FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 85, NO. 3 



and Kleppel (1986) noted significant diurnal 

 depth stratification of larvae in the absence of 

 thermal stratification. Absolute depths may be 

 more important than thermal layers in determin- 

 ing vertical distribution when temperature dif- 

 ferences are small. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The collection of the data presented in this 

 paper would have been impossible without the 

 assistance of Shailer Cummings (Atlantic 

 Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories, 

 NOAA). We thank Stanley Warlen for assistance 

 in larval identifications. Edward Houde and 

 William Hettler provided valuable comments and 

 suggestions on earlier versions of the manuscript. 

 We also thank the crew of the NOAA ship Ore- 

 gon II for assistance in sampling. This research 

 was supported by a contract with the Ocean 

 Assessments Division, National Ocean Service, 

 NOAA. 



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