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FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO. 1 



[O 



— 10 



9 AUG 63 I /O AUG 63 



T 



12 24 12 



21 FEB 64 I 22 FEB 64 



1 \ r 



12 24 12 



,?(9 /i^/I/? 67 I 21 MAR 67 



Figure 7. — Diel variations in the CB catches at Buoy 21: A. 9-10 August 

 1963; solid line = fish larvae: dashed line = fish eggs. B. 21-22 February 

 1964: solid line = herring larvae. C. 20-21 March 1967: solid line = herring 

 larvae. The tidal height above mean lower-low water and period of darkness 

 (hatched bar) are shown above each figure. Dates and noon and midnight 

 are indicated below each figure. 



during the spring when they give birth to young 

 which use the estuary as a nursery (Beardsley, 

 1969; Wares, 1971). Because of their pelagic 

 nature and swimming abilities, young embiot- 

 ocids are not readily captured in small plankton 

 nets or trawls. Beardsley (1969) and Westr- 

 heim (1955) also found many juvenile starry 

 flounder {Flatichthys stcllufus) in Yaquina 

 Bay, and Haertel and Osterberg (1967) con- 

 cluded that the starry flounder use the upper 

 Columbia River estuary as a nursery ground. 



A trawl survey of juvenile fishes of Yaquina 

 Bay by Wm. Johnson (pers. comm.), conducted 

 during the same period and at the same stations 

 as our plankton survey, provided useful in- 

 formation on the juvenile fishes caught in mid- 

 channel of the estuary near the bottom. Relative 

 abundances of the young fishes caught are 

 shown in Table 5. Three species were dominant: 

 HypomeHiis pretiosus, Paroplirya vetulus, and 



Citharichthys stigmaeus. They comprised 79% 

 of the total number of fishes collected. Of these, 

 only the abundant H. pretiosus was also com- 

 mon in plankton collections (Tables 2, 3, and 4). 

 Lepidogobius lepidus, Cottus asper, and Lepto- 

 cottus armatiis, though presumbly benthic as 

 juveniles, were not abundant in the trawl 

 collections despite their abundance as pelagic 

 larve. Johnson (pers. comm.) caught large num- 

 bers of juvenile L. an)iati<s in shoal areas of 

 Yaquina Bay with a beach seine, indicating 

 that juveniles of some species may reside main- 

 ly in shallow water. 



Young of both ParopJirys vcfiilHs and Citluir- 

 ichtltys stlgniaciis were abundant within 

 Yaquina Bay, indicating that the bay provides 

 a nursery for these species. Peak numbers of 

 P. vetidns (15-45 mm) were found between 

 April and June at Buoy 21, but young were 

 captured at all stations from Buoy 15 to 39. 



210 



