In 1987 we found a juvenile yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre, 1788), in the stomach of a longnose lancetfish, Alepisaurus ferox Lowe, 1833. Analysis of published information on lancetfish food habits (Haedrich, 1964, 1969; Haedrich and Nielsen, 1966; Parin, 1968; Parin et al., 1969; Fourmanoir, 1969; Grandperrin and Legand, 1970; Kubota and Uyeno, 1970; Legand et al., 1972; Kubota, 1973; Fujita and Hattori, 1976; Matthews et al., 1977) led us to conclude that this was the first record of a yellowfin tuna found in a lancetfish stomach

Romanov, Evgeny V.

Zamorov, Veniamin V.

Aquatic Commons

386 
First record of a yellowﬁn tuna (Thunnus albacares) 
from the stomach of a longnose lancetﬁsh 
(Alepisaurus ferox) 
Evgeny V. Romanov 
Southern Scientiﬁc Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography

(YugNIRO)

2, Sverdlov St. 

98300 Kerch

Crimea, Ukraine

E-mail address: island@crimea.com 
Veniamin V. Zamorov 
Odessa National University (ONU) 
2, Dvoryanskaya St. 
65000, Odessa, Ukraine 
In 1987 we found a juvenile yellowﬁn set position was 9°32′S, 58°03′E. The 

tuna, Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre, depth of hook, which caught the lan-

1788), in the stomach of a longnose lan- cetﬁsh, was 99 m. 

cetﬁsh, Alepisaurus ferox Lowe, 1833. 

Analysis of published information on 

lancetﬁsh food habits (Haedrich, 1964, Results and discussion

1969; Haedrich and Nielsen, 1966; 

Parin, 1968; Parin et al., 1969; Four- The fork length (FL) of the lancetﬁsh 

manoir, 1969; Grandperrin and Legand, was 167 cm, its weight was 9 kg; FL of 

1970; Kubota and Uyeno, 1970; Legand the yellowﬁn tuna was 37 cm and its 

et al., 1972; Kubota, 1973; Fujita and weight was 790 g. The tuna was imma-

Hattori, 1976; Matthews et al., 1977) ture and its stomach was empty. The 

led us to conclude that this was the ﬁrst tuna was 22.2% of the lancetﬁsh body 

record of a yellowﬁn tuna found in a length and 8.8% of its weight. The tuna 

lancetﬁsh stomach. was found in the lancetﬁsh stomach 

Although this ﬁnding has been re- with its tail towards the mouth of the 

corded in “gray literature” (Zamorov et lancetﬁsh. Evident transverse lateral 

al.1; Zamorov and Romanov2), the lim- damage to the tuna body included long,

ited circulation of this type of litera- deep, open wounds and an absence of 

ture, the fact that there were some in- skin and scales in the middle part of 

accuracies in the details of the record, the body. Deep wounds were absent 

and the absence of similar ﬁndings in on the head and caudal part of the 

recent studies (Okutani and Tsukada, tuna, where damage was minor (Fig. 

