'^smmm&mmu Q\LIFQRNIA FISH-GAME California Fish and Game is a journal devoted to the conservation of wild- life. If its contents are reproduced elsewhere, the authors and the California Department of Fish and Game would appreciate being acknowledged. Subscriptions may be obtained at the rate of $5 per year by placing an order with the California Department of Fish and Game, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, California 95814. Money orders and checks should be made out to California Department of Fish and Game. Inquiries regarding paid sub- scriptions should be directed to the Editor. Complimentary subscriptions are granted, on a limited basis, to libraries, scientific and educational institutions, conservation agencies, and on exchange. Complimentary subscriptions must be renewed annually by returning the post- card enclosed with each October issue. Please direct correspondence to: Robson A. Collins, Editor California Fish and Game 350 Golden Shore Long Beach, California 90802 u VOLUME 64 APRIL 1978 NUMBER 2 Published Quarterly by STATE OF CALIFORNIA THE RESOURCES AGENCY DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME LDA STATE OF CALIFORNIA EDMUND G BROWN JR., Governor THE RESOURCES AGENCY HUEY D. JOHNSON, Secretary for Resources FISH AND GAME COMMISSION BERGER C. BENSON, President, San Mateo RAYMOND S. DASMANN, Member SHERMAN CHICKERING, Vice President Santa Cruz San Francisco ABEL C. GALLETTI, Member ELIZABETH L. VENRICK, Member Los Angeles Cardlff-by-the-Sea DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME E. C. FULLERTON, Director 1416 9th Street Sacramento 95814 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME Editorial Staff ROBSON A. COLLINS, Editor-in-Chief Long Beach KENNETH A. HASHAGEN, Editor for Inland Fishenes Sacramento CAROL M. FERREL, Editor for Wildlife Sacramento ROBERT N. TASTO, Editor for Marine Resources Menio Park STEVEN N. TAYLOR, Editor for Salmon and Steelhead Sacramento HAROLD K. CHADWICK, Editor for Stnped Bass, Sturgeon, and Sfiad Stockton CONTENTS 73 Page Some Rare and Unusual Occurrences of Fishes off California and Baja California John E. Fitch and Steven A. Schultz 74 An Evaluation of Disk-Dangler Tag Shedding by Striped Bass {Morone saxatilis) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary Gary E. Smith 93 Taxonomy of the Colorado Cutthroat Trout [Salmo clarki pleuriticus) of the Williamson Lakes, California J. R. Gold, G. A. E. Gall, and S. J. Nicola 98 An Analysis of Fish Catches Obtained with an Otter Trawl in Santa Monica Bay, 1969-73 Rimmon C. Fay, James A. Vallee, and Pat Brophy 104 Parasites of Silver Salmon iCoho) and King {Chinook) Salmon from the Pacific Ocean off Oregon Robert E. Olson 117 Notes Comparison of Floy Internal Anchor and Disk-Dangler Tags on Largemouth Bass {Micropterus salmoides) at Merle Col- lins Reservoir Robert R. Rawstron and Ronald J. Pelzman 121 Successful Reproduction of Giant Pacific Oysters in Hum- boldt Bay and Tomales Bay, California John A. Span 123 Status of the Oregon Ruffed Grouse in Northwestern Cali- fornia Charles F. Yocom 124 Harbor Seals in and Adjacent to Humboldt Bay, California Thomas R. Loughlin 127 Book Reviews 133 74 CALIFORNIA FISH AND CAME Calif. Fish and Came 64(2): 74-92 1978 SOME RARE AND UNUSUAL OCCURRENCES OF FISHES OFF CALIFORNIA AND BAJA CALIFORNIA JOHN E. FITCH Operations Research Branch and STEVEN A. SCHULTZ Marine Resources Region California Department of Fish and Game Nineteen fish species captured off California and Baja California were deemed noteworthy for one or more reasons. Among these, 12 species (Benthodesmus elon- gatus pacificus, Carcharhinus obscurus, Coelorinchus scaphopsis, Cryptopsaras couesii, Epinephelus niveatus, Gadus macrocephalus, Lepidocybium flavobrun- neum, Myliobatis longirostris, Pleurogrammus monopterygius, Pteraclis aesticola, Ruvettus pretiosus, and Taractichthys steindachneri) rarely have been seen in our waters, but only seven of these 12 represent new locality records. Three are reported here because of their large size (Acipenser medirostris, Priacanthus cruentatus, and Zu cristatus), but Zu crista tus a\so is a rarely seen species. Two occurrences (Pset- tichthys melanostictus and Sebastes nebulosus) extended geographical ranges for commonly taken species; one fish (Elops affinis) was new to the outer coast of California; and one (Paralabrax auroguttatus) was new to California's marine fauna. During any given year, perhaps six to ten of the fishes that are brought to Department of Fish and Came ( DFG ) personnel to identify, or which are caught on Department vessels, are worthy of more than a passing glance. Some of these are new to California's marine fauna; some represent new locality or size records; some afford an opportunity to obtain needed information on the fish's life history, habits, or morphology; and some are just plain rare. Details concern- ing 19 such species are reported below. These represent an accumulation of noteworthy occurrences over a several-year period. Many of these fishes were brought to Department personnel at California State Fisheries Laboratory, Long Beach (CSFL), but they have not been retained there. Once a fish has been processed at CSFL and the fisherman has been thanked, it assumes the status of "specimen," and either is sent to an ichthyological collection on the Pacific Coast for permanent curation, or it is discarded. Institu- tions where such collections are housed are: California Academy of Sciences (CAS), Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM), Santa Barbara Natural History Museum (SBNHM), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), Southwest Fishery Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, La Jolla (SWFC), and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). We have arranged our accounts alphabetically by family, as that seemed the least troublesome way to present the information. ACIPENSERIDAE— STURGEONS Acipenser medirostris — green sturgeon On July 11, 1975, Tony Spagnolini, a commercial fisherman, caught what appears to be the largest green sturgeon ever taken in the ocean south of San Francisco (Fitch and Lavenberg 1971:17). Mr. Spagnolini's sturgeon was caught in gill nets which he had set in "10 fathoms of water about one-half mile south of Dana Point west jetty light." The fish was a mature male, 163 cm (5 ft 4% inches) total length (tl), and weighed 25.7 kg (56 lb 972 oz). Its stomach was RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 75 empty, but the intestinal tract contained the intact shell of a small live snail, Olivella baetica. A thin cross-section was made through one of the sturgeon's large pectoral fin rays, and with the aid of a microscope, several staff biologists were able to discern 11 excellent rings, presumed to be annuli. The largest of 166 green sturgeon caught in gill nets and otter trawls during an ecological survey of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta was 56-58 cm fork length (fl), and was presumed to be a juvenile (Radtke 1966:122). Miller (1972) noted that four of five green sturgeon recovered from 54 individuals that were tagged in San Pablo Bay during 1967 and 1968, had migrated into the ocean. Three had moved north, one as far as Gray's Harbor, Washington, and one was recaptured at Santa Cruz, California, south of the tagging site. These fish had been "45 to 50 inches tl" at the time of tagging, and none had been at liberty for more than 3 years when recaptured. The green sturgeon is reported to attain a length of 213 cm (7 ft) and a weight of 136 kg (300 lb), but the largest which can be verified appears to be the largest of 75 fish caught in 1 day in Kyuquot Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This fish was 203 cm (80 inches) long ( Hart 1 973 ) . None of the above reports contains age information, however, nor is there any information on age in an excellent, detailed account of the green sturgeon in California by Fry (1973). BRAMIDAE— POMFRETS Pteraclis aesticola — Pacific fanfish Since only three Pacific fanfish have been reported from the eastern north Pacific (Noble and Blodgett 1952, as P. velifera; Mead 1972:166), and in view of uncertainty over its specific identification (Mead 1972:118), three recently- captured specimens will help shed light upon its distribution, life history, and meristics. One of these, at 473 mm standard length (sl), ca. 560 mm TL, and 1015 g, is 58 mm longer (sl) than the previously known record-sized Pacific fanfish from near Cambria, California (Noble and Blodgett 1952). This 473 mm fish was netted during mid-September 1975 at Ranger Bank, Baja California (lat 28°3rN, long 1 15°30'W), in a nighttime purseseine set for bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, by the crew of the vessel Mauritania. It was a maturing male with an empty stomach. Its otoliths were examined for evidence of age and appeared to have 9 to 1 1 hyaline (winter) zones, but there is no certainty that these were annuli. A previously unreported specimen in the SIO ichthyology collection and another in the SWFC collections have also been examined. The SIO fanfish (SIO 71-184) at 445 mm SL is also larger than the Cambria specimen. This fish was netted on August 2, 1971, some 80 km (50 miles) SW of Point Baja, Baja California, at lat 29°25'N, long 1 16°30'W. The SWFC fanfish, at 40 mm sl, is the smallest P. aesticola known at this time from the eastern north Pacific. It was spit up by an albacore, Thunnus alalunga, that was caught on June 8, 1976, at lat 32°25'N, long 13r28'W. Mead (1972:107) distinguished the three species of Pteraclis {carolinus, velif- era, and aesticola) on the basis of branchiostegal rays; dorsal, anal, and pectoral rays; and vertebrae. He reported seven branchiostegal rays for P. aesticola, but the four specimens we examined all had eight. Other counts for three of these specimens (LACM 35990-1, SIO 63-491, and SIO 71-184, respectively) are: DR 76 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 48 (allthreefish);AR 44, 41,42; PR 19 (all three); principal CR 9 + 8 = 17 (all three); vertebrae 22 + 23 = 45, 21 + 23 = 44, and 22 + 23 = 45. Gill rakers (1 -1-7 = 8) and pored lateral line scales (48) were counted only on the LACM fanfish. Based upon these counts, P. carolinus and P. aesticola can be differen- tiated only by vertebral counts, and