MFR PAPER 1268 W. L. Klawe is a Senior Scientist with the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92037. What Is A Tuna? question. The relationship among the present members of the family Scom bridae is shown in Figure I . The tribe W. L. KLAWE Thunnini correspond to what ichthyologi ts consider to be the tunas, and thi tribe is comprised of the fol lowing pecie :
Bullel luna A/uis rochei The word "tuna" is applied to cer being, we must conclude that the pro Frigate lun a Auxis rha ~a ,.d tain member of the family Scombridae, cess by which the word "tuna" gained Kawakawa Eurhyl/I/us affinis entry into American usage i un lillIe lunny Eurhynnus allerrerarlls a group of marine fi he containing also Black skipj ack EurhYl1l/lIs iineaflls boni tos, mackerels, eerfi he (or known!. Skipjack LUna KarsulI'onus pelamis Spani h mackerel ) and the butterfly To ichthyologists, the biologist who Albacore Thlll/IlIIS alallll/ga kingfi h. "Tuna" i a newcomer to the tudy fishe including their cIa ifica Yellowfin LUna Thul/lllIs albacares Blackfin lun a ThumlLls atlal/ticlIs English language. It eem to have tion, tuna i any of 13 species of the Southern bluefin luna ThuI/I/IIS maccoyii come into u e in the econd half of the tribe Thunnini within the family Scom Bigeye LUn a Tillll1l1l1S obesus la t century but it i not clear why it bridae. Specie , genera, tribes, NOl1hern bluefin LUna Thul1nus thYl/nus Longtail luna Thlllll/US tOllggol replaced the older name " tunny." familie , and all other taxonomic units Most likely " tuna" as a name for fish u ed by cientist to cia sify all the The e species, together with the rest of originated in California with immigrant animals and plants are in Latin, and thi the scombrids, are li sted in Table I, fishermen . There is evidence that the biological classi fication is organized so where the scientific as well as the com Spani h-speaking Californian, prior to that it reflects the relation hip of or mon name are given. The geographi 1848, used the word "tuna" only as the ganisms, both extinct and present, to cal distribution is also given for each of name of a fruit of an edible cactu . each other. In other word , this clas the species. The common name used Lyman (1970), argue in favor of an sification attempts to account for the in Table I are those names which are Italian origin of the word as applied to evolutionary history of the organi ms in currently used by the fishermen, scien fi h. He postulates that in southern tists, international fisheries bodies, I Kl awe, W. L. 1976. Tuna as an English word for California the word tuna was applied to a combrid fish. Inter-Am. Trop. Tuna Comm ., trading companies, fish processors, and the bonito, Sarda chiiiensis, by fisher La Joll a, CA 92037 (Unpubl. manu cr.). other people who concern themselve men originating in the Ligurian Sea area, and that the name eventually was Figure I.-The subfamilie ,tribes, genera, and number of pecie oflhe family Scombridae (based transferred to other fish which had been on Collette and Chao, 1975). known as tunny. It hould be pointed out, however, that Lyman overlooked NO. OF two important fact : I) That at the time FAMILY SUBFAM ILY TRIBE SPECIES we think the name tuna was adopted by 'UXIS 2 EVTHYNNUS 3 TUNAS the English-speaking Californians, (THUNNINI) KATSUWONcJS there were indeed in California fisher ~ THUHNtJS men originating from the Dalmatian ALLOTHUHNUS
coast of Yugo lavia (formerly part of CYBIOSAROA
the Austro-Hungarian monarchy), and BONITOS GYMNOSAROA their native name for tunny was (SARDIN I) ORcrNOPSI$ "tuna"; 2) The name tuna could also SCOMBRINAE -1 $ AROA have been brought to southern Califor ACANTHOCYBIUM SEERFISHES GRAMMATORCYNUS nia during the econd half of the (SCOM BEROMORINII nineteenth century by people from the SCOMBRIDAE ~ SCOM8£ROMORUS 16 Iberian Peninsula, i.e., the Spaniards, RASTRELLIGER MACKERELS --{ Portuguese, and Basques, whose ISCO MBR INII SCOlll8cR names for tuna included tunnina, to nina, tohinha, or atuna, among others. The English word tuna may have been derived from these. Thus for the time
