Postlarval Scombroid Fishes of the Genera Acanthocybium, Nealotus, and Diplospinus from the Central Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Exclusive of the mackerels and tunas, whose commercial importance has caused them to be studied extensively, the early life history of scombroid fishes is poorly known. This is particularly true of the families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae, even though they are the bases for fisheries in Australia , South Africa, Madeira, and parts of Asia. There is also a paucity of lifehistory information about the non-schooling Scombridae. This paper describes young stages of the scombroid Acanthocybium solandri (Cuvier and Valenciennes), the gempylid Nealotus tripes Johnson, and the trichiurid Diplospinus multistriatus Maul, all three belonging to monotypic genera. The first has a slight commercial importance (Iversen and Yoshida, 1957:370) , the others may be considered rare species of no commercial value.