246 



Fishery Bulletin 93(2). 1995 



F"*3 



Hemilepidotus jordani W >so ° 



xr^n 



Hemilepidotus spinosus 



^P^ 



K 



Hemilepidotus spp. 



^.^"^AJ 



Myoxocephalus spp. 



Figure 6 (continued) 



between Kodiak Island and the Shumagin Islands (Fig. 

 6L). Spawning may be centered in this region. 



Three species of bathymasterids belonging to the 

 genus Bathymaster are known to occur in the sam- 

 pling area: B. caeruleofasciatus , B. leurolepis, and 

 B. signatus (Rogers et al., 1979; Rugen 3 ). They are 

 coastal demersal spawners. At the larval stage, it is 

 not possible to identify these to species and they are 

 included here in the taxon Bathymaster spp. The dis- 

 tribution of these larvae during spring was centered 

 southwest of Kodiak Island (Fig. 6M) suggesting that 

 this may be a primary spawning area. Occurrences 

 were scarce northeast of Kodiak Island and south- 

 west of the Shumagin Islands. It seems, however, 

 that spring is a period when Bathymaster larvae are 

 relatively scarce in the neuston. Previous studies 

 have found these larvae to be most abundant in sub- 

 surface samples from May to October with a peak in 

 summer (Kendall and Dunn, 1985; Rugen 3 ). In the 

 neuston, however, larvae did not become abundant 

 until late June. Although Rugen 3 found Bathymaster 

 larvae to be most abundant from Kodiak Island to 



the Shumagin Islands, he also found them to be abun- 

 dant seaward of Kodiak Island, particularly during 

 the summer, as did Kendall and Dunn ( 1985). There 

 may be a northeasterly progression in spawning ac- 

 tivity in the sampling area from spring to summer. 



The wrymouth Cryptaeanthodes aleutensis is epi- 

 and meso-benthic in shelf and slope waters and 

 spawns demersal eggs during spring and summer 

 (Matarese et al., 1989). Larvae are associated mainly 

 with the neuston (Kendall and Dunn, 1985; Doyle, 

 1992; Rugen 3 ). The distribution of C. aleutensis lar- 

 vae during the spring months of the present study 

 was associated primarily with Kodiak Island and 

 southwest to the Shumagin Islands (Fig. 6N), simi- 

 lar to that documented by Rugen. 3 Densities were 

 higher in the inner- and mid-shelf region than along 

 the shelf edge and slope. 



The Pacific sand lance, Ammodytes hexapterus, is 

 a pelagic, schooling species common to coastal and 

 shelf waters and it spawns demersal eggs. Its larvae 

 have been found to be facultative members of the 

 neuston along the U.S. west coast where the well- 