1988; Moteki et al., 1993), led us to 2). Analysis of the photos allowed us to 

publish the ﬁnding with correct infor- hypothesize about the manner of cap­

mation in the following note. ture. Presence of transverse damage to 

the middle part of the body suggested 

that the tuna was caught by the lan-

Materials and methods cetﬁsh across the body and held until it 

lost its ability to swim. The teeth of the 

A juvenile yellowﬁn tuna (Fig. 1) in lancetﬁsh had also caused cuts, likely 

good condition was found in the stom- inﬂicted during the convulsive struggle 

ach of a lancetﬁsh caught by pelagic of the tuna to free itself. The absence 

longline on 17 May 1987 during a of wounds in other parts of the tuna’s 

research cruise in the waters of the body, in particular on its head, indi­

exclusive economic zone of Mauritius, cated that after the tuna became inac­

western Indian Ocean. The longline tive, it was released from the predator’s 

teeth and swallowed head-ﬁrst. The 
proportions of the lancetﬁsh mouth 
and the victim allowed the tuna to be 
swallowed whole. 
Longnose lancetﬁsh is a common by-
catch species on tuna longlines in the 
study area, the northern stream of the 
South Equatorial Current, during the 
survey (April–June 1987) and are caught 
regularly at depths of 60–120 m. We 
have found slow-swimming animals in 
the stomachs of lancetﬁsh (Zamorov et 
al.1; Zamorov and Romanov2; Romanov 
and Zamorov3). The diet of lancetﬁsh 
consists of pelagic crustaceans (Hyperi­
idae, Portunidae, Amphipoda), cephalo­
pods of the families Onychoteuthidae, 
some Ommastrephidae (Ornithoteuthis 
volatilis), Cirroteuthidae, Octopodidae, 
Argonautidae, Cranchiidae, Histioteu­
thidae, Bathyteuthidae, and mesopelag­
ic ﬁshes (Sternoptyx diaphana, Parale­
pis elongata, Omosudis lowei, A. ferox, 
Antigonia rubescens, Tylerius spinosis­
simus) (Haedrich and Nielsen, 1966; Pa­
rin et al., 1969; Fourmanoir, 1969; Kubo­
ta and Uyeno, 1970; Rancurel, 1970; 
Fujita and Hattori, 1976; Matthews et 
al., 1977; Moteki et al., 1993). These are 
slow-swimming species.4 
1 Zamorov V. V., A. M. Amelekhina, and 
A. A. Rybalko. 1992. On the feeding of 
Alepisaurus ferox Lowe, 1833 in the west-
ern Indian Ocean. In Fauna and ecology 
of animals. Proc. Zool. Mus. Odessa 
State Univ. 1, p. 23–37. Odessa National 
Univ. (ONU), 2, Dvoryanskaya St., 65000 
Odessa, Ukraine. [In Russian.] 
2 Zamorov, V. V., and E. V. Romanov. 1993. 
New data on feeding of lancetﬁsh Alepis­
aurus ferox Lowe, 1833. In Resources of 
tunas and related species in the World 
Ocean and problems of their rational uti­
lization, p. 115–116. (Abstracts of the 
reports presented at ﬁrst interstate confer­
ence “Resources of tunas and related spe­
cies in the World Ocean and problems of 
their rational utilization,” Kerch 1–5 June 
1992). YugNIRO, Kerch. [In Russian.] 
3 Romanov, E. V., and V. V. Zamorov. 2002. 
Feeding habits of longnose lancetﬁsh (Alepi­
saurus ferox Lowe, 1833) in the western 
Indian Ocean. Manuscript in preparation. 
4 However, small specimens of the fast-
swimming ommastrephid squid Sthenoteu­
this oualaniensis (Lesson, 1830) (mantle 
length <10 cm) have been found in the 
stomachs of lancetﬁsh; the schooling life 
and common behavior of squids, including 
periods of slow swimming or passive drift, 
make them vulnerable to this predator. 
Manuscript accepted 13 April 2001. 
Fish. Bull. 100(2):386–389 (2002). 
NOTE Romanov and Zamorov: First record of Thunnus albacares from the stomach of Alepisaurus ferox 387 
Figure 1 
Yellowﬁn tuna (below) removed from the stomach of the lancetﬁsh (above). 
A 
B 
Figure 2 
Yellowﬁn tuna found in lancetﬁsh stomach; viewed from left side (A) and right side (B). 
Studies show that fast-swimming animals, ﬁshes of fam­
ilies Belonidae, Scombridae, Exocoetidae, Carangidae, Co­
ryphaenidae, in particular, and most squids of the family 
Ommastrephidae, the ordinary food of tunas, are rare or 
absent in stomachs of lancetﬁsh. Matthews et al. (1977) 
recorded one case of ﬁnding several frigate tunas of the ge­
nus Auxis in the stomach of one lancetﬁsh, but according 
to Collette,5 these were juveniles only 3.9–4.3 cm long. A 
small (35 cm3 in volume) juvenile swordﬁsh (Xiphias gla­
dius) from a lancetﬁsh stomach was reported by Williams 
(1967). Large slow-swimming ﬁshes are generally found 
in the stomachs of lancetﬁsh (Kubota and Uyeno, 1970, 
Fujita and Hattori, 1976). Cannibalism is also common 
among lancetﬁsh (Haedrich, 1964; Haedrich and Nielsen, 
1966; Fourmanoir, 1969; Matthews et al., 1977; Moteki et 
al., 1993; Zamorov et al.1). 
5 Collette, B. B. 1997. Personal commun. NMFS Systematic 
Laboratory, National Museum of Natural History, 10th & Consti­
tution Ave. Washington DC, 20560-0153. 
388 Fishery Bulletin 100(2) 
Large fast-swimming ﬁsh recorded from A. ferox stom­
achs include chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) 35 cm 
long (Kubota and Uyeno, 1970) and a pink salmon (On­
corhynchus gorbuscha) reported by Balanov and Radchen­
ko (1998). However, salmons (O. gorbuscha, O. nerka, and 
O. keta) found with slash marks attributed to lancetﬁsh 
likely indicate that lancetﬁsh also prey on these fast-
swimming ﬁsh (Radchenko and Semenchenko, 1996). 
The jaw structure and large teeth of lancetﬁsh allow 
these ﬁsh to hunt for relatively large animals. However, 
