July, 1877. Others have since been observed at Woods Holl and 
in the New York markets. The capture of the Striped Bonito is a 
favorite subject with Japanese artists. I have seen many drawings and 
prints in Japanese books, in which the characteristic form and markings 
of this fish are faithfully delineated. The Japanese appear to catch it in 
great quantities, with rod, line, and hook. 