November 1977 1 Table I.-Alphabetical list 01 genera and species 01 scombrld Iishes and the geographical distribution 01 each species. Tunas. bonrtos. seerfishes. butterlly kingfish. and mackerels Family Scombndae
Acanthocyblum Gill. 1862 Katsuwonus Klshlnouye. 1915 Chub mackerel Queensland school mackerel Wahoo Skipjack tuna Scomber iapomcus Houttuyn. 1782 Scomberomorus queenslandicus Acanrhocybium solandrt (Cuvler In Katsuwonus pe/amls (Linnaeus. 1758) Temperate and warm waters 01 both Munro. 1943 CuvlIlr and Valenciennes. 1831) Cosmopolitan In warm waters; ab hemispheres. present In the Mediter East and west coasts of Australia. ranean Sea. Tropical and subtropical waters of Ihe sent from the Black Sea Cero IndIan. Pacific. and AUanbc Oceans Atlantic mackerel Scomberomorus regalis (Bloch. 1793) including the Mediterranean Sea Orcynopsls Gill. 1862 Scomber scombrus Linnaeus. 1758 Tropical and subtropical waters of the Plain boMO Temperate and near-temperate wat western AtlantiC Ocean. particularly Allothunnus Serventy. 1948 Orcynopsis unico/or (Geoffroy SI. ers of the AtlantiC Ocean. Including in the West Indies. Slender tuna Hil alle. 1817) Allothunnus lallBJ Serventy. 1948 West coast of Afnca northward from the Mediterranean and the Black Broad-barred king mackerel Southern Ocean. south of lat. 20·S. Gulf of GUinea. and In the Mediterra Seas. Scomberomorus semlfasclB/uS (Mac one record from eastern Pacific nean Sea Scomooromorus Lacepede. 18022 leay. 1884) Oft Queensland and the Northern AuXIS Cuvler. 1829' King mackerel Raslrellrger Jordan and Starks In Jordan Terrttory of Australia. southern Bullel tuna Scomberomorus cavalla (CuYier. and Dickenson. 1908 1829) Papua New Guinea. Auxls rochei (RISSO. 1810) Short mackerel Warm waters of the Indian. PaCific. Tropical western Atlantic Ocean. Sierra Rastrelltger brachysoma (Bleeker. and AtlantIC Oceans. including the Scomberomorus sierra Jordan and 1851) Narrow-barred king mackerel Mediterranean Sea Starks in Jordan. 1895 MalaYSia. Indonesia. Papua New Scomooromorus commerson (Lace Eastern PaCific Ocean. from Califor GUinea. Solomons. and FIJ I Islands. Fngate tuna pooe. 1800) nia south to Peru and around the Indian and western Pacffic Oceans. Auxls thazard Lacepede. 1800) Galapagos Islands. Island mackerel Warm waters of the Indian. PaCific. Cape of Good Hope. east Africa. Red Rastrellrger laughm MatSUI . 1967 and AtlantIC Oceans. Sea eastward to Malaysia. Australia. Chinese seerlish Philippines. Taiwan. Papua New IndoneSia. Fiji . Philippines. People's Scomberomorus sinenSIS (Lacep'ede . Cyblosarda Whitley. 1935 GUinea. and IndoneSia. Republic of China. Formosa. and Ja 1800) Leaping bonrto pan. recent Immigrant to the Mediter Western Pacific Ocean from Japan to Indian mackerel Cyblosarda e/egans (Whrtley. 1935) ranean Sea. South Vlet-Nam; present also in Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier. 1817) Northern ~. of Australia. Cambodia In the Mekong system East coast of Afnca. Seychelles. Monterey Spanish mackerel (does not reproduce in fresh water). Scomberomorus conco/or (Locklng Euthynnus Uilken In Jordan and Gilbert. Arabian Sea. eastward through In doneSia and off northem Australia to ton. 1879) Western African Spanish mackerel 1883 Scomberomorus /ritor (Cuvierin Cuvier Kawakawa MelaneSia and MicroneSia. Samoa. Gulf of California. formerly abundant and ValenCiennes. 1831) Euthynnus allims (Cantor. 1849) coast of People's Republic of China. In Monterey Bay. California. and Ryukyus; recently recorded from Eastern AtlantiC. off west coast of Af Warm waters of the Indian and rICa ; rare in the Mediterranean Sea. Pacrtlc Oceans few records from the the Mediterranean Sea Indo-PaCific king mackerel Scomberomorus guttatus (Bloch and eastern Pacific Ocean. Thunnus South. 1845 Sarda CUYler. 1829 Schneider. 1801) Australian bonito Albacore little tunny Indian and PaCific Oceans from Sarda australIS (Macleay. 1880) Thunnus alalunga (Bonnaterre. 