large epi- and mesopelagic ﬁshes, inhabiting the same or 
bordering niches with lancetﬁshes are able to evade at-
tack, as a rule, because of their swimming speeds. The 
elongate (anguilliform) body of lancetﬁshes and their ﬂab-
by and watery muscles suggest an inability to swim for a 
long time with a high cruising speed in order to chase prey. 
This species has no developed deep red muscles, a char­
acteristic feature of ﬁshes able to cruise at high speeds 
(Sharp and Pirages, 1978, He and Wardle, 1988). The mus­
cle tissue of the lancetﬁsh consists mainly of white mus­
cles that are responsible for short-term bursts of motion 
(Sharp and Pirages, 1978; Schmidt-Nielsen, 1979); and 
its body form allows it to make short impetuous rushing 
movements, characteristic of many predatory ﬁshes with 
anguilliform bodies (Trichiuridae, some of the Gempyli­
dae, Muraenidae, Anotopterus pharao, etc.). The high dor­
sal ﬁn of A. ferox and the large area of the caudal ﬁn are 
additional signs of the high maneuverability of this spe­
cies for swimming and hunting at short distances. 
Yellowﬁn tuna, unlike lancetﬁsh, are constantly active 
and swim in a rather fast motion, as has been demonstrat­
ed by numerous day-long (or several days long) telemetric 
tracking experiments (Carey and Olson, 1982; Cayre and 
Chabanne, 1986; Holland, et al., 1990; Cayre, 1991; Mar-
sac and Cayre, 1998). To maintain hydrostatic equilibri­
um, small yellowﬁn tuna swim within the range of 1.3–1.5 
body lengths per second (Brill6), which in the case of the 
tuna found in the lancetﬁsh stomach corresponds to a rate 
of 48–55 cm/s. Rarely the does the speed decrease to 14–22 
cm/s (Cayre and Chabanne, 1986, Holland et al., 1990, 
Brill et al., 1996, Marsac7). 
Needless to say, it is not easy for a rather slow-swim­
ming lancetﬁsh to catch a fast-swimming tuna. In our 
opinion, the only way for the lancetﬁsh to catch the tuna 
was to rush suddenly and to catch the prey with its large 
saber-like teeth. Ambush-rushing type of hunting is rath­
er widespread among predatory ﬁshes. Perhaps it prevails 
over other types of prey capture because it is efﬁcient 
and requires less energetic expense than would an active 
chase of an escaping victim. In the pelagic environment 
it is hardly possible to use ambush tactics owing to the 
character of the pelagic environment, i.e. the absence of 
natural shelters. Therefore for those ﬁsh unable to use 
6 Brill, R. W. 1997. Personal commun. Honolulu Laboratory, 
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, 2570 Dole St., Honolulu, HI 96822-2396. 
7 Marsac, F. 1997. Personal commun. Unité de Recherche n° 
109 (THETIS) Centre IRD BP 172 97492 Ste Clotilde Cedex La 
Reunion, France. 
high-speed cruise swimming, the method of hunting may 
be that of lying motionless or slowly sneaking up on the 
prey and then making a violent rush to catch the prey. For 
the lancetﬁsh in our study, we suggest that the tuna swam 
by the motionless or slowly swimming lancetﬁsh at a dis­
tance appropriate for a rush but also close enough, so that 
the tuna was unable to react to or evade the attack. 
Obvious lateral damage of the tuna’s body may indicate 
that the lancetﬁsh attacked the tuna in the vertical posi­
tion either from the belly or from the back. Similar forag­
ing behavior has been suggested for Anotopterus pharao, 
another aulopiform ﬁsh that resembles Alepisaurus in 
physical shape and structure, habitat, and diet (Balanov 
and Radchenko, 1998). 
Several of our colleagues suggested that the tuna may 
have been dead when the lancetﬁsh seized it. Starvation, 
or if the tunas was a discard from a ﬁshing vessel, and oth­
er reasons were given as the cause of mortality. However, 
in the area of the longline set by the research cruise, and 
in the general vicinity of the survey, no commercial long-
line or tuna purse-seine vessels were spotted. We believe 
that the lancetﬁsh made a successful natural attempt to 
seize a large, fast swimming food item. If, indeed this was 
the case, the ﬁnding is new and expands our knowledge 
of lancetﬁsh biology. It also indicates the efﬁciency of am-
bush-rushing type of hunting and the ability of a species 
unable to cruise at high speeds to catch rather large fast-
swimming ﬁshes. 
Acknowledgments 
We express our acknowledgements to V. F. Demidov, N. 
N. Kukharev, Ch. N. Nigmatullin, M. A. Pinchukov, L. K. 
Pshenichnov, E. A. Roshchin, and S. I. Usachev for useful 
discussions during the preparation of the note. We also 
wish to offer our sincere thanks to B. Collette, R. Brill, and 
F. Marsac for valuable unpublished information. We offer 
deep thanks to B. Collette for revision of the manuscript 
and correction of the English text. Lastly, we thank two 
anonymous reviewers for their suggestions, which helped 
to improve this note. 
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First record of a yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) from the stomach of a longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox)

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First record of a yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) from the stomach of a longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox)

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