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First record of Australian bonito, SardaAustralis, from New ZealandG. D. James a & G. Habib aa Fisheries Research Division , Ministry of Agriculture andFisheries , P.O. Box 19062, Wellington, New ZealandPublished online: 30 Mar 2010.

To cite this article: G. D. James & G. Habib (1979) First record of Australian bonito, SardaAustralis, from New Zealand, New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 13:3,425-426, DOI: 10.1080/00288330.1979.9515819

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00288330.1979.9515819

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-New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 1979, 13 (3): 425-426

First record of Australian bonito, Sarda australis,from New Zealand

G. D. JAMES and G. HABIB

Fisheries Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries,P.O. Box 19062, Wellington, New Zealand

The range of the Australian bonito, Sarda australis (Macleay, 1880), previously known onlyfrom eastern Australia and Norfolk Island, is now extended to include New Zealand. Dataon two specimens examined from northern New Zealand are presented.

INTRODUCTION

Recent major papers dealing with the bonitos Sarda•spp., notably Klawe (1977) and Collette & Chao(1975), have described the distribution of the Aus-tralian bonito, Sarda australis, as eastern Australiafrom the Tropic of Capricorn to Tasmania andNorfolk Island. Although this account extends thedistribution of S. australis to include northern NewZealand, this species still has the most restricted dis-tribution of any of the four species of Sarda.

Some uncertainty surrounds early records of Sardafrom New Zealand. Hutton (1872) reported Pelamyschilensis — a synonym for S. auslralis, see Collette &Chao (1975) —from Cook Strait, New Zealand. Thisrecord was based on a skull with a head length of22i inches (51.6 cm), far larger than that attainedby Sarda, and was probably from a specimen ofThunnus maccoyi (Castelnau). Sherrin (1886) alsoincluded Pelamys chilensis in a list of New Zealand

fishes, but as he gave no description of the fish itmust be assumed he was merely repeating Hutton'searlier misidentification.

OBSERVATIONS

Two of seven specimens caught in December 1977and February 1978 were secured for identificationand one was photographed (Fig. 1). One of thoseexamined was caught in early December 1977 withfive other individuals and a number of trevally,Caranx georgianus Cuvier, in a set net at the entranceof Manawaora Bay (35° 15.0'S, 174° 10.8'E) in theBay of Islands in 15 m of water. The second speci-men examined was also caught with trevally by setnet in the same place on 7 February 1978. All speci-mens were taken by the same fisherman who wasnot aware of any others having been caught. If otherspecimens had been taken, they could have beenmistaken for skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelatnis (L.).

Fig. 1. Specimen of Australian bonito, Sarda australis, (F.L. 479 mm) taken in the Bay of Islands, N.Z.

Received 12 February 1979; revision received 26 March 1979Fisheries Research Division Publication 370

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426 New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 1979, 13 (3)

Australian bonito can be distinguished from skipjackby the stripes above the lateral line which are absentin skipjack.

The measurements and counts made (Table 1)follow Man- & Schaefer (1949), Collette & Chao(1975), and Gibbs & Collette (1967) with a fewexceptions. We measured both maximum body depthand body depth at insertion of the first dorsal fin,

Table 1. Measurements and counts for two speci-mens of Australian bonito, Sarda australis, takenin northern New Zealand, Dec 1977 & Feb 1978

Specimen1 2

Fork length (mm) 451MEASUREMENTS (thousandths of fork length)Snout — A 672Snout - 2 D 601Snout - ID 277Snout - P, 306Snout - P, 269Pi-P, 118Head length 268Max body depth 255Max body depth (insertion ID) 231Max body width 157P, length 118P2 length 73P2 insertion - vent 368P2 tip - vent 288Base ID 337Height 2D 78Base 2D 98Height anal 80Base anal 86Caudal spread 255Snout (fleshy) 98Snout (bony) 86Maxilla length 137Iris diameter 35Interorbital width 69MEASUREMENTS (thousandths of head length)Snout (fleshy) 364Snout (bony) 322Maxilla length 512Iris diameter 132Interorbital width 256COUNTSDorsal spinesDorsal raysDorsal finletsAnal raysAnal finletsPectoral raysGill rakersUpper jaw teethLower jaw teeth

18168

156

262121,2222,21

479

67259926128826111926125321714612181

38429933077927577

2519281

1323365

352312504128248

19157

137

262123,2317,19

and diameter of the iris instead of the length of fleshyand bony orbits as the latter were difficult to define.

The specimens were identified as S. australis ratherthan S. chiliensis, the most closely related species,because of the lower number of gill rakers, highernumber of pectoral rays, and higher proportionalmeasurements for lengths of the first dorsal base andmaxilla (see key in Collette & Chao (1975)).

The specimens have been deposited in the NationalMuseum, Wellington, N.Z., reg. no. NMNZ P.7903.

REMARKS

This species is sometimes taken off Victoria, Australia(39°S), during summer (Whitley 1964) and thus it isnot surprising that it has now been taken in NewZealand at a latitude of 35°S, also during summer.Sarda australis has a coastal distribution in Australia(Munro 1958); these specimens were also taken inshallow, inshore waters. This species is unlikely toassume much commercial significance as it appearsto be uncommon and is not highly regarded forhuman consumption.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTWe thank Mr D. Calvert of Mangonui for providingus with details of the specimens.

REFERENCESCOLLETTE, B. B.; CHAO, L. N. 1975: Systematics and

morphology of the bonitos (Sarda) and theirrelatives (Scombridae, Sardini). Fishery Bulletin.U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 73(3): 516-625.

GIBBS, R. H.; COLLETTE, B. B. 1967: Comparativeanatomy and systematics of the tunas, genusThunnus. Fishery Bulletin. U.S. Fish & WildlifeService 66(1): 65-130.

HUTTON, F. W. 1872: Catalogue with diagnoses ofthe species. Pp. 1-93 in HUTTON, F. W. &HECTOR, J. Fishes of New Zealand. ColonialMuseum & Geological Survey Department, Well-ington.

KLAWE, W. L. 1977: What is a tuna? Marine FisheriesReview 39(11) (paper 1268): 1-5.

MACLEAY, W. 1880: Descriptive catalogue of thefishes of Australia. Part II. Proceedings of theLinnean Society of N.S.W. 5(4): 510-629.

MARR, I. C.; SCHAEFER, M. B. 1949: Definitions ofbody dimensions used in describing tunas. FisheryBulletin. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 51: 241-4.

SHERRIN, R. A. A. 1886: Handbook of the Fishes ofNew Zealand. Wilson & Horton, Auckland.

WHITLEY, G. P. 1964: Scombroid fishes of Australiaand New Zealand. Proceedings of the Symposiumon Scombroid Fishes, Marine Biological Associa-tion of India, Symposium Series 1: 221-53.

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