1788) Eutl1ynnus alletteratus (Raflnesque. Japan to India. Dlstnbutlon limited to southeastern Temperate and tropical waters of all 1810) oceans. including the Mediterranean coast of Australia from the TropIC of Warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean Korean seerlish CaprICorn south to Tasmania and at Sea. Including the Mediterranean Sea. Scomberomorus koreanus (Kish Norlolk Island. Ye llowfin tuna sporadiC occurrence In the Black Inouye. 1915) Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre. 1788) Sea Indian and Pacific Oceans Irom Eastern PaCific bonito Korea to India. Tropical and subtropical waters of the Black skipjack Sarda ehlliensis (CuYler m Cuvler and Indian. Pacific. and Atlantic Oceans. EU/hynnus Imea/us K,shlnouye. 1920 ValenCiennes. 1831) Streaked seeffish Black/in tuna Warm waters of the eastern PaCific Eastern PaCifiC Ocean from Van Scomberomorus lineo/atus (CuYler m Thunnus affanticus (Lesson. 1830) Ocean. stray specimens recorded couver Island to Baja Cahfomla; ab Cuvier and ValenCiennes. 1831 ) Western Atlantic Ocean. oft Martha's lrom the central PaCific Ocean sent from truly tropical waters of Mid Coastal waters of India and Ceylon Vineyard. Massachussetts. south dle Amenca and then present again eastward to Southeast ASia and In Gasterochlsma RIChardson. 1845 from Peru to northern Chile. ward through the Caribbean Sea to doneSia. Butterlly klngfish Brazil. Gas/erochlsma ma/ampus Richard Indo-Pacilic bonito Atlantic Spanish mackerel Southern bluefin tuna son. 1845 Sarda of/entaI,s (Temmlnck and Scomberomorus maculatus (Mitchili. Thunnus maccoyii (Castelnau . 1872) Throughout the southern hemis Schlegel. 1844) 1815) SubtropICal and temperate waters of phere. mosUy between lat 35 Sand Coastal regions of the Indian and Tropical and subtropical waters of the the southern region of the Indian. at least lat 50'S In the southeastern Pacific Oceans. also present around western AtlantiC Ocean from Mas Pacrtic. and Atlanltc Oceans. Indl an Ocean as far north as lat. many of the Islands. east coast of sachusens to RIO de Janello, absent 26 S. dlstnbubon appears to parallel Afnca. Red Sea. Arabian Sea. Gulf 01 Bigeye tuna from the West Indies tho zone of the West Wind Dnlt Bengat. western Australia. In Thunnus obesus (Lowe. 1839) doneSia. People's Republic of China. Warm waters of the Indian. Pacific. Grammatorcynus GIll 1862 Papuan seerllsh Formosa Japan. occaSionally In and Atlantic oceans. Double-hned mackerel Hawaiian waters : in the eastern Scomberomorus mul/lfadlatus Munro. Grammatoreynus blcaflnatus (Quoy PaCific. Middle Amenca to Ecuador. 1964 Northern bluefin tuna and Galmard. 1824) Indudlng the Galapagos Islands Shallow waters of Gulf of Papua off Thunnus thynnus (Llnnaeus. 1758) Red Sea. absent from the Arabian the mouth 01 the Fly River Subtropical and temperate waters of Sea and Bay ot Bengal. present off AtlantIC bonito the north PaCifiC Ocean. south and Japanese Spanish mackerel southeast ASIa Austrella. Papua Sarda sarda (Bloch. 1793) north AtlantiC Oceans. and In the New GUinea. Phlhpplnes. Ryukyus. Atlantic Ocean. Mediterranean and Scomberomorus mphon/us (Cuvler m Mediterranean and Black Seas Mars~aJls and Tonga Black Seas Cuvler and ValenCiennes. 1831) Korea. Japan. China. Papua New Longtail tuna Gymnosarda GNI. 1862 Scomber Llnnaeus. 1758 GUinea. and Austraha Thunnus tonggol (Bleeker. 1851) Dogtooth tuna Sponed chub mackerel Indian and west PaCific Oceans. trom Gymnosaroa umcolor (ROppel! 1838) Scomber austra/aslcus CUYler In Kanadl klngfish southern Japan where It IS rare. south Red Sea and East Alnca eastward to CUYler and Valenciennes. 1831 Scomberomorus pluf/lmeatus Four to Australia (north. east and west Austrah P pua Ne .. GUinea. Mar· Western PaCIfic Ocean. oft Australia. mancll.1966 coasts). throughout most of the In shalls Society Islands. and Mar New Zealand. People's Republic of Along the east Afncan coastline trom dian Ocean. Indudlng the Red Sea quesas sporadic n Japanese wat China. Japan HawaII, and Revll Kenya to South Natal, along the west but absent from most of the east Afn ers lagIQedos In the eastern PaCific. coast of Madagascar can coasl.