this nnay be the best character for identifying P. velifera also. It is obvious from our meagre observations that additional material from the Pacific Ocean should be examined to determine if these differences will hold, and if, in fact, there are three species of Pteraclis. Taractichthys steindachneri- — Pacific bigscale pomfret Fitch and Lavenberg (1968:97) reported that "specimens of Taractes longlpin- nls [ = Taractichthys steindachneri\ apparently have been noted only four times in the eastern Pacific — all since April, 1953, all in the 80-mile stretch between Doheny State Park Beach and Redondo Beach, and all floundering or swimming feebly in the shallow surf." Subsequently, three additional specimens have been taken, two within this "80-mile stretch" of southern California coastline, and one at Goleta, about 145 km (90 miles) upcoast from Redondo Beach. Details regarding these as well as the four earlier captures are reported here for the first time. The first three individuals, taken at Corona del Mar, Redondo Beach, and Doheny Beach respectively, were reported upon by Fitch (1953), Radovich (1961 ), and Anonymous (1961 ). The Redondo Beach specimen, a "24-pound" fish (650 mm sl) was retained by the fisherman who had picked it up in the surf, but the Corona del Mar fish (590 mm sl) and the Doheny Beach pomfret (328 mm sl) were deposited in the UCLA ichthyology collection. The fourth individ- ual mentioned by Fitch and Lavenberg (1968) was caught barehanded on March 17, 1964, in the surf near the Belmont Shore pier by a Long Beach fisherman, Kevin Desmond. This fish was 497 mm SL, 678 mm TL, and weighed about 5.5 kg (12 lbs). Since 1968, three additional Pacific bigscale pomfrets have been taken on our coast. The first of these was seen on September 11, 1969, floundering in the surf off the Anaheim Bay jetty and was caught by an unknown fisherman. The fisherman allowed a biologist to measure and weigh the fish (measurements noted as "27 inches SL, 31^2 inches tl," and weight as "20 pounds"), and remove its head (for otoliths and other data), but he would not give up the specimen. The otoliths of this fish had six excellent hyaline (winter) zones. During the last week of October 1975, an unknown fisherman gaffed a speci- men (409 mm sl, 541 mm TL, 3050 g) as it swam feebly past his skiff while he was fishing at the outer edge of a kelp bed off Salt Creek, South Laguna, Orange County, California. The pomfret was left with Tony Spagnolini at Dana Point Harbor who turned it over to Department biologists. Judged by some excellent growth zones on its otoliths, this fish was just entering its third winter. This Salt Creek pomfret, and the one taken at Belmont Shore in 1964, have been depos- ited in the LACM ichthyology collection. Finally, on January 27, 1977, Ann Duffey and Marie Angel, Santa Barbara, while taking a noontime stroll on the beach at Goleta found a bigscale pomfret that apparently had just stranded itself. They turned the fish over to Gary Robinson, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara ( UCSB ) who called it to our attention. When examined at CSFL a few days later, RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 77 it was 526 mm sl, 675 mm tl, and weighed 5.6 kg ( 1 2.3 lb ). It has been retained at UCSB, but eventually will be deposited in the LACM fish collection. The use of "Pacific" in the vernacular for this fish is to distinguish it from T. longipinnis, a bigscaled pomfret found in the Atlantic Ocean, and the only other member of the genus (Mead 1972). CARCHARHINIDAE— REQUIEM SHARKS Carcharhinus obscurus — dusky shark In recent publications, the northern range limit for the dusky shark is not very definitive, being listed "to southern California" by Miller and Lea (1976:40) and "southern California . . ." by Kato, Springer, and Wagner (1967). In earlier publications, however, the northern range has been noted as "San Diego, Cali- fornia," (Rosenblatt and Baldwin 1958, for C. lamiella = C obscurus) and "San Pedro southward . . .; rare north of San Diego; common in San Diego Bay" (Walford 1935:33; for C. lamiella). Californian records based upon actual speci- mens are extremely rare, and Walford's report that the species was "common in San Diego Bay" apparently had been perpetuated for more than 50 years, having first appeared in print in 1883. The capture on September 21, 1976, of a 105 cm tl C. obscurus at Redondo Beach, is of interest because it is a few miles upcoast from San Pedro and gives an exact geographic locality for a verified specimen. This small shark, an imma- ture male weighing 6 kg {^V^ lb), was caught in the surf at night by Fred Oakley of Hawthorne, California. Mr. Oakley presented the fish to jerry Goldsmith, Marineland of the Pacific, who turned it over to Fitch. The stomach of this shark contained the remains of a walleye surfperch, Hyperprosopon argenteum, and a jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas. The SIO ichthyology collection contains two dusky sharks from off southern California (SIO 63-677, La Jolla, 13 Aug. 1963, 930 mm tl; and SIO 63-678, 5 km (3 miles) off Ocean Beach jetty, 14 Aug. 1963, 3000 mm tl) and Richard Rosenblatt informed us (pers. commun.) that he has seen many others from off southern California. C. obscurus aX\d^\ns an estimated maximum length of 3.7 m (12 ft.) according to Kato, Springer, and Wagner (1967). They are known from tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world. CERATIIDAE— SEADEVILS Cryptopsaras couesil — triplewart seadevil On July 19, 1976, Augustino Tarantino, a Fort Bragg commercial fisherman brought to Schultz a triplewart seadevil that he had trawled that day near Noyo Canyon in 192 m (105 fm). Examination in the laboratory revealed that Mr. Tarantino's catch was an adult female 245 mm sl (ca. 342 mm tl) with two parasitic males attached: one, 94 mm SL and the other 30 mm. C. couesii\s found in all the world's oceans (Fitch and Lavenberg 1968), but females with parasitic males are not common anywhere, only nine having been captured prior to the Noyo Canyon specimen (Pietsch 1975). In addition to being only the tenth known C. coues/i w\\h attached parasitic males, Tarantino's fish was only the second adult female from California, and was taken approximately 31 7 km ( 1 97 miles) upcoast from the previous northern range limit for the species. In addi- tion, the largest male was 21 mm longer than the largest previously known 78 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME specimen, a 73 mm male attached to a 356 mm female captured off South Africa (Pietsch 1975, 1976). The stomach of the Noyo Canyon seadevil contained the remains of seven lanternfish: five DIaphus theta, one Lampanyctus sp., and one too digested to identify but recognizable as a myctophid from its badly eroded otoliths. Sagittae v^ere removed from the female seadevil and both parasitic males and examined for evidence of age. Those from the female had 1 1 excellent winter (hyaline) zones, and she was judged to have first spawned when 5 years old. The sagittae of the 94 mm male had seven winter zones, whereas those of the 30 mm male had three. Obviously, when more than one male is present, they do not necessarily all attach at the same time, nor do all attach after the female reaches maturity. Pietsch (1975) reported upon a female C. coues/i }S.S mm long which was parasitized with a firmly attached male 9.8 mm sl. The Noyo Canyon specimen has been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. ELOPIDAE— TARPONS E/ops affinis — machete On August 7, 1975, James A. Allen, Ventura, California, caught a machete while surffishing near the Southern California Edison steam generating plant at Mandalay Beach. He was using mussel, Mytilus californianus, for bait, and his fish (sex unknown) was 485 mm SL, 610 mm tl, and weighed 1095 g eviscerat- ed. Its otoliths were removed and when examined for evidence of age, there appeared to be seven fairly distinct annuli. Based upon this capture. Miller and Lea (1976:239) reported the northern range limit for Elops affinis as Ventura. Previously, £ affinis had been taken only in Salton Sea in California. The history of £ affinis in Salton Sea is short but interesting. In August 1941, E. H. Glidden obtained two specimens from the Colorado River below Laguna Dam, "one 11 inches long and the other 14" (Glidden 1941 ), and reported upon several others that had been caught and seen there earlier that year. Because it was "a very desirable game fish," he hoped it would find its way into Salton Sea. Glidden's wish seemed to have been answered, when in May 1942, commer- cial mullet fishermen and Department biologists caught 41, "ten-pounders" over a 10-day period at several Salton Sea localities. These fish "ranged in length (to fork of caudal fin) from 17.1 inches to 19.7 inches, and from 1.75 pounds to 2.5 pounds in weight" (Dill and Woodhull 1942). In their glowing account of the ten-pounder's potential as a game fish in Salton Sea, Dill and Woodhull (1942) planned to recommend that Elops affinis be "classed as a game fish by law in our inland waters." As a result of this recom- mendation and in anticipation of heavy sportfishing pressure, the California Fish and Game Commission subsequently passed a law setting daily and possession bag limits on "ten-pounders" in California's waters. Although this law remained in effect for nearly two decades, to our knowledge no other ten-pounder ( = machete) was taken in our waters, including Salton Sea and tributaries, until Mr. Allen caught his in 1975 near Ventura. The "in the Salton Sea" notation by Miller and Lea (1976:52) is a 35-year perpetuation of wishful thinking. The Ventura machete has been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 79 GADI DAE— CODS Cadus macrocephalus — Pacific cod Pinkas (1967) extended the southern range for the Pacific cod from Point Piedras Blancas to Santa Monica Bay, and discussed other captures from central California. On January 4, 1975, a second Pacific cod was caught in southern California waters. This fish, almost identical in size to the Santa Monica Bay specimen, was caught on hook and line in 183 m (600 ft) of water off Summer- land, Santa Barbara County, California, by Ernest Henderson of Oxnard. The Summerland cod, a ripening female, was 545 mm SL, 595 mm tl, and weighed 2725 g. Its stomach