OCCURRENCE OF THE BARRACUDINA, 



Paraleph atlantica KR0YER, 



IN THE CENTRAL NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN 



The barracudina, Paralepis atlantica Kroyer, 

 is a bathypelagic fish that has rarely been taken 

 by fishing gear in the North Pacific Ocean; most 

 specimens have been recorded from waters off 

 California in the stomach contents of predators 

 such as whales, fur seals, and scombroid fishes 

 (Rofen, 1966; Kajimura, 1969). Kajimura 

 (1969) extended the known range northward on 

 the eastern Pacific to the Washington coast (lat 

 46°35' N, long 124°58' W) with a specimen taken 

 from the stomach of a northern fur seal, Cal- 

 lorhimis iirsinus. Maruyama (1958) and Ueno 

 and Abe (1964) reported on three specimens 

 taken by gill net and trawl from the western Pa- 

 cific Ocean near Hokkaido, Japan (between lat 

 42° and 43° N and near long 144° E). 



The specimen reported here extends the known 

 range of the species northward and to the central 

 Pacific Ocean (lat 48°00' N, long 165° 00' W). 

 It was captured on 6 May 1969 in surface waters 

 of 4.5° C with a gill net fished by the RV George 

 B. Kelez of the National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice. Meristic characters for the specimen are 

 given in Table 1 with ranges for the species as 

 reported by Rofen (1966). 



The specimen was torn in half when it was 

 removed from the gill net, preventing accurate 

 measurements; its estimated standard length 

 was 420 mm. It is deposited in the collection of 

 fishes (Catalog no. 20569) at the University of 

 Washington, Seattle. 



Table 1. — Meristic characters of the specimen compared 

 with those given by Rofen (1966). 



Literature Cited 



Kajimura, H. 



1969. Northern range extension for Paralepis at- 

 lantica (Kreyer) in the eastern North Pacific. 

 Calif. Fish Game 55: 246-247. 

 Maruyama, K. 



1958. Rare deep-water fishes from ofi" Tohoku and 

 adjacent regions. III. Record of a rare species 

 of family Paralepididae. Jap. J. Ichthyol. 7: 67-70. 

 ROPEN, R. R. 



1966. Family Paralepididae, Barracudinas. In 

 Fishes of the western North Atlantic, p. 205-259. 

 Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res. 1, Part 5. 

 Ueno, T., and K. Abe. 



1964. Studies on deep-water fishes from off Hok- 

 kaido and adjacent regions, IV. Second record 

 of a southern California species of paralepid fish, 

 Magniaudis barysoma Harry from off the Pacific 

 coast of Hokkaido. Bull. Hokkaido Reg. Fish. 

 Res. Lab. 28: 9-12. 



Richard G. Bakkala 



National Marine Fisheries Service 

 Biological Laboratory 

 Seattle, Wash. 9S102 



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