Strathmann, R. R. 



1967. Estimating the organic carbon content of phyto- 



plankton from cell volume or plasma volume. Limnol. 



Oceanogr. 12:411-418. 

 Strickland. J. D. H.. and T. R. Parsons. 



1972. A practical handbook of seawater analysis. 2d 

 ed. Fish. Res. Board Can. Bull. 167, 310 p. 



Wilson, D. S. 



1973. Food size selection among copepods. Ecology 54: 

 909-914. 



G. S. Kleppel 



University of Southern California 

 Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies 

 University Park- 

 Los Angeles, CA 90007 



Present address: 

 Fish Harbor Marine Laboratory 

 University of Southern California 

 820 South Seaside Are. 

 Terminal Island, CA 90731 



E. Manzanilla 



Southern California Coastal Water Research Project 

 646 W. Pacific Coast Highway 

 Long Beach, CA 90806 



Present address: 



University of Southern California 



Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies 



University Park 



Los Angeles, CA 90007 



DISTRIBUTION, SIZE RELATIONSHIPS, 



AND FOOD HABITS OF JUVENILE 



KING-OF-THE-SALMON, 



TRACHIPTERUS ALTIVELIS, 



CAUGHT OFF THE OREGON COAST 



The king-of-the-salmon is a strikingly colored rib- 

 bonfish of the family Trachipteridae that occurs 

 in the oceanic and coastal waters of the eastern 

 Pacific Ocean, from Chile to Alaska. Captures 

 have been recorded from the coastal regions 

 and offshore halfway to the Hawaiian Islands. 

 Specimens have also been taken in coastal waters 

 and estuaries along the United States and Cana- 

 dian shores on rare occasions (Hart 1943; Walker 

 1953). Their lower depth limit is not known, but 

 individuals have been taken from the surface 

 down to at least 650 m (Fitch 1964). 



Spawning apparently occurs in the open ocean 

 throughout the year, but is probably concen- 



trated in the spring. Plankton surveys off Cali- 

 fornia have recorded the largest catches of larvae 

 during the months of June and July (Fitch 1964). 

 Bongo net and neuston net collections from north- 

 ern California, Oregon, and Washington fre- 

 quently contained eggs in April and May 1980, 

 but larvae were rarely taken (Kendall and 

 Clark 1 ). August 1980 samples contained relative- 

 ly few eggs (Kendall and Clark 2 ). Egg densities 

 during the spring sampling reached 25 eggs/10 

 m 2 , and the eggs were found from 5 to 320 km 

 offshore (Kendall 3 ). 



Throughout the early life stages, allometric 

 growth reduces the proportionate size of the 

 fins and alters the body form by increasing 

 the relative size of the posterior portion of the 

 fish (Sette 1923; Hubbs 1926). Fitch (1964) 

 examined the otoliths of five individuals to deter- 

 mine their ages. His fish ranged from a 400 mm 

 juvenile with an estimated age of 1 yr to a 1.5 

 m adult with an age of 7 yr. 



The stomach contents of several adults show 

 that these fish eat whole micronectonic organ- 

 isms (e.g., small squid, epi- and mesopelagic 

 fishes) as well as macrozooplankton such as 

 euphausiids (Fitch 1964). Roedel (1938) pre- 

 sented a qualitative list of the gut contents of five 

 juveniles (about 100-200 mm long) taken from 

 the stomach of a longnose lancetfish, Alepisaurus 

 ferox, caught off Santa Monica, Calif. Copepods 

 were found in three of the stomachs, while 

 polychaetes and fish larvae were each found in 

 one stomach. 



During 1980 and 1981, 44 juvenile king-of-the- 

 salmon were collected with a purse seine during 

 a study of the ecology and migration of juvenile 

 salmonids off the Oregon coast. This paper 

 presents an analysis of the spatial distribution, 

 size relationships, and the feeding habits of these 

 unusual fish. 



'Kendall, A. W.. Jr., and J. Clark. 1982. Ichthyoplankton 

 off Washington, Oregon, and Northern California April-May 

 1980. Northwest and Alaska Fish. Cent. Process. Rep. 82-1 1. 

 44 p. Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center, National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 2725 Montlake Blvd. East. 

 Seattle, W A 98112. 



^Kendall, A. W.. .Jr., and J. Clark. 1982. Ichthyoplankton 

 off Washington, Oregon, and Northern California August 

 1980. Northwest and Alaska Fish. Cent. Process. Rep. 82-12, 

 43 p. Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center. National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 2725 Montlake Blvd. East. 

 Seattle. W A 98112. 



3 Arthur W. Kendall. Northwest and Alaska Fisheries 

 Center. National Marine Fisheries Service. NOAA, 2725 

 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112. pers. commun. Jan- 

 uarv 1983. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 81, NO. 1. 1983. 



161 