contained the soupy remains and earstones from two slender sole, Lyopsetta exilis, and a small Pacific sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus. The otoliths from the cod were removed and examined for age, but not until they were sliced into thin sections could one discern what appeared to be three rather indistinct winter annuli. Although Ketchen (1970) reported that ". . . the best (most readable) specimen of Pacific cod otoliths is worse than the worst specimen which the writer has examined from the Atlantic," he did give ages for a considerable number of individuals. Our age-length data for the Summerland specimen agree with Ketchen's. This fish has been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. GEMPYLIDAE— SNAKE MACKERELS Ruvettus pretiosus — oilfish (Figure 1) The oilfish was first reported from the eastern Pacific in 1944 (Barnhart and Hubbs), based upon a specimen 475 mm sl that was taken at Encinitas, San Diego County, California, on August 13, 1'942. Five years later, on January 28, 1947, a specimen that was "49 inched in length and weighed 34 pounds" (Fitch 1947) was caught in a purseseine set for bluefin tuna at Guadalupe Island, Baja California. Since 1947, five additional oilfish have been caught in the eastern north Pacific, two off southern California, and three off Baja California; these have remained unreported until now. The first of these five, and the third from the eastern north Pacific, was caught in a gill net set in 1 10 m (60 fm) of water off FIGURE 1 . Oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus, 81 0 mm SL taken with gill nets off Marineland of the Pacific during the night of September 10-11 1967. Photo by Jack W. Schott 80 CALIFORNIA FISH AND CAME Marineland of the Pacific during the night of Septennber 10-1 1 , 1 967. It was 81 0 mnn SL, 960 mm tl, and weighed 5.4 kg (11 lb 14 oz). Phillip L. Cuglielmo, skipper of the gill netter San Aniello presented the fish to CSFL. The next Ruvettus pret/osuswas caught by Terry Cross, Oceanside, California, in his gill nets which had been set overnight (September 20-21, 1972) in 146 m (80 fm) some "four or five miles due west of Oceanside." This fish, a female showing no sign of maturity, was 920 mm SL, 1060 mm TL, and weighed 6.8 kg (15 lb). The three most-recently captured oilfish were taken December 14, 1976, on longline gear which was being fished by Mike Ward, Oxnard, California, some 64 km (40 miles) west of Cedros Island, Baja California (lat 2r'54'N, long 116°02'W). Fishing depth, according to Mr. Ward, skipper of the vessel La Vida, was 11 m (6 fm). He released one of these three oilfish, but returned to port with the other two. The largest of these, 135 cm SL, 145 cm fl, 156 cm tl, and weighing 27.7 kg (61 lb), he left with Chuck Saccio, San Diego Fish Company, who subsequently presented it to CSFL. The other oilfish, 122 cm sl, 132 cm fl, 145 cm TL, and weighing 21.9 kg (48.5 lb) was sent to SIO for identification, and later was given to CSFL. Upon examination at CSFL, both fish were found to be females with empty stomachs. Otoliths of the 1 56-cm specimen had eight excel- lent hyaline zones on them, whereas those from the 145-cm fish had seven. Wheeler (1969:384) reported that R. pret/osus grows to "80 inches (203 cm) and a weight of 100 lb (45 kg)," and Munro (1958:116) noted the species as "obtaining 200 lb." Munro probably was repeating a weight that Nordhoff (1928) estimated for the species after being given a giant sized head. An editorial note at the end of Nordhoff's account attributes a length of "6 ft 10 inches" to R. pretiosus. For centuries, the purgative properties of R. pretiosus Wesh have been exploit- ed by people in many parts of the world, and native fishermen have developed special gear and techniques for catching oilfish (Gudger 1925; Nordhoff 1928). One reason given for the popularity of Ruvettus i\esh (and oil) as a laxative is that it works rapidly without cramping. On the other hand, chemists who have analyzed the oil from R. pretiosus (Cox and Reid 1932; Nevenzel, Rodegker, and Mead 1965) have concluded that its purgative properties have probably been over-emphasized. Bone (1972) postulated that the oil in the flesh and bones of Ruvettus affects its buoyancy and hydrodynamics in such a manner that to maintain position in the water column the fish must orient obliquely when at rest. The two oilfish brought ashore by Mike Ward have been deposited in the CAS and LACM ichthyology collections. HEXAGRAMMIDAE— GREENLINCS Pleurogrammus monopterygius — Atka mackerel Although Miller and Lea (1976:243) have reported the Atka mackerel as ranging south to Morro Bay, California, they omitted pertinent details regarding the Morro Bay specimen, and the occurrence of P. monopterygius in California. Perusal of the literature and examination of museum and other collections, revealed that until 1974, only two Atka mackerel had been taken in our waters, one reported upon by Bolin (1952) and the other, an unreported specimen in the CAS collection ( CAS 25733 ) . Both had been caught near Santa Cruz, Monte- RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 81 rey Bay, one in 1951 and the other in 1952. Interestingly, we were unable to find any record of Atka mackerel having been taken in waters off British Columbia, Washington, or Oregon, although they are abundant in the eastern north Pacific from southeast Alaska to and into the Bering Sea. They range south to Japan in the western Pacific (Quast and Hall 1972). The Morro Bay specimen (323 mm SL, 375 mm TL, 478 g) was caught on hook and line by a Bakersfield, California sportfisherman, Jim Smith, on July 23, 1974. He kept it alive in the baitwell of the partyboat Pathfinder, until the vessel returned to port, and then turned it over to Dean Tyler of the Morro Bay Aquarium who notified our Morro Bay office of the catch. This fish, a male, was hooked near the bottom in 46 m (25 fm) about midway between San Simeon Point and Point Piedras Blancas, San Luis Obispo County, and is the basis for the southern range limit reported for the species by Miller and Lea (1976:243). Its otoliths had two excellent hyaline (winter) growth zones and an opaque margin. Eleven months later another Atka mackerel was caught in an otter trawl being fished from the vessel Anna 14/ off Trinidad Head, California (lat 4r09'N, long 124°10'W). Although the net was fishing on the bottom in "62 to 100 fm," the Atka mackerel probably was caught at or near the surface while the net was being let out or retrieved. This fish was 325 mm SL, 385 mm tl, and weighed 600 g. Its sex was not determined. Its otoliths had three excellent hyaline zones and an opaque margin. Medveditsyna (1962) reported taking P. monopterygius m Russian waters which ranged in length from 30 to 50 cm, and noted that these fish were predominantly 2 to 10 years old. The Morro Bay and Trinidad Head Atka mackerel have been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. MACROURIDAE— GRENADIERS Coelorinchus scaphopsis — gulf rattail A gulf rattail caught with an otter trawl by the vessel Sea Romeo while fishing in 274 m ( 1 50 fm ) off Point Piedras Blancas, San Luis Obispo County, California, on September 11, 1974, extended the known range for the species northward approximately 225 km (140 miles). The fish, a mature female was 305 mm tl. In a recent review of the rattail fishes found off Oregon and in adjacent waters, Iwamoto and Stein (1974:50) called attention to the correct generic spelling for Coelorinchus, and told how it could be distinguished from other eastern north Pacific genera and species of macrourids. They examined three specimens from the CAS and SIO collections that had been taken in the vicinity of Santa Cruz Island and Point Conception, but apparently overlooked at least one other Californian specimen in the SBNHM collection (280 mm tl) that had been trawled in July 1967 "off Santa Barbara." Iwamoto and Stein (1974) also appar- ently missed notes by Lavenberg and Fitch (1966:105) and by Fitch (1966:10) mentioning its capture in the vicinity of Santa Barbara. C. scaphopsis otoliths have been found in at least two Pleistocene deposits in southern California ( Fitch 1966:10; 1970:20). The Piedra Blancas specimen has been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. 82 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME MYLIOBATIDAE— EAGLE RAYS Myliobatis longirostris — longnose eagle ray In 1964, Applegate and Fitch described Myliobatis longirostris from a single adult male caught with a midwater trawl in Magdalena Bay, Baja California. During the ensuing 13 years, nine additional specimens, unreported until now, were brought to CSFL by Warren Beadle, Ivan Goyette, and Homer Moore, commercial fishermen who caught them in their white seabass nets while fishing off southern Baja California. Eight of these rays (3 females 330 to 820 mm disc width, 4 males 61 5 to 665 mm, and 1 not measured nor sexed ) were taken during 1970 and 1971 in 46 to 64 m (25 to 35 fm) between Santo Domingo Point and Cape San Lazaro. Seven of these and the holotype have been deposited in the LACM fish collection, and one has been sent to the United States National Museum of Natural History. The ninth previously unreported specimen, an adult male 665 mm wide, was caught in 64 m (35 fm) off Abreojos Point, Baja California, during January 1977. The three fishermen who brought these in reported catching numerous other longnose eagle rays in their gill nets, but only these nine were saved. Within the Gulf of California, considerable numbers of M. longirostris are taken each year by shrimp trawlers. Most of these are discarded at sea, but many end up in the trash-fish piles at shoreside shrimp processing plants. Unfortunate- ly, we do not have depth or locality records for any of these Gulf specimens, but they show up in catches made near Guaymas in the north and Mazatlan in the south. Thus, the species' geographic range obviously extends from Mazatlan (at least) to San Cristobal Bay (Applegate and Fitch 1964) on the outer coast of Baja California. It has been taken throughout the water column, from the surface to 64 m (35 fm). PLEURONECTIDAE— RIGHTEYE FLOUNDERS Psettichthys melanostictus — sand sole Miller and Lea ( 1 976:243 ) extended the southern range limit for the sand sole to El Segundo, Santa Monica Bay, based upon a