Three species of Sternoptychidae were captured 

 at a large number of stations — Argyropelecus 

 hawaiensM at 54, A. pam'ficus at 49, and A. inter- 

 medius at 45. Three other species collected at a 

 number of stations were Idiacanthus antrostorrmx 

 and Scopelogadus mizoleph bispinosus (50 each) 

 and Merluccms productus (42). Sixty of the 

 species recorded were caught at only one station. 



The most abundant species in a single tow was 

 Engraviis mordax — about 9,000 specimens (450 

 pounds) taken at a single station. Larripanyctus 

 (T.) mzxieanus had the next highest numbers — 

 about 3,000 specimens at one station and 1,857 at 

 another. Other large single collections were 

 Ceratoscopelus townsendi (944), Stenobrachius 

 leucopsarus (735), Vinciguerria lucetia (537), 

 Merluccius productus (495), and Leuroglossus 

 stilbius (396). 



The maximum number of species in a single tow 

 was 44, with the Cobb pelagic trawl on cruise 

 C6303 at station 86.92. On the same cruise, re- 

 latively large numbers of species per tow were 

 taken at stations 100.65 (41 species), 83.77 (38), 

 and 87.80 (37). Maximum numbers of species per 

 tow with the 10-ft. Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl 

 (IKMWT) were taken on cruise H6204 at stations 

 80.90 (34 species) and 60.60 (32) . The maximum 

 number of species per tow with the collapsible net 

 was 21 on cruise B6303 at station 84.92. 



Many variables affected the numbers and spe- 

 cies of fishes caught on the survey including depth 

 of tow, time of year, diurnal migration, speed and 

 length of tow, size of net, size of net webbing, and 

 water mass sampled. Because of these variables, 

 many of the numbers and percentages just cited 

 relate to the survey rather than to the character of 

 the pelagic environment. 



For abundant and for more significant species, 

 the locations of capture are shown on distribution 

 charts. These charts bear one symbol for each sta- 

 tion at which a species was caught — they do not 

 indicate the capture of a species more than once at a 

 single station. 



The specimens preserved from the pelagic survey 

 have been placed in four collections. Some of the 

 larval and juvenile forms are in the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries California Current Re- 

 sources Laboratory. A small representative series 

 of the bathypelagic species is in the Stanford Uni- 



versity Natural History Museum. A large repre- 

 sentative series of most species taken is in the Fish 

 Division of the U.S. National Museum. The re- 

 mainder of the material, comprising the bulk of the 

 collection and representatives of most species 

 taken, is in the Marine Vertebrate Collection of 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The dis- 

 position of all the specimens is recorded in the Field 

 Data Books of the Bureau Laboratory at La Jolla 

 and in the collection records at Scripps Institution 

 of Oceanography. Representative type material 

 of any new taxa that are based on these specimens 

 will be placed in the U.S. National Museum. 



ANNOTATED LIST OF FISHES 



In preparing the data for this report we at- 

 tempted, with the help of other ichthyologists, to 

 determine specific identifications of the specimens. 

 Many taxonomic problems were not solved; we 

 briefly describe these in the annotations of the spe- 

 cies and also include our resolutions of some of the 

 problems. 



The fishes listed below are arranged phylogene- 

 tically by order and family. Each record of cap- 

 ture is listed under the species in the following ab- 

 breviated form, from left to right: the station of 

 capture; the cruise during which the station was 

 occupied; the number of specimens taken at that 

 station, in parentheses; and the length or length 

 range in millimeters of the specimens. For some 

 collections, numbers or lengths of specimens are not- 

 available; for others, weight instead of length is 

 given. At a few stations specimens were discarded 

 at sea before accurate records were made. 



Lengths of specimens are given in millimeters of 

 standard length (SL), except where otherwise 

 noted. Total length (TL) is used for a few species, 

 and where this designation is given for the initial 

 entry in a species list, all subsequent measurements 

 in that list are in total length. Specimens 100 mm. 

 in length and larger were measured to the nearest 

 millimeter; most specimens smaller than 100 mm. 

 were measured either to the nearest millimeter, or 

 to the nearest half-millimeter. In collections with 

 damaged specimens that were not measured, "dis." 

 (disintegrated) is used instead of a length. A plus 

 sign following the length measurement of some 

 specimens indicates that a portion of the posterior 

 end of the body was missing. 



634 



U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