The names "bullet tuna' and "Ingate tuna " employed In thiS hst conform With the recommendation of 01 Speaal st to Rsv'8W the Biology and Status 01 Stocks of Small Tunas (Anonymous. 1976) ThIS recommendabon was dileCled to countries as well as to Internabonal 1 tlOnS 1I 01 fngate tuna and bullet tuna as common names may be of some controversy because lor a long lime the English language sClentlllc hterature has been frigate mackere 'Ot Au.,s thazardll e Goode 1884) II may be added that bullet mackerel. on the other hand. IS of recent cOi nage (Richards and Randall. 1967) oI .. r no 'he t onomy of t gnus ScomoelOmorus IS b.. ng cnltcally revIewed and addItional specIes are being descnbed Bruce B Collette. SystemallcsLaboratory. Nalional OAA tiOna! M~s""m ot Natural HIstory WaShington. DC 20560 personal communlcallon
Marine Fisheries Review with tuna. If we examine the common names we discover that other com brids, such a Allorhunl1us fallai and Gymnosarda unicolor, the slender tuna and dogtooth tuna, are also called " tunas." However, as seen in the out line of the family Scombridae (Fig. 1) they are actuall y bonitos. This is easily understood when we consider the fact that common names do not fo ll ow trict rules (Cohen, 1974), such as are used by scienti ts studying the relationship of the subfami lies and tribes within the fami ly Scombridae. [n Table I , the sci enti fic name of each genus and species, i.e., KarsUlVol1US pelamis, is followed by a name and a year. Sometimes the name is enclo ed in parentheses, and sometime not. In the case of Kar suwonus pelamis, it is followed by "(Linnaeus, 1758)." Thi indicates Ye ll owfin lun a. lOp. photographed In.ide a luna sei ne. Be low I a small that this pecies wa described by the ye ll owfin tuna (above) and a s" lpJad. tuna (beneath). Photograph by Swedish naturali t Carl Linne in 1758 W illi am L. Hi gh. onhwest and A laska Fisheries Center. NMFS. OAA. eanle. Wash. who, according to the cu tom of the period, Latinized hi s name to "Carolu s Linnaeus .. , The parenthe es denote that when Linne described the pecie he placed it in a different genus, the original name being Scomber pelamis. When the parentheses are omitted, it indicate that the author, in hi descrip tion of the species, used the generic name still in use for a given specie . Thus, if we look up Allorhunnus fallai Serventy, 1948 in Table 1, we discover that the pecies was originall y de- cribed in the genus Allorhul1nus. Although each of the species in Table 1 has one li sted common name, in real ity some of the fish have many such names. Karsuwonus pelamis, or skip jack tuna, is known in some part of the English-speaking world as " bonito" or "oceanic bonito," but in Hawaii it is often referred to as "aku," which is a Polynesian name. In Table 1, we also note that the name " mackerel " is applied to many pecie of the seer Thul1nus IhYl1nu s. but to Thlllll1l1 S the use of common names. Each gener fishes. Further, the name mackerel i ronggol. Among the Australian tuna, ic name i unique. 0 other pecie of even used for members of families there are two similar pecies-Thunl1us fish (or of any other animal) may have other than the Scombridae. Of course, maccoyii, which occurs off the south the same combination of generic and all thi result in a certain degree of ern coast and is known a the outhern specie (trivial) name . Since scientific confusion temming from the use of blue fin tuna, and Thul1nlls fonggol. names are accepted around the world. common names. which occurs off the northern coast of they as ure that the global cientific To illustrate further the vagaries of Australia and is called northern bluefin community can communicate about the common name , we may consider the tuna. Thus it is not urpri ing that scien particular organi m involved. fact that in Australia the name " north ti fic names were devi ed to help scien However, even scienti fic name ern bluefin tuna" is applied not to tists avoid the ambiguities ari ing from change with time. Changes in the cien-