specimen collected January 15, 1975, by Fitch at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power steam generating plant. Subsequently, on April 16, 1976, a sand sole 266 mm sl (321 mm TL, 306.5 g) was removed from the Unit 7 and 8 screenwell of Southern California Edison's steam generating plant at Redondo Beach by Mark Helvey and Llew Johnson. This fish, representing the second sand sole from Santa Monica Bay and a new southern range limit for the species, has been preserved at Southern California Edison's Research and Development Marine Laboratory, Redondo Beach. The 1975 sand sole from El Segundo is preserved in the LACM ichthyology collection. PRIAGANTHIDAE— BIGEYES Priacanthus cruentatus — glasseye catalufa On June 30, 1974, Don Baker, an Encinitas, California sportfisherman caught at Alijos Rocks, Baja California (lat 24°57'03"N, long 115°44'55"W) a 507-mm (20-inch) TL bright-red, perch-shaped fish with a very large eye. He did not recognize the fish, so he had it frozen and brought it to CSFL after he returned RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 83 to port. It turned out to be a record-sized Priacanthus cruentatus, which at 397 mm SL and 2725 g (6.0 lb) was so much larger than the previous known record size, i.e., "about a foot" (Gosline and Brock 1960:160), that it should be record- ed for posterity. Mr. Baker's fish, a spent female, had a number of pelagic red crabs, Pleumncodes planipes, in its stomach. Mr. Baker was fishing from the boat Cape Polaris in 33 m (18 fm) of water; he was using a piece of cut mackerel for bait. FIGURE 2. Right sagittae of Cookeolus boops (A, 5.4 mm long), Pseudopriacanthus serrula (B, 6.5 mm long), Priacanthus cruentatus (C, 5.3 mm long) and Priacanthus alalaua (D, 3.2 mm long). Photos by Jack W. Schott. There apparently is a substantial population of giant-sized P. cruentatus at Alijos Rocks as several others ranging in total length to 18 inches (455 mm) and in weight to just under 4 lb (1850 g) have been brought to CSFL and SIO by fishermen who caught them there. The 455 mm individual, a spawned out female ( 360 mm SL ) was taken there in October 1 970, and had the remains of one each Vinciguerria lucetia and Gonichthys tenuiculum in its stomach. Judged by growth zones on their otoliths, these Alijos Rocks "giants" are rapidly-growing fish: there were either'eight or nine hyaline (winter) zones on the sagittae of the 507 mm specimen, and five on the 455 mm one. P. cruentatus is found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and in the eastern, 84 CALIFORNIA FISH AND CAME central, and western Pacific (Caldwell 1962; Gosline and Brock 1960). In the eastern Pacific, they appear to be even more abundant at the Revillagigedos islands than at Alijos Rocks, but do not attain such a large size. Ten or more than 50 individuals caught in gill nets set overnight just upcoast from Braithwaite Bay, Socorro Island (Revillagigedos), during April 1955 had the following counts: D X, 13; A III, 13-14; GR 5-6 + 17-21 = 22-26; vert. 10 + 13 = 23. In overall morphology, the sagittae of P. cruentatus are more similar to those of Cookeo/us and Pseudopriacanthus (the remaining genera of family Priacan- thidae), than they are to those from other species of Priacanthus (Figure 2). Observable differences between otoliths of cruentatus and those from six other species of Priacanthus {alalaua, arenatus, hamrur, macaracanthus, meeki, and tayenus) seem to be of generic magnitude, but we do not advocate changing their generic status without investigating and evaluating a multitude of other features, especially internal anatomy. We have no plans for making such a study; we merely wished to draw attention to this anomalous situation. The 507-mm catalufa from Alijos Rocks has been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection; whereas the 455-mm specimen was placed in the UCLA collection. SCOMBRIDAE— MACKERELS AND TUNAS Lepidocybium flavobrunneum — escolar (Figure 3) Although 32 years elapsed between the taking of the first and second escolars in southern California, and 16 years between the second and third, the fourth FIGURE 3. Escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, 768 mm SL taken with gill nets off Point Dume, November 11, 1976. Photo by Jack W. Schott. RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 85 FIGURE 4. Typical gempylid (left series) and scombrid (right series) sagittae. A. Cempylus ser- pens 5.8 mm, B. Ruvettus pretiosus'i.7 mm, C. Rexea solanderi^A mm, D. Thyrsites atunlOA mm, E. Scomber scombrus 4.2 mm, F. Lepidocybium flavobrunneum7 .5 mm, G. Scomberomorus conco/or9A mm, H. Acanthocybium solanderi M.Z mm. Photos by Jack W. Schott. was caught just 2 months after its predecessor. These four escolars came from a very restricted area of southern California's coastline, yet they represent the only known occurrences for the species in the eastern north Pacific. The first escolar from California was picked up on shore at Long Beach in the spring of 1928. This fish, 734 mm TL, was reported upon by Myers (1932: as Xenogramma carinatum) , and apparently represented the fifth or sixth known specimen from anywhere in the world. Subsequently, L. flavobrunneum has been reported from numerous tropical and subtropical areas of the world's oceans, but never abundantly. 86 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME The second specimen from California, previously unreported, was 610 mm TL and weighed 1835 g. It was picked up in the surf near Marineland of the Pacific's pier (Los Angeles County, Calif.) on August 1, 1960. The fisherman who caught it sought help from John Prescott, then Curator for Marineland, in identifying his prize, but would not donate it to science. Regardless, Fitch was able to make a number of observations from the specimen before returning it to its captor. Sixteen years later, on November 11, 1976, jim Cramatico, a commercial fisherman, delivered a 6.5-kg (MYj lb) escolar to a San Pedro fresh fish market. This fish, taken in trammel nets off Point Dume, was recognized as a rarity by Joe DiMeglio, Pioneer Fisheries, so he saved it intact and presented it to William L. Craig, National Marine Fisheries Service, who turned it over to Fitch. Just two months later, on January 11, 1977, Chris Larson, of Balboa, California, while riding a wave just upcoast from the Newport pier, struck and stunned an escolar with the skeg of his surfboard. He grabbed the escolar before it could escape, and took it ashore where, in seeking help to identity it, Robert Decker, a Depart- ment Fish and Game warden, was contacted. The Point Dume escolar was a mature male, 768 mm SL, 814 mm FL, and 895 mm TL, whereas the Newport Beach fish (also a mature male) was 910 mm SL, 965 mm FL, and 1055 mm TL. It weighed 13 kg (28.5 lb). The stomachs of both of these individuals were empty. The otoliths of the Newport Beach escolar appeared to have either five or seven hyaline zones on them, but these were quite vague and there is no certainty that they were annuli. The Point Dume and Newport Beach escolars each had 31 vertebrae; 18 precaudal and 13 caudal. Matsubara and Iwai (1958) reported that a Japanese specimen had 16 precaudal and 15 caudal vertebrae. Miller and Lea (1976:191) reported the range for L. flavobrunneum in the eastern Pacific as "from Peru to Washington," but there is no basis for the Washington record, and the northern limit at that time should have read "Point Vicente, Calif." The "62.25 inch" maximum size noted by Miller and Lea is a typographical error and should read "61.4 inch" as it is based upon a specimen 156 cm TL noted by Maksimov (1970). Although L. flavobrunneum has been reported from, or is known to occur off California, Ecuador, Peru, Hawaii, Japan, New South Wales, Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, east coast of Canada, West Africa (including Gulf of Guinea), and South Africa, it is considered rare in all localities. Only in two accounts (Fourmanoir 1970; Maksimov 1970) were more than two individuals reported upon. Fourmanoir (1970) noted 13 adults cap- tured on long line gear in the vicinity of New Caledonia and New Hebrides during the period May 1959 through October 1969. These fish were taken at fishing depths of 110 to 195 m, and the seven which were measured were 743 to 918 mm SL. He also reported upon eight young L. flavobrunneum (29 to 90 mm SL) which were found in stomachs of yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus al- bacares) and albacore, and a 33-mm SL specimen that was caught with midwa- ter trawl. Maksimov (1970) presented length frequency, food habit, and other data upon 142 adults captured with longlines in two areas off the west coast of Africa during 1965 and 1966. Catches of L. flavobrunneum in these areas were only 0.204 and 0.175 individuals per 1000 hooks. From length frequencies, it was determined that females grew faster than males, but no ages were assigned. Escolars were found in stomachs of other fish on seven occasions: five times in swordfish, Xiphias gladius (581 stomachs examined); once in yellowfin tuna RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 87 (3308 Stomachs); and once in another escolar (142 stomachs). Matsubara and Iwai (1958), after conducting an extensive study of the anat- omy and relationships of Japanese gempylid fishes, placed L. flavobrunneum in family Gempylidae, but erected a subfamily, Lepidocybiinae, for it because of features which distinguish it from other gempylids, yet show relationship with some of the scombrids. The saccular otoliths (sagittae), not examined by Mat- subara and Iwai, are definitely scombroid (Figure 4) and resemble very closely those from Scomberomorus ( Fitch and Craig 1964) . Sagittae of the six gempylid genera available to us (i.e., Gempylus, Neolotus, Promethichthys, Rexea, Ruvet- tus, and Thyrsites) have a sulcus (groove on inner face of otolith) that is quite different from that found in Lepidocybium and among scombroids. As pointed out by Frizzell (1965), fish otoliths are structures of the nervous system buried in the cranium, and by this fact, their evolution to a great extent is independent of the forces of natural selection. Thus, logic dictates that they should be of greater value in interpreting evolution and lineages than are structures which are helpful to the fish in adapting to a particular