FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 74, NO. 1 



caught, yielding 1.8 specimens per 10 min trawl- 

 ing within its depth range (Table 1). 



This species was most abundant between 80 

 and 90 m (Figure 3a). There was a gradual 

 increase in abundance to this depth range fol- 

 lowed by a sharp decrease. There was a sig- 

 nificant (P<0.001) positive relationship between 

 increasing size and increasing depth of capture. 



A statistically greater (P< 0.025) number of B. 

 militaris were taken over a fine sandy mud, silt, 

 or clay bottom (Table 2). There was no statistical 

 difference in catch for day versus night trawling 

 (Table 3). 



Bellator militaris appeared to reach sexual 

 maturity at about 65 mm SL in both sexes. The 

 spawning season was protracted as indicated by 

 the presence of females with numerous ripe ova 

 (0.7 to 0.9 mm in diameter) from November 1970 

 to July 1971. 



Bellator militaris fed primarily on crustaceans 

 (90 to 95% of the total stomach contents). Juve- 

 niles (Table 4) appeared to feed primarily on 

 amphipods and natantian decapods; adults (Ta- 

 ble 5), on natantian decapods, amphipods, and 

 mysids. Adults also fed to a lesser extent on very 

 small fishes (usually less than 15 mm SL), 

 polychaetes, bivalves, and gastropods. 



Table l. — Number of specimens of five species of triglids 

 collected and the mean number of fish per 10 min trawling. 



2 - 



31 



13 



2 - 



7 - 



2 - 



40 n 



B 



4f 



I I — ^j—^ — I — ^ — — I — ^ — — r 



'For trawls within the depth and geographic range of the species. 



Prionatus alatus Goode and Bean 

 Spiny Searobin 



With one exception, all specimens of P. alatus 

 were collected east of the De Soto Canyon (Figure 

 2b). For this reason all analyses of this species 

 were based only on data from stations east of the 

 Canyon. Sizes ranged from 24 to 140 mm SL; 

 collection depth, from 40 to 190 m; temperature, 

 from 14° to 28°C. Prionotus alatus ranked fourth 

 in density over its depth and geographic ranges 

 (Table 1). 



Prionotus alatus appeared to be most abundant 

 around the 80- to 90-m interval of its depth range 

 (Figure 3b). There was a rapid increase in catch to 



Figure 3. — Relationship of depth of capture versus catch per 

 unit effort. A. Bellator militaris, B. Prionotus alatus, C. Prio- 

 notus roseus, D. Prionotus martis, and E. Prionotus stearnsi. 

 Number above each bar refers to the number of 10-min trawl- 

 ing intervals at that particular depth. 



this point followed by a gradual decline. As in 

 B. militaris, there was a significant (P<0.001) 

 positive relationship between increasing size and 

 increasing depth of capture. 



There were no statistical differences in catch 

 per unit efforts between bottom types (Table 2) 

 and between day and night (Table 3). 



Prionotus alatus appeared to reach sexual ma- 

 turity at about 100 mm SL for both sexes. Females 

 with numerous ripe ova (0.8 to 1.0 mm in diam- 



96 