NO I'e mber 1977 3 tuna, aD not included on Ih FD , Ii t SC E·.~I>IC ',0'1£ ,CLA URE VERNACULAR OMENCLATURE of fUna • . and thu .- a "ann d product USAGE FDA USAGE CURRENT USAG E FDA USAGE made fr m the e spe ie annot bear the label "tuna." Slut",n Tunc The \ariou b nita of the genu ' r.or hero 81uefm Tuno ~ l Oriente I Tuna ardu, when canned. r 'emble canned tuna in ( te and appearance. uch pro Sou'hem Bluef," Tuna Southern Bluehn Tuno duct, howe\er. mu t b 'old in th t:. lb ocore: Albacore nil d tate a ' "b nit ." In m
Siocktm unc 810c"ftn TUna other unlrie. Canada for xample. canned b nito i . Id a ' tuna and is tI sui PorO'h-unnvi mtbochl 8lqe~e uno 81(~ -eyed Tuna labeled a "tuna (b nit)" Thi tate
eathunl"luS mocropltrU5 Yello.,.. f,n Tuna Yello ow fm Tuna ment h uld not be taken a criti i m f the PD or of th equi alent organiza· Neot tlnnUi toruS Lon 9fo d Tuna Northern Bluefln Tuna tion in Canada, but only a a "ratement
SkIPIOC' Tuna SklPloc, f facl. earl) all tuna in the nit d tates Eu'hytlnU1 yO)IO ko oko ...... o l L.ttle: Tu""y Li1lle Tunny though mall amount ar sold a. fre "h fish in ome part " of the country. In BloCk SklPJock lIltl. Tunny HaWaii the aku. or kipjack tuna, i ' r tUn: :! -Tuna,. J' ddined b) the . Food and Drug dministralion. used in preparation of traditional Polync ian di ' he . Because f the large 1111 nnlT1c.:Il~lalllrc;m; IhercslIlI, lfcon- lbb amI Collette (19 7). who c n popu lation of Ameri ans of Japancs du ted these ludie oncluded that ance tr in Hawaii there i aLo a can there w re enou oh differences between ~iderable demand for fre ' h tuna to pre " the Pacific and t1anli p pulalion of pare a traditional Japanese h H S the nonh m blu fin [una 10 on ider d'oeuvre 1-.nown a:- sashimi , sliced raw them different n a ::.ub pecific Ie el. tl'ih, which is dipped in a spi y sauce he e fi~h theref re are . metime - re before eat ing. nother product L1~ed in ferrt:d t a~ Tlwll/lli IhYlllIl/S IhYllnu Japanese cookin g is lhe 'o-called kat and Thull/III Ihyllllu onellfali. Thu~ suobushi. u unll referred to as "dried \~ e ma) a) that ThllllllU alien and bonito" and imp rted from Japan t th h olher. h,I\(' bel:n pn \en It he the TllulIlIIl.I oriel1w/i are ) nonym. of nited tate und r the latter n me . ThllflllllS IhvI/IIUJ . In r feren e t th However. the term " dried bonIto" is \ ariabd it> f c mm n name, and t misleading . as the product is n l thc ~ynon) m~ of 'ci nunc name~ Ihe b nito. but :, h.ipj a h.. tuna. The fish i, a Iolio\.\. mg ~J y IIl g carne ... a great deal f hi ghly pro SSl:d produ t in which thl.:: trLlth. .. ommon name ' hange from n... h fiN IS boiled, the l oi n ~ are sepa place to place, whereu~ elcntific name\ ruted anll ti ll b nc o arc remo cd . The change fmm lime lO lime .. 10111:' are then !'