environment or situation — structures which historically have been used by taxonomists in determining relationships among teleosts. Of all otolith characters, the features of the sulcus are most diagnostic for distinguishing families and genera. Because of their otoliths, as well as the characters found by Matsubara and Iwai (1958) which suggest a close affinity with scombroids, we believe that L. flavobrunneum should be assigned to family Scombridae rather than Gempylidae and have done so here. The Point Dume and Newport Beach escolars have been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. SCORPAENIDAE— ROCKFISHES Sebastes nebulosus — China rockfish The southern range for the China rockfish has been revised twice since 1973, once for the mainland coast (Burge and Schultz 1973:182) and once for our offshore islands (Love and Vucci 1974). Now, with capture of a specimen 200 mm SL, 243 mm tl, and 295 g off Redondo Beach on September 13, 1975, its mainland distribution must be revised once more. The Redondo 5. nebulosus was caught from one of the partyboats operating out of that port, and turned over to Kathy Kuletz, a Department employee. Although the exact locality and depth of capture were not obtained, fishing that day was conducted along the southern shore of Santa Monica Bay. The otoliths of this fish had seven hyaline (winter) zones and an opaque margin. The specimen has been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. SERRANIDAE— SEA BASSES Epinephelus niveatus — snowy grouper Miller and Lea (1976:240) have reported the snowy grouper from Point Piedras Blancas, but purposely omitted pertinent details regarding the capture of that and other specimens from California. Until 1965, this species had not been taken north of about Cedros Island, Baja California, but on January 21 of that year a sportfisherman caught a 5-kg (11-lb) fish while fishing in "60 fm . . . 5 to 5^2 miles north or northwest of North Coronado Island" (Carl L. FHubbs, letter dated 28 January 1 965 ) . This then was the basis for E. niveatus being listed 2—76942 88 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME as a member of the Californian fish fauna (Bailey et al. 1970) prior to 1974. On June 10, 1974, a sportfisherman on the partyboat Sea Venture caught one while fishing in "about 50 fm" some 4.8 to 6.4 km (3 to 4 miles) west of Point Estero, San Luis Obispo County. Unfortunately, the fish was filleted, but the intact carcass with skin attached was readily identified. This specimen was 600 mm SL and 735 mm tl; its otoliths had either 20 or 21 hyaline (winter) zones on them. Sex was not determined. During the next 18 months, three additional snowy groupers were taken in our waters: between Point Buchon and Avila, off Point Piedras Blancas, and off Redondo Beach. The Point Buchon fish, a female weighing 3.5 kg (7.8 lb), was caught on August 31, 1974, in an otter trawl being fished on the bottom in 130 m (71 fm). George Graft, skipper of the trawler St. Rita, turned it over to Department personnel at Morro Bay. It was 490 mm sl, 600 mm tl, and its otoliths had 14 or 15 hyaline zones on them. The Piedras Blancas grouper was delivered to Gold Nugget Seafood, Morro Bay, on September 25, 1975. It had been trawled that day in 110 to 128 m (60 to70fm), and was 420 mm sl, 515 mm tl, and weighed 2325 g (5.12 lb). It too was a female. Its otoliths had either seven or eight hyaline zones. Finally, on December 3, 1975, a snowy grouper was caught in 76 m (250 ft) of water some 13 to 15 km (8 or 9 miles) SW of King Harbor, Redondo Beach. This fish, 442 mm SL 538 mm TL, and weighing 2225 g (4.9 lb), was saved for us by Dan Armstrong, Redondo Sportfishing. The otoliths of this fish had eight excellent winter annuli. It too was a female and the stomach was empty. In working with these four specimens, as well as with others captured from time to time along the central and southern Baja California coast, numerous discrepancies have been found in various characters ascribed to the species. Smith (1971 ) in this key to American species of the subgenus Epinephelus (p. 105) has used several characters (i.e., color pattern spotted, saddle shaped blotch on caudal peduncle, pelvic fins longer than pectorals) which are consist- ent only for juveniles. None of the Californian specimens, and few adults we have seen from the eastern Pacific, have the white spots on the sides from whence the species derives its common name. The black saddle on the caudal peduncle, and the elongate pelvic fins are both juvenile characters. The largest individual we have seen from the eastern Pacific was a nearly ripe female 670 mm sl, 805 mm tl, which weighed 10 kg (22 lb). This fish was caught on Thetis Bank, Baja California (lat 24°56.5'N,long 112°36'W) on August 23, 1963, by James Cowie, a crewmember aboard the Department's research vessel Alaska. Greatest depth of capture in the eastern Pacific appears to be the 130 m (71 fm) at which the Point Buchon fish was trawled. Selected counts for several eastern Pacific specimens are: D XI, 13-15; A III, 9; GR &-9 + 1 + 13-15 = 22-25. The Piedras Blancas and Redondo Beach specimens have been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. Paralabrax auroguttatus — gold spotted bass Although Miller and Lea (1976:247) reported Paralabrax auroguttatus Uon\ California for the first time, several important details are missing from their account. This fish was caught from the half-day boat Redondo Special on August 18, 1975. Dan Armstrong, an employee of Redondo Sportfishing, who called RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 89 Fitch about the bass, said that it had been caught "on the bottom in 200 ft of water," and that it "looked like a sand bass but was covered with large yellow spots. Some of the fins were yellowish green at the tips, and the pectoral fin was so thin you could see the body spots beneath it." Armstrong was shown photos of several species of Paralabrax, and unhesitatingly picked P. auroguttatus. Both his verbal description, and the depth of capture fit only P. auroguttatus from among the eastern Pacific members of genus Paralabrax (Walford 1974). Previ- ously, gold spotted bass had been taken as far north as Cedros Island, Baja California. They range south to Cape San Lucas (Outer Gorda Bank) and are abundant throughout much of the Gulf of California. They rarely are caught at depths shallower than 37 m (20 fm) and have been hooked on the bottom in 155 m ( 85 fm ) . The largest we have seen was a 71 0-mm tl fish which was caught in 64 m (35 fm) at the north end of Cedros Island. TRACHIPTERIDAE— RIBBONFISHES Zu cristatus — scalloped ribbonfish (Figure 5) On July 1 2, 1 968, a scalloped ribbonfish, 980 mm SL and weighing 2500 g, was caught in a nighttime purse seine set for bluefin tuna at the "175-fathom spot FIGURE 5. Scalloped ribbonfish, Zu cristatus. Upper: Juvenile 213 mm SL, lower: adult 980 mm SL. Photos by Jack W. Schott. 90 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME above Ranger Bank" (lat 28°52.5'N,long 1 15°59.2'W). It was brought to CSFL by Cino Guidi, San Diego, a crewmember of the seiner Lou Jean, which caught the fish. When examined at CSFL, Guidi's ribbonfish was found to differ radically in external appearance from the description given for the species by Fitch (1964). Most obvious was the lack of scalloping (from whence the fish derives its common name) of the ventral profile between the pelvic fins and anus (Figure 5, bottom). Also missing were the elongate crest and pelvic rays, so prominent on the juveniles. The caudal rays of this large adult were considerably shortened, and the dark bars on its sides were vague and difficult to observe. The undulating lateral line scales posterior to the anus were present, however, and permitted positive identification, since this arrangement is unique to Zu. Subsequently, an 811 -mm sl adult in the SIO ichthyology collection (SIO 66-272) was examined and found to be nearly identical in external appearance to our Ranger Bank ribbonfish. The SIO specimen was caught in a purse seine some 32 km (20 miles) SW of Asuncion Bay, Baja California (lat 26°52'N,long 114°30'W). The scalloped ribbonfish, known from tropical, subtropical, and temperate seas throughout the world, ranges in the eastern Pacific from just south of the equator (SIO 64-396:latOO°59.8'S, long 10r42'W) to Newport Beach, California. The largest scalloped ribbonfish appears to be a specimen 1105 mm long from the Mediterranean (Tortonese 1958). The 980-mm specimen reported here seems to be the second largest known. It had the remains of a Pacific blackdrag- on, Idiacanthus antrostomus, 105 mm sl, in its stomach. Its sex and age were not determined. It has been deposited in the LACM ichthyology collection. TRICHIURIDAE— CUTLASSFISHES Benthodesmus elongatus pacificus — North Pacific frostfish While the note by Anderson and Cailliet (1975) reporting the first two occur- rences of Benthodesmus elongatus pacificus in Californian waters was in press, a third example was taken by the German stern trawler Bonn. This fish, 897 mm SL, was caught on April 19, 1975, at lat 3r00'N, long 122°37'W (approx. 25 km SW of Ario Nuevo Point) where the bottom was 340 to 400 m beneath the surface. Fishing depth, according to F. Mombeck who saved the specimen and presented it to Fitch, was at 300 to 390 m. Dr. Mombeck reported taking approxi- mately 5000 kg of Pacific hake, Merluccius productus, in the same tow, along with small quantities of splitnose rockfish, Sebastes diploproa;h\d^c\(,g\\\ rockfish, 5. melanostomus; rex sole, Clyptocephalus zachirus; spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias; ribbonfish, Trachipterus sp.; lanternfish, Myctophidae; and "squids and shrimps." The Bonn frostfish represents the fourth known specimen from the eastern north Pacific, and very likely is the first individual taken in its normal habitat. It has been deposited in the ichthyology collection at LACM. