ilaguna Marine ILaboratorp 



THE FISHES OF LACUNA BEACH, 

 CALIFORNIA, I. 



CHARLES W. METZ 



The present paper is a result of a study of the tide-pool and in- 

 shore fishes found in the vicinity of Laguna Beach and Newport 

 Beach, Orange County, California. The material for the work was 

 obtained during July and August, at the 1911 session of The Laguna 

 Marine Laboratory. The main object of the study has been to make 

 as complete as possible a survey of the local shore fishes, together 

 with observations and dissections bearing on their ecological rela- 

 tions. In the immediate vicinity of Laguna Beach is an unusual 

 abundance of tide-pools, large, varied, and rich in aquatic vegeta- 

 tion, offering exceptional opportunities for shore work. For this 

 reason an especial effort was made to work the pools and in-shore 

 waters exhaustively throughout the limited time of our stay. No 

 attempt has been made to cover the deep water fishes, or fishes that 

 are not typically shore forms. Occasionally, however, representa- 

 tives of the deej > water species were brought in by fishermen or 

 accidentally taken near the shore, and these have been mentioned in 

 their places. Likewise a few notes on species taken at other locali- 

 ties along the coast have been included when they were of especial 

 interest. 



Most of the work in this study was done at the Laboratory in 

 Laguna Beach, under the direction of Professor C. P. Baker, to whom 

 the author is greatly indebted for assistance in many ways. Por- 

 tions of it, however, have been since completed at Stanford Univer- 

 sity; and I am indebted to Dr. Gilbert, and Professors Starks and 

 Snyder, of that institution, for kindly suggestions and advice. It is 

 with pleasure, also, that I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. J. E. 

 Sender, owner of the fishing launch "Ruth" of Newport Beach, for 

 his hospitality, and his active interest in the work of collecting during 

 the summer. 



The nomenclature here followed is that of Starks and Morris, in 

 "The Marine Fishes of Southern California," except in a few cases 

 where changes have been made since this appeared (1907). Any 

 such changes are noted in the text. 



During the course of the work at Laguna the author became con- 

 siderably interested in the gross visceral anatomy of the local fishes, 

 especially where this related to the food and habits of species. Time 

 did not permit of extensive investigations along this line; nor did the 