>lTIo h.e -drJcd over a The nnd and rug dmlnis(ration period of man) day,-, aftcr \ hieh mold If- D ), a hraneh of the Lt. Depan is gradually pcrn1llled to grow on the Illcnt III Ht:alth . dll alion. and Wel loin, . The fil11shc.:d pmduct I~ product'll t:.ln.:. Include .. JOlung Ih \an u. ,IC ' b_ convcnlllg the Ii\h Il)in s into shaven tl\ IlIC' the Je\d~)pmc.:nt 01 ' tandard\ tl,Ih.c.:s which are U\ctl mainly for mah. 1m hllld . IIlCluJln 1 lanncd luna In the In 1 ..l ,oup \lOch... KJtsuobushl IS men · <,de 01 h.'ueral Regulalll1n\. F tlOned here tn plllnl nut Ih'll one bran ' 11 \.h::tllll.' ;Jnd gl\e Idnd,lrd tl! IJenllt~ \1 / the I J l\emmenl m,l) 'onsider t 1111T/111 I /lIlt 1/1 H" /1 II Table 2.-Alphabetlcal lI.t of genera and .peele. of blllll.he. and the geographical dlatrlbutlon of each .p!CIa• . Sailfish, marflns, and speartishes Shortbill spearfish Roundscale spearfish where It IS present only In small num Family Istlophorldae Tetrapturus angusl"oslflS Tanaka, Teuaplurus georgel Lowe, 1840 bers 1914 In the Atlan~c off Portugal and Spain, An Indian and Pacific Ocean species In the Mediterranean off SICily Blue martin /stiophorus LacepSde, 1802 found In warm waters; open· sea fish Makalfa mgflcans Lacepede 1802 Sailfish seldom encountered In coastal wat· Longblll spearfish Widely distributed throughout the In /s/lophorus p/alyplerus (Shaw and ers. Tetraplurus pfluegefl RobinS and de dian, PaCific, and AtlantIC Oceans . Noddar, 1791) Sylva, 1963 especially abundant In the trop!Cai Widely distnbuted throughout tropl' Open waters of the tropical and sub regions cal and subtropical waters of the Striped marlin trOPiCal Atlan~c worfd oceans; usually more abun Teuaplurus audax (Philipp', 1887) Swordfish dant near land masses and some of An Indian and Pacific Ocean species Family Xlphlldae the Islands. found in warm waters ; relatively rare Makalfa LacepSde, 1802 Black marlin In equatorial regIOn of the central and XJphlas Llnnaeus, 1758 western Pacific. Makaira mdlca (Cuvler m Cuvler and Swordfish Teuapturus Rafinesque , 1810 Valenciennes , 1831 ) Xlphlas g/adlUs Llnnaeus, 1758 White marfln Mainly a species of the Indian and Widely distributed throughout the Tetraplurus a/bldus Poey, 1861 Pacific Oceans, sporadiC occurrence temperate and the tropiCal waters of Tropical and temperate waters, Mediterranean spearfish In the AtlantIC Ocean , tropICal fish the worfd oceans and the adjacent found only in the Atlantic and the Teuaplurus be/one Rafinesque, 1810 much more abundant In coastal wat seas, found In coastal as well as In Mediterranean. Mediterranean Sea. ers than In waters of the open sea, oceanIC areas of meaning and in others there is not. tion with tunas are the term " princi What then i. a tun a? In our eve!) da) The lack of agreement can be illustrated pal" and " econdary market pecies." speech we are not too careful with our by the Japane e language. The Japan The principal specie, all seven pecie choice of word and often, when nam ese consider the ski pjack tuna to be a of the genu Thunnlls and the skipjack ing thing, we u e word or terms bonito, rather than a tuna. To the tuna, KatsulVonus pelamis, are the ones which lack preci. ion . Even the e Japane e, the bullet and frigate tuna, which are most sought for canning pur poorly defined name erve our pur the black skipjack, the kawakawa, and po es. The econdary market species po e, however, a long a we can com the little tunny are various kind of encompas the genera Auxi and municate by u ing them. Ho\\.ever, bonitos, creating a kind of lingui tic Euthynnus of the tuna , the butterfly ome a pe t of human affair require gap between the J apane e and English kingfi h, the bonitos, and eerfi he . that word and terms be de fin d 0 language . To tra n late the word Another term