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would have had little to report if it had not been for the curiosity of fishermen as to the identities of the "odd-balls" they catch from time to time. We have acknowledged these individuals in the body of this report but wish to reiterate their helpfulness at this time. Others who have supplied us with data, furnished information regarding RARE FISH OCCURRENCES 91 material they curate, called attention to pertinent literature, provided taxonomic assistance, or been otherwise helpful in our preparation of this report are E. H. Ahlstrom and John Butler (SWFC), Lillian Dempster and W. I. Follett (CAS), Robert J. Lavenberg and William Lewis (LACM), Richard Burge, Terese Hoban, Robert N. Lea, Howard Martin, Daniel J. Miller, Jim Phelan, and Lawrence Quirollo (DFG), and Richard H. Rosenblatt (SIO) Jack W. Schott (CSFL) took the fish and otolith photos used in this report, and Laura Gartner typed the draft and final copy of the manuscript. LITERATURE CITED Anderson, M. Eric, and C. M. Cailliet. 1975. Occurrence of the rare north Pacific frostfish, Benthodesmus elongatus pacificus Parin and Becker, 1970, in Monterey Bay, California. Calif. Fish Came, 61 (3):149-152. Anonymous. 1%1. Marine Fisheries Lab identifies rare catch. Outdoor Calif., 22(12):5-6. Applegate, Shelton P., and ). E. Fitch. 1964. A new species of eagle ray, Myliobatis longirostris, from Baja California, Mexico, Calif. Fish Came, 50(3):189-194. Bailey, Reeve M., et al. 1970. A list of common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada (Third edition). American Fish. Soc., Spl. Publ., 6:1-150. Barnhart, Percy S., and C. L. Hubbs. 1944. Record of the oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus) in California. Calif. Fish Game, 30(1):52-53. Bolin, Rolf L. 1952. Two unusual records of marine fishes at Monterey, California. Calif. Fish Game, 38(2):209- 210. Bone, Quentin. 1972. Buoyancy and hydrodynamic functions of integument in the castor oil fish, Ruvettus pretiosus (PiscesiGempylidae) Copeia, 1 972 ( 1 ) :78-87. Burge, Richard T., and S. A. Schultz. 1973. The marine environment in the vicinity of Diablo Cove with special reference to abalones and bony fishes. Calif. Dept. Fish Game, Mar. Resources Tech. Rept., 19:1-433. Caldwell, David K. 1962. Western Atlantic fishes of the family Priacanthidae. Copeia, 1%2(2):417^24. Cox, Warren M., Jr., and E. E. Reid. 1932. The chemical composition of oil of Ruvettus pretiosus, the "castor oil fish." Amer. Chem. Soc., )., 54(1 ):220-229. Dill, William A., and C Woodhull. 1942. A game fish for the Salton Sea, the ten-pounder, Elops affinis. Calif. Fish Came, 28(4):171-174. Fitch, John E. 1947. Rare fishes taken near Los Angeles. Calif. Fish Game, 33 (3 ):1 91-192. 1953. Extensions to known geographical distributions of some marine fishes on the Pacific coast. Calif. Fish Game, 39(4):539-552. 1964. The ribbonfishes (family Trachipteridae) of the eastern Pacific Ocean, with a description of a new species. Calif. Fish Game, 50(4):228-240. 1966. Additional fish remains, mostly otoliths, from a Pleistocene deposit at Playa del Rey, California. Los Angeles Co. Mus., Contrib. in Sci., 119:1-16. 1970. Fish remains, mostly otoliths and teeth, from the Palos Verdes Sand (Late Pleistocene) of Califor- nia. Los Angeles Co. Mus., Contrib. in Sci., 199:1-41. Fitch, John E., and W. L. Craig. 1964. First records for the bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus) and slender tuna (Allothunnus fallai) from California, with notes on eastern Pacific scombrid otoliths. Calif. Fish Game, 50(3):195-206. Fitch, John E., and R. J. Lavenberg. 1968. Deep-water teleostean fishes of California. Berkeley, Univ. Calif. Press, 155 p. ___^. 1971. Marine food and game fishes of California. Berkeley, Univ. Calif. Press, 179 p. Fourmanoir, P. 1970. Notes ichtyologiques (II). 3. Distribution de Lepidocybium flavobrunneum SmMh (1849) pres de la Nouvelle-Caledonie: (Gempylidae). O.R.S.T.O.M., ser. Oceanogr., 8(3):43-45. Frizzell, D. L. 1%5. Otolith-based genera and lineages of fossil bonefishes (Clupeiformes, Albulidae). Sencken- bergiana lethaea, 46a (Weiler-Festschr.):85-110. Fry, Donald H., Jr. 1973. Anadromous fishes of California. Sacramento, Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, 111 p. Glidden, E. H. 1941. Occurrence of Elops affinis in the Colorado River. Calif. Fish Game, 27(4):272-273. Gosline, William A., and V. E. Brock. 1960. Handbook of Hawaiian fishes. Honolulu, Univ. Hawaii Press, 372 P Gudger, E. W. 1925. A new purgative, the oil of the "castor oil fish," Ruvettus, Boston Medical and Surgical Jour., 192(3). 107-111. Hart, j. L. 1973. Pacific fishes of Canada. Canada, Fish Res. Bd., Bull., 180:1-740. Iwamoto, Tomio, and D. L. Stein. 1974. A systematic review of the rattail fishes (Macrouridae:Gadiformes) from Oregon and adjacent waters. Calif. Acad. Sci., Occ. Pap., 111:1-79. 92 CALIFORNIA FISH AND CAME Ketchen, K. S. 1970. An examination of criteria for determining the age of Pacific cod iCadus macrocephalus) from otoliths. Canada, Fish. Res. Bd., Tech. Rept., 171:1^2. Kato, Susumo, S. Springer, and M. H. Wagner. 1967. Field guide to eastern Pacific and Hawaiian sharks. U.S. Fish Wildlife Serv., Circular, 271:1^7. Lavenberg, Robert )., and J. E. Fitch. 1966. Annotated list of fishes collected by midwater trawl in the Gulf of California, March-April 1964. Calif. Fish Came, 52(2):92-110. Love, Milton S., and ). Vucci. 1974. Range extension of the china rockfish. Calif. Fish Came, 60(3) :149. Maksimov, V. P. 1970. Some data on the biology of Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (Smith) in the eastern Atlantic. Voprosy Ikhtiologii, Acad. Sci. USSR, 10(1):4O-45 (English-language edition, Scripta Technica Inc.). Matsubara, K., and T. Iwai. 1958. Anatomy and relationships of the Japanese fishes of the family Gempylidae. College of Agriculture Kyoto Univ., Mem., Fish. ser. spl. no., p. 23-54, Mead, Giles W. 1972. Bramidae. Dana-Rept., 81:1-166. Medveditsyna, A. V. 1962. Data on the Atka mackerel { Pleurogrammus monopteryglus (Pallas) ), p. 104-106 In Rass, T. S., ed., Creenlings, taxonomy, biology, interoceanic transplantation. Akad. Nauk USSR, Inst. Okeanoi., Trudy, 59:1-208 (English transl. 1970, Nat. Sci. Found, and U.S. Dept. Interior, Wash., D.C.) Miller, Daniel )., and R. N. Lea. 1976. Guide to the coastal marine fishes of California. Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, Fish Bull., 157:1-249 (Revision publ. by Div. Agric. Sci., Univ. Calif., Richmond). Miller, Lee W. 1972. Migrations of sturgeon tagged in the Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary. Calif. Fish Game, 58(2):102-106. Munro, Ian S. R. 1958. Handbook of Australian fishes. Sydney, Fish. Newsletter, 17(10):113-116. Myers, George S. 1932. A rare deep-sea scombroid fish, Xenogramma carinatum Waite, on the coast of southern California. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., Trans., 7(11 ):111-118. Nevenzel, ). C, W. Rodegker, and J. F. Mead. 1965. The lipids of Ru vettus pretiosus musde and liver. Biochemistry, 4(8):158^1594. Noble, Glenn A., and C. O. Blodgett. 1952. The fanfish, Pteraclis velifera, found in California. Calif. Fish Game, 38(4):565-566. Nordhoff, Charles B. 1928. Fishing for the oilfish. Natural History, N.Y., 28:40-45. Pietsch, Theodore W. 1975. Precocious sexual parasitism in the deep sea ceratioid anglerfish, Cryptopsaras couesi Gill. Nature, 256:38-^*0. 1976. Dimorphism, parasitism, and sex: reproductive strategies among deepsea ceratioid anglerfishes. Copeia, 1976 (4):781-793. Pinkas, Leo. 1967. First record of a Pacific cod in southern California waters. Calif. Fish Game, 53(2):127-128. Quast, lay C, and E. L. Hall. 1 972. List of fishes of Alaska and adjacent waters with a guide to some of their literature. U.S. Dept. Commerce, NOAA Technical Rept., NMFS SSRF-658:1^7. Radovich, )ohn. 1961. Relationships of some marine organisms of the northeast Pacific to water temperatures, particularly during 1957 through 1959. Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, Fish Bull., (n2):1-62. Radtke, Larry D. 1966. Distribution of smelt, juvenile sturgeon, and starry flounder in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with observations on food of sturgeon, p, 115-129. //7 Turner, J. L., and D. W. Kelley, Ecological studies of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Part II, Fishes of the Delta. Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, Fish Bull., (136):1-168. Rosenblatt, Richard H., and W. |. Baldwin. 1958. A review of the eastern Pacific sharks of the genus Carcharhinus, with a redescription of C. malpeloensis (Fowler) and California records of C. remotus (Dum^ril). Calif. Fish Game, 44 (2 ):1 37-1 59. Smith, C. Lavett. 1971 . A revision of the American groupers: Epinephelus and allied genera. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Bull., 46(2):67-242. Tortonese, E. 1958. Cattura di Trachypterus cristatus Bon e note sui Trachypteridae del mare Ligure. Doriana, 11(89):1-5. Walford, Lionel A. 1935. The sharks and rays of California. Calif. Div. Fish and Game, Fish Bull., (45):1-66. 1974. Marine game fishes of the Pacific coast from Alaska to the equator. Reprint of 1937 ed. publ. by Univ. Calif. Press, Berkeley (available from Smithsonian Inst., Wash., D.C.):224 p. Wheeler, Alwyne. 1969. The fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe. East Lansing, Michigan State Univ. Press, 613 p. STRIPED BASS TAG EVALUATION 93 Calif. Fish and Game 64(2): 93-97. 