FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 3 



13.9 km NW of Cavern Point, Santa Cruz Isl., 

 23 Jan. 1961, 229 m, UCLA W61-48, 3 specs.; 

 lat 33°58'N, long 118°43'W, 5 Aug. 1969, 320- 

 323 m, N. B. Scofield 69S5-16, 2 specs.; lat 33° 

 57'N, long 118°39'W, 5 Aug. 1969, 283 m, N. B. 

 Scofield 69S5-18, 1 spec; lat 33°35.5'N, long 

 118°05.3'W, 18 Aug. 1970, 128-146 m, Oxy 70 

 8-18, 12 specs.; lat 33°34.2'N, long 118°04.8'W, 

 19 Sept. 1970, 274 m, Oxy 70 9-19, 7 specs.; lat 

 33°32.2'N, long 118°08'W, 27 Jan., 9 Apr., 29 

 Apr., and 27 Oct. 1971, 274 m, Oxy 71, 16 specs.; 

 6.8 km WSW of Del Mar, 12 Oct. 1950, 274 m, 

 SIO50-249A, 6 specs. ; La Jolla area, 16 and 18 

 Aug. 1916, Barnhart coll. D42 and D49, SI067- 

 138 and SI064-287, probably the two specimens 

 reported by Fowler (1923) ; 14.8 km W. of Point 

 Loma, 21 Jan. 1965, 347.5 m, SI065-9, 1 spec. 

 Baja California: off Bahia San Quentin, 1 Apr. 

 1962, 183 m, SI062-522, 3 specs.; lat 28°18.1'N, 

 long 115°24.1'W, 247-265 m, SI071-122; 3 specs.; 

 lat 27°59'58"N, long 116°32'W, 20 Aug. 1967, 

 midwater trawl, surface to 1,372 m, Velero 

 11634, LACM 30019-12, 1 spec; lat 27°12.9'N, 

 long 114°30.5'W, 21-22 June 1971, prawn trap 

 183-210 m, Alaska 71A5-10, 8 specs.; lat 26° 

 04.5'N, long 113°40'W, 2 Dec. 1960, 229-293 m, 

 SIO60-466, 39 specs. Gulf of California: lat 

 28°19.3'N, long 112°08'W, 293-307 m, SI068- 

 103, 15 specs.; lat 23°07.8'N, long 109°21.3'W, 

 10-11 Jan. 1968, 252 m, SI068-56, 1 spec 

 Costa Rica: vicinity of Cabo Blanco, 17-21 May 

 1970, 219 m, UCR 427-7, 2 specs.; off Puntare- 

 nas, UCR490, 2 specs. Panama: lat07°12'20"N, 

 long 80°55'W, 23 Feb. 1891, 333 m. Albatross. 

 3355, USNM 57877, 1 spec, x-ray. 



MORID OTOLITHS 



Although morid otoliths were illustrated and 

 described by Vaillant in 1888 and have been 

 reported both in paleontological and ichthyologi- 

 cal literature during the 20th century, Schmidt 

 (1968) appears to have been the first to record 

 in print their uniqueness at the family level. 

 He illustrated sagittae from five Atlantic genera 

 of morids and noted that "although the form of 

 the otolith within this family is by no means uni- 



form, it is so characteristic that one can speak 

 of a morid type." 



The characteristic which makes the morid 

 sagitta so distinct is the deeply channeled bifur- 

 cate Cauda (posterior portion of the sulcus, or 

 groove, on the inner face of an otolith). Frost 

 (1924) noted this character with the statement 

 "In no other species that has passed through my 

 hands is a double cauda to be seen," but he ap- 

 parently had not seen sufficient comparative ma- 

 terial to recognize it as being diagnostic of the 

 family. 



Karrer (1971), in an excellent treatise on 

 morid otoliths, pointed out that the thin bladelike 

 ridge (crista) which divides the deeply chan- 

 neled Cauda longitudinally is actually the poster- 

 ior colliculum. She reported that the diversity 

 of characteristics found on the morid otolith are 

 sufficiently reliable as to permit identification of 

 the various genera. Based upon an examina- 

 tion of otoliths from 13 genera (20 species), she 

 established three natural groups of living mor- 

 ids: the Afora-group comprising Mora, Halar- 

 gyreus, Antimora, and Lepidion; the Physiculus- 

 group comprising Physiculus, Gadella, Tripter- 

 ophycis, Brosmiculus, Laemonema, and Salilota; 

 and the Pseudophycis-group comprising Pseudo- 

 phycis and Auchenoceros. She hesitantly places 

 Lotella. with the Physiculus-group. 



Our investigations involved otoliths from 12 

 genera (Figures 1 and 5), and even though we 

 had no prior knowledge of Karrer's research, we 

 had decided that morid otoliths fitted into the 

 identical three groups that she described, but we 

 added a fourth to include an Antarctic species 

 and two New Zealand fossils. To illustrate these 

 we had drawings prepared of Mora pacifica, 

 Physiculus rastrelliger, and Pseudophycis back- 

 us (Figures 2, 3, and 4), and photographed the 

 Antarctic species and one of the fossils (Figure 

 5) . We believe that Lotella, based upon the pro- 

 portion of ostium length into cauda length in L. 

 callarias, is more closely allied with Pseudophycis 

 than with Physiculus. Salilota also appears to 

 belong with the Pseudophycis-group. 



Since morid otoliths are likely to be encount- 

 ered in food habit studies, fossil deposits, and 

 bottom sediments, and could be useful in a tax- 

 onomic revision of the family, we have construct- 



570 