often u ed in conjunction exactly that there is no room for the "tuna" (meaning member of the tribe with tunas i " tuna-like fishes ." U u po ibility of mi under tanding. The Thunnini) into Japane e it is necessary all y the term " tuna and tuna-like word tuna, In addition to being an to use a three-word expre sion katsuo to fishe " appl ie to the bill fishe and all everyday word which ma) be u ed in magmo. According to a Japane e-Eng scombrid s with the exception of the true relation to uch a mundane thmg a a li sh dictionary thi may be translated as mackerels, Rastrelliger and Scomber. andwich, often h a~ precise meanmgs "skipjack tuna and tunas" or "bonito The mackerel are excluded becau e defined by cienti ts as well a~ lav,mak and tunas." Furthermore, we find that their mode of life, the nature of mac er . among the Japane e general population kerel fi herie , and the marketing of LITERATURE CITED the word maguro, the close t equivalent mackerel catches are quite different Anonymous. 1976. The blOlog} and ,t3tU' ot ,tock 01 to " tuna," may include not only all from the other tuna-like fi hes. small tunas . Repon of an Ad Hu( Commiltec of specie of the genu Thunnus, but on The billtishe derive their name from Specialisl . Honolulu. H3"'3J1. L SA. 15-1 De cember 1975 FAO Fi>h Tech Pap 1'4,: I p occa ion even bill fi he . Another a sword-like or a spear-like projection Cohen. D ~1 197 4 'lame of Ibhe,. \Jar F"h Rc\ example of change in meaning from of the upper jaw. Many of them are 36( I ~ ): I -23 Collette. B B . and L :-.; Chao 1975 S, tematlC' dnd one language to another can be illu - caught in conjunction with the fishery morpholog~ of the bonllo, (Sarda) and-their relatl\c' trated by the name" albacore, " a word for tuna . The bill fi she are compri ed ( combndae. ardlnl) Fish Bull. L S 7~ "16·tl2 Gibbs. R H. and B B Collette 19"7 Cnmpara!i\c which ha cognate in other languages. of two familie , I tio phoridae and anatom) and ) 'tematics of the tuna, genu, Thunnu, However, in ome language there i a Xiphiidae. The family Istiophoridae L Fish Wildl Ser> . Fish. Bull f16.65-ll0 Goode. G B I 4. The fbhene. and Ii,her> tndu,tnc shift of meaning. Thu , the French encompa e 3 genera and 10 specie . of the l,;nited State., Seenon I "arurai Iu tOl') of name albacore refer to the yeJJowfin The family Xiphiidae contain only one u eful aquatic animal -text S Comm FI h tuna ThullllUS a/bacares, and not to T , Fish. 95 p. member, the wordfi h, Xiphia g/ad Lyman. J 1970 Tuna Romance Note" ILn" rth a/a/L1nga. In Spai n the albacore i usu illS . All of the pecie of bill fi he are Carolina) 12(1 /'1-5 ally called atlin blanco although the RiChard , \\ J . and J E Randal 19"- FI 1 tlanll li sted in Table 1, with the geographical record, of the narro",-cor-;elctcd fngate mere! name albacora i al 0 u ed for thi fi h. di tribution for each. A,u;, Iha:ard Copela IYtl7 245·2 In ome other Spani h- peaking coun tries the name albacora may mean diffe rent fi h. For example, in Cuba the MFR Paper 1268. From Manne Fishenes ReVIew, Vol. 39. No II, November blackfin tuna, T. at/amicus, i called 1977. CopIes of thIS paper. In limned numbers, are aVaJlable from 0822, User albacora, "herea in Chile it i the Services Branch, EnVIronmental SCIence InformatJon Center, NOAA. ROCkvIlle MD 20852. CopIes of Marine Fishenes Review are avatlable from the Supenn wordfi h, Xiphias g/adills. tendent of Documents, U.S Government PnntJng Office. Washington, DC Other cla ification u ed in connec- 20402 for S 1. 10 each 'ol'ember 197