1978 AN EVALUATION OF DISK-DANGLER TAG SHEDDING BY STRIPED BASS { MORON E SAXATI US) IN THE SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN ESTUARY^ Gary E. Smith ^ Bay-Delta Fishery Project California Department of Fish and Game A total of 1,162 striped bass ( Morone saxatilis) was tagged with disk-dangler tags below the anterior and posterior dorsal fins. Tags from 337 of these fish were re- turned within 7 years. Tags attached below the anterior fin, the normal tagging location, experienced no immediate losses and annual losses of 4.9% for 4 years thereafter. Tags below the posterior fin experienced 5.6% immediate and 8.4% annual losses. INTRODUCTION Since 1969, the California Department of Fish and Game has conducted an intensive mark-recapture study on legal-sized striped bass (>40.6 cm [16 inches]) total length (tl) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary. Study objec- tives include estimating bass abundance and mortality. The validity of these estimates depends on marked fish retaining their tags (Ricker 1975). This report describes disk-dangler tag shedding rates estimated from a double-tagging ex- periment conducted from 1969 to 1976. METHODS Tagging Striped bass were captured for this study in fyke traps (Hallock, Fry, and LaFaunce 1957) in the Sacramento River near Isleton and Courtland between April 3 and July 7, 1969. A total of 1,162 double-tagged and 1,164 single-tagged fish were released. Tagging methods are described by Chadwick (1963). Tags were individually numbered, laminated vinyl chloride disks 12.7 mm (0.5 inch) in diameter and 1.0 mm (0.04 inch) thick. Type 302 soft stainless steel wire 0.51 mm (0.02 inch) in diameter was used to attach the tags. Double-tagging was alternated with single-tagging. Fish with two tags had one tag placed halfway between the anterior dorsal fin and lateral line (A position) and the other halfway between the posterior dorsal fin and lateral line ( B position ) . All fish with single tags were tagged in position A. Tag returns from double- and single-tagged fish enabled me to evaluate tag shedding, effects of double-tagging on the likelihood of recapture, and whether the presence of B tags enhanced recognition of A tags. Recovery Tags were recovered during a creel census in the San Francisco Bay Area, by mail, and during subsequent tagging operations. Anglers returning only one tag from a double-tagged fish or failing to give recapture date were contacted by mail to obtain accurate information. If the angler failed to respond to the inquiry, ' Funds for this work were provided by Dingell-Johnson Project California, F-9-R, "A Study of Sturgeon and Striped Bass" supported by Federal Aid to Fish Restoration funds. ' Presently assigned to Environmental Services Branch, Sacramento. 94 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME I assumed the number of tags returned to be correct and the recapture date to be the postmark date on the angler's letter. Data Analysis Those A tags not detected and the proportion lost immediately after tagging (aK or Type I loss) and the rate at which A tags are subsequently shed (aS or Type II loss) are computed from a linear regression of tag retention on time (Myhre 1966). The equation is: IOg[A + BNi/(A + BH + B-ANi)] where: a+bN = Number of fish recovered with both tags. b_aN = Number of fish recovered with B tag only. 1 — aK = Portion of A tags which were detected and survived im- mediate tag shedding. 1— aS = Portion of A tags retained during each time interval, i = Midpoint of the respective time interval. The quantity a+bNi/Ia+bN,) + (b-aNi) is an estimate of the proportion of A tags retained at time i; therefore, the regression provides estimates of tag retention rates, the compliments of which are loss rates. Estimates of B tag Type I and II losses were obtained by exchanging A and B in the equation. Confidence limits on the loss estimates were calculated by standard regression procedures (Steel and Torrie 1960). Tag returns were grouped by 122 day intervals for the first 2 years and by 1 year intervals thereafter. EVALUATION OF ASSUMPTIONS The validity of the shedding estimates depends on several assumptions (Myhre 1966): (1) Loss or non-detection of one tag is independent of the loss or non- detection of the other. Chi-square analysis indicates the return rate of A tags from double-tagged fish was not significantly different than the return rate of A tags from single-tagged fish (Table 1 ). Hence, A tag loss was independent of B tag loss. Single B tags were not released, so the dependency of B tags on A tags cannot be tested. However, there is no reason to expect loss or non-detection of B tags to be dependent on A tag loss. TABLE 1. Chi-square Analysis of A Tag Returns From Double- and Single-Tagged Striped Bass, April 1%9-1976. Returned Not Returned Observed Expected Observed Expected Total Single-tagged fish 310 316.27 854 847.73 1164 Double-tagged fish m 315.73 840 846.27 1162 Total 632 1694 2326 X^ = 0.289, d.f. = 1, 0.500 < P < 0.750 (2) Shedding loss occurs at an average or uniform rate. Visual examination of the data (Figure 1 ) suggests tag retention for both A and B tags was relatively uniform for the first 4 years. Between 4 and 7 years, STRIPED BASS TAG EVALUATION 95 however, the data were quite variable. Consequently, this assumption may not have been fulfilled after 4 years, so I limited my analysis to the first 4 years. (3) Non-detection loss results in the failure to recover the same proportion of each tag type. Both tags were prominently located and of the same size and material. So, non-detection was probably equal. (4) Likelihood of recapture is independent of number and tag type. The return rate for double-tagged fish was not significantly different from the return rate for single-tagged fish (P<0.250) (Table 2). Thus, both groups were equally vulnerable to capture. TABLE 2. Chi-square Analysis of Returns of Double- and Single-Tagged Striped Bass, April 1%9-1976. Returned Not Returned Observed Expected Observed Expected Total Single-tagged fish 310 323.78 854 840.22 1164 Double-tagged fish ^IZ ^^^-^^ _?^ ^^^-^^ 1162 Total 647 1679 2326 X" = 1.510, d.f. = 1, 0.100 £ OJ Ol Ol ro 5i r -a 2 Intestin Intestin Intestin Body c LO t Ln 1 eo 1 1 CM o o p CM Jit o T o o o O O O O ro c .o ^ a t> 3 -D usculat :ales all blad -C Ol c E o E o 1 .= 0) s = -g 2 j=;u i7? <7) ^ = b i^ to i OD c 5i cr ■* f 'J- • 1 oo 1 O rn 1 1 1 t 1 1 3 p •)• r~. ^ .§^ < o M o 6 g til O 2-5 II ^5 ^ u oi E -5 . 8 Ill HI li li <|i •"^ rfi .2 U '^ ""Q < Q O I ro 1-3 5-1 '"■5 I- ^ ^\A/^ ^^ V v 0 , r leso 60 70 80 90 1900 10 LUMBER 20 30 40 PRODUCT! ON 60 70 SO Figure 2. Lumber production in board feet of redwood and all species of trees in Humboldt County, California, from 1850 to 1976. This graph has been modified from Vaux (1955) and Yocom (1971). NOTES 127 REFERENCES Franklin, Jerry F. and C. T, Dyrness. 1969. Vegetation of Oregon and Washington. U.S.D.A. Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Portland, Oregon. 216 p. Crinnell, Joseph and Alden H. Miller. 1944. The distribution of the birds of California. Pacific Coastal Avifauna No. 27. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California. 608 p. Vaux, Henry ). 1955. Timber in Humboldt County. California Experiment Station Bulletin 748. 55 p. Yocom, Charles F. 1971 . Invasion of Humboldt and Del Norte counties of northwestern California by porcupines. Murrelet 52(1):1-6. Yocum, Charles and Ray Dasmann. 1965. The Pacific coastal wildlife region. Revised edit. Naturegraph Co., Healdsburg, California. 120 p. Yocom, Charles F. and Michael T. McCollum^ 1973. Status of the fisher in northern California, Oregon and Washington. California Fish Game, 59(4):30S-309. Charles F. Yocom, Department of Wildlife Management, Humboldt State Uni- versity, Areata, California. Accepted November 1977. HARBOR SEALS IN AND ADJACENT TO HUMBOLDT BAY, CALIFORNIA INTRODUCTION Five species of pinnipeds occur along the northern California coast, Eume- topias jubata, Zaiophus californianus, Callorhinus ursinus (migrating fen ales), Mirounga angustirostris, and Phoca vitulina (Orr 1972). This paper summarizes data from a census of the harbor seal, P. vitulina, population along a 61 .6-km (38-mile) section of northern California during 1973. The study area extended from the Eel River north to Patrick's Point State Park (Figure 1 ). The entrance to Humboldt Bay is 15.9 km (9.5 miles) north of the Eel River and is located at Lat. 40°45' N, Long. 124°10' W. Harbor seals in the Humboldt Bay area haul-out on exposed shoreline and in protected bays. Within the study area, three primary hauling-out areas existed, the mouth of the Eel River, south Humboldt Bay, and the area between Patrick's Point and Trinidad (Figure 1 ). The major hauling-out area for the entire study was south Humboldt Bay. South Humboldt Bay is a large shallow area 6.4 km (3.8 miles) long and 3.2 km (1.9 miles) wide. At low tide most of the area is exposed mudflats drained by two main channels; Hookton Channel on the east and Southport Channel on the west ( Figure 1 ) . At mean higher high tide the water surface area is 11.1 km^ (6.9 miles^) and at mean lower low tide the area is 4.0 km^ (2.5 Miles^) (Skeesick 1963). The remainder of the study area was exposed open coastline. The area including Patrick's Point and Trinidad is rocky jagged coast and the area to the south, including the coast near the Eel River, is sandy and relatively straight. METHODS I collected data by direct observation with the naked eye or with optical aids during ebb tidei. A tripod-mounted Bausch & Lomb 20-45X zoom spotting scope was used frequently. Observations on the Patrick's Point population were facili- tated by utilizing rocks and logs on the beach which allowed me to approach to within 10 m (33 ft) of the seals that were hauled-out on the nearby rocks. Observations on the Humboldt Bay population were from hills bordering South 128 CALIFORNIA FISH AND CAME 124° 30' 41^ 124 STUDY AREA 40 Pacific MAD RIVER 0 124^ K M 30' FICURE 1. Map of the northern California study area. EB = Entrance Bay; HC = Hookton chan- nel; NHB = North Humboldt Bay; PP = Patrick's Point; SC = Southport channel; SHB = South Humboldt Bay; TND = Trinidad. NOTES 129 ^ o ** ^ m rs| u^ oo •— in rvi op m CM >— vB ■S 3 Q CO r^i U O C£ rsi a^ ■^ 0^ ^ O r^ ^ sss:^ -C^ 1— rs) Ln o^ ^ m 1— »— LA I •^ t-^ T— rvi rn a> ^ o^ fj Ln ^ CM r^ C o 3 o I 3 z k .0 "ST u I $ i Z ^^ o k E 3 Z c « 2 c ^ <-o vO O^ op O ^ i-n O rs< ^ ^n Tf 00 ■^ • <~^ LT) rsi oo 5 2 * o a. ^- CO .