Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 2

Abstract

Chiefly arising from their sporting potentialities in big game angling, the large “Bill-fishes”, or Marlin, and Sword-fishes have attracted considerable attention in recent times. Commercial fishermen of Japan and anglers of the United States have been most ardent in the pursuit of these peculiar creatures. While a good deal has been learnt about them, there still remains much to discover. In the case of the Marlins, for example, hardly anything is known of their reproduction, of the larval or postlarval early forms, and even those who have studied these fishes from ample material over a wide area are as yet uncertain of the absolute identity of the species, and are often unable to identify with any certainty the rare occasional reasonably small specimens that are encountered. In South Africa shore angling is so good throughout virtually the entire year that there has been little incentive to explore the possibilities further out, especially as quiet seas are a rare condition. Quite recently, however, big game angling at sea has developed almost explosively and increasingly large fishes are being captured. During our extensive travels in the tropical Western Indian Ocean it became obvious that great numbers of the larger angling fishes were present, including those treated here. Although that area is windy and storm-lashed for much of the year, remote from facilities, and barren, its potentialities are relatively unexplored, but are clearly so great that it will not be long before it becomes recognised as one of the chief big game angling areas of the world. These fishes are at present placed in the families Xiphiidae and Istiophoridae. The latter embraces the Sailfishes, the Marlins and the Spearfishes, usually granted distinction by only generic rank. In my opinion, however, they merit at least sub-family rank.Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)The main funds for this work were provided by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, who also made a special grant in February 1956 to cover considerable traveling that numerous Marlin catches rendered necessary