^ „ u E o ^ > u- -iz -^ c^ -^ = E — S o ,= oi o 1/1 I— UJ I— "5 E 3 z 3 O C c <9 C o o o z r o a 3 Si i i E 3 z 2 ee < ^ = ::>; 5 t fVI CM 5 -?3 ro 4 CM 1 00 m t^ 4 O^ CM 1 3 ro 1 LT) tv. s - ^1 II 130 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME Bay or from selected vantage points around the entire bay. Maximum viewing distance did not exceed 1.5 km (0.9 miles). The Eel River population was observed from the north bank of the river mouth. Observation time varied from 20 min to 15 hr, usually depending upon the amount of time and light available. I censused the study area at least three times per month then computed the arithmetic mean of these counts to determine the number of seals observed for each month. RESULTS The total number of harbor seals within the study area varied monthly (Table 1 ). The numbers increased from a mean of 62 in January to a mean of 593 in July, then steadily decreased again to a mean of 85 in December. Fluctuations in the number of seals observed in South Humboldt Bay were great (Table 1 ). Actual counts for this area range from 404 (July 24, 1973) to a low of six (December 16, 1973). The means ranged from a minimum of 20 during December to a high of 314 in July. May, June, and July had the highest means of 257, 234, and 314, respectively. The means increased from 44 in January and then decreased, except for a nominal increase in September, to a low of 20 in December. July was also the month with the highest mean number of seals in the Trinidad and Patrick's Point areas. The highest total count oc- curred on July 19, 1973, when the total number of P. vitulina peaked at 640 with a large percentage occurring at the Eel River (190 animals = 30%) and the remainder primarily in south Bay. Phoca vitulina on either of the channels in south Bay was variable (Table 2). Hookton Channel was utilized by more seals for hauling-out than was Southport. Also apparent was the continual usage of Hookton Channel during the period of weaning (through July) when the maximum usage of the channel occurred. Hookton Channel was rarely used during the winter months and then by only a few animals. Southport Channel was used consistently throughout the year, but never to the extent of Hookton Channel. P. vitulina hauled-out at specific areas of each channel. The extreme southern end of Hookton Channel was used most extensively by the seals and the most southern one-third of Southport Channel was used most frequently. There were no obvious physicial limitations restricting the seals from hauling-out at the upper ends of the channel; however, there may have been other factors such as commercial and sportboat traffic at these upper regions that forced the seals to haul-out further south where they were less apt to be disturbed. Observations of P. vitulina in the Eel River were restricted to the river mouth. The seals hauled-out onto sand on the inland side of the south spit at the river mouth or onto sandbars exposed at ebb tides to the southwest of Cock Robin Island (0.5 km upriver). The mean number of seals in the area varied from six in March to 261 in June. Ohhe number of seals that constituted the large increase in numbers from May ( X =20) to June ( X =261 ), 40 of them were newly weaned pups. The first weaned pup arrived on May 3, 1973. Pup numbers diminished through September at which time it became too difficult to separate weaners from small juveniles. Harbor seals hauled-out onto offshore rocks in the Patrick's Point area where a group of approximately 70 animals occurred 0.5 km south of Patrick's Point. In the Trinidad area a group of about 35 animals occurred directly offshore from NOTES 131 to a. D 0^ LU QQ % z ^ o CO o orNO>.— co>orvo> — — — '- — CNCNCNCN CM APRIL •~ CO -o CO rv o> MAY^ CN 00 CO J FIGURE 2. Number of harbor seal pups observed in South Humboldt Bay, California, on the dates given for 1973. Solid line equals Hookton channel; broken line equals Southport chan- nel. the Humboldt State University Marine Laboratory. This group could be found in the more protected areas south of Trinidad harbor when inclement weather restricted their hauling-out onto the more exposed rocks. A similar situation was described by Bishop (1968) where P. vitulina in the Gulf of Alaska were forced from their hauling areas by heavy seas. Scattered groups of from one to eight harbor seals sometimes were seen on rocks located between these two points. The number of P. vitulina at these two sites was variable with a maximum peak in July and a minimum in the fall and winter months (Table 1). Pupping locations for the study area were primarily in south Bay. Pups oc- curred at Patrick's Point and at Trinidad, and although parturition was not observed, I assumed that births occurred at these locations. There were four 132 CALIFORNIA FISH AND CAME pups at Trinidad and five at Patrick's Point; these areas were not considered important pupping grounds for harbor seals within the study area. Pupping in south Bay began on March 23, 1973, and continued through late May with the most intense parturition occurring in April. The number of ob- served pups increased appreciably during April (maximum count of 87 on April 11 , 1973), remained somewhat constant through most of May, and began de- creasing in late May (Figure 2). Both Hookton and Southport Channels were utilized for pupping, with Hook- ton channel used significantly more than Southport (p less than .01; t = 3.453; df=44). The physical characteristics of these two channels are essentially the same (Cast and Skeesick 1964). Both consist of the same soil type, incline, exposure to winds, etc. Thus, any reason why a preference for Hookton Channel should occur was not apparent. DISCUSSION The number of harbor seals in the Humboldt Bay region appears to be increas- ing. Carlisle and Aplin (1966) censused the California pinnipeds on June 1-3, 1965, and found only six harbor seals in Humboldt Bay. Rosenthal (1968) recorded a maximum count of 294 harbor seals and 10 pups in May, 1966, and 308 plus 1 2 pups in May, 1 967. I recorded a maximum of 31 1 adults plus 83 pups in May, 1973 (this is not the maximum count for the study period). The increase in numbers appears to have been an increase in the number of pups which indicates an increase in the usage of south Humboldt Bay as a pupping ground for harbor seals. REFERENCES Bishop, Richard H. 1968. Reproduction, age determination, and behavior of the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina, in the Gulf of Alaska. M.S. thesis, Univ. of Alaska, College, Alaska. 121 p. Carlisle, John C, )r., and). A, Aplin. 1966. Sea lion census for 1965 includingcountsof other California pinnipeds. Calif. Fish Came, 52 (2): 119-120. Cast, James A., and D. C. Skeesick. 1964. The circulation, water quality, and sedimentation of Humboldt Bay, California. Spec. Rep. #2, Atomic Energy Comm. Res. Contract # AT(04-3)-395. Orr, Robert T. 1972. Marine Mammals of California. Calif. Nat. Hist. Guides: 29. Univ. Calif. Press, Berkeley, Calif. 64 p. Rosenthal, Richard |. 1968. Harbor seal censuses in Humboldt Bay during 1966 and 1967. Calif. Fish Game, 54 (4): 304-305. Skeesick, Delbert G. 1963. A study of some physical-chemical characteristics of Humboldt Bay. M.S. thesis, Humboldt State Coll., Areata, Calif. 148 p. — Thomas R. Lough I in, Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024. Present address: Marine Mammals and Endangered Species Div. NMFS, Washington, D.C. 20235. Accepted July 1977. REVIEWS 133 REVIEWS Fish Remains in Archaeology and Paleo-environmental Studies By Richard W. Casteel; Academic Press Inc., New York, 1976; 180 p., illustrated. $14.75. In the first paragraph of the introduction, the author informs the reader that "the present work is not intended to be a 'cookbook' for the archaeologist or paleontologist," rather it is "presented as an introduction to some of the literature on fish remains as it pertains to archaeology and paleontology." Toward this end, he certainly has succeeded. In fact, so many unculled references are used to document concepts, methods, and techniques that one commences to wonder if he is getting a "snow job." On the other hand, it is extremely gratifying to see the 65 Russian references that Casteel has included. It is unfortunate, however, that he did not see fit to translate these titles, and the Russian author's names, into English. In addition to the introduction and a chapter on making a comparative osteological collection of fish, there are chapters entitled "Otoliths" (20 p), "Scales" (34 p), "Vertebrae" (20 p), "Compari- son of methods for estimating fish size from bones" (31 p), and "Some applications" (18 p). References (24 p) and author and subject indexes complete the book. Although emphasis through- out is upon freshwater fish remains, there is no good excuse for overlooking the potential usefulness of piscine dentition in unraveling primitive food habits and life styles. As a fishery biologist familiar with a fish's physical attributes, I believe that any archaeologist who can arrive at minimal fish numbers in a subfossil or fossil assemblage based upon recovered scales and vertebrae is missing his calling. By rights, that person should call himself a miracle worker. Regardless of my pessimistic opinion, Casteel's philosophy deserves consideration, namely, "it seems far better to exploit these potentials, keeping in mind the limitations involved, than to simply ignore this type of material when it is present in an assemblage." Unfortunately unless or until archaeologists commence to employ fine screens in their investiga- tions, such concepts, methods and techniques as offered by Casteel will never be needed, and archaeology can retain its reputation as being one of the most backward fields of science in the world today. — John E. Fitch The Caddis and the Angler. By Larry Solomon and Eric Leiser. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, 1977; 224 p., illustrated. $13.95. It's almost to the point now where you can't go fly fishing unless you have a degree in entomology. The Caddis and the /In^/e/- provides the angler with sufficient information on the caddis life history, identification, emergences, and the tying and fishing of imitations to continue doing what most of us have been doing for years — catching fish with caddis imitations. I found the book to be nicely done but of relatively little value to me; perhaps the brand new angler would find it useful. The detailed life history information and scientific names really aren't necessary to catch fish and the book doesn't provide sufficient information to key out collected specimens. Emergence data for a particular genus are of limited value when given for an entire section of the country (East, for example); local information is much more valuable. As usual "the West" stops at Montana/ Idaho, except for two pages from an Oregon correspondent. The excellent photographs and detailed tying instructions are the book's one strong point, in my opinion. Patterns are given for all life stages except the egg. Most of the patterns are nothing particularly new in tying techniques but they do appear to be good fishable patterns for the most part. All-in-all a good effort but it won't be an instant classic. — K. A. Hashagen, jr. Photoelectronic composition by CAUFORNU OmCE OF STATE PRINTINC 76942—800 12-T7 4,500 LDA -n -p 0 CO ,-5: 0 M n I