362 



Fishery Bulletin 98(2) 



juveniles of S. constellatus and S. ensifer identified 

 by molecular methods, although conforming to the 

 general facies known for Sebastomus pelagic young, 

 show some differences in morphological features and 

 pigmentation that may permit their identification by 

 traditional means. The possibility of identifying the 

 pelagic young of this species-rich subgenus is further 

 suggested by the striking differences between pelagic 

 young of S. ensifer and S. helvomaculatus. Further 

 advancement will require: 1) the collection of fresh 

 specimens of pelagic young of all species of Sebastoryjus 

 in the waters off California and Baja Califomia; 2) the 

 establishment of ontogenetic series positively identified 

 by molecular methods; and 3) a detailed description 

 and series of illustrations published for each species. 

 Pelagic young of this subgenus are common constit- 

 uents of the midwater fauna of the continental bor- 

 derland of the Southern Califomia Bight ( Moser and 

 Ahlstrom, 1978; Moser and Boehlert, 1991 ), and speci- 

 mens are readily available from midwater trawls. 



In conclusion, this paper reports a novel approach 

 to the study of young rockfishes. We have used mole- 

 cular data in conjunction with morphological descrip- 

 tions to increase knowledge on the identification of 

 elusive early life history stages ofSebastes. 



Acknowledgments 



This research was supported by NOAA Fisheries by 

 core funding and a Saltonstall-Kennedy Fisheries 

 Development Grant to R. D. Vetter, H. G. Moser, 

 and W. Watson. Ship time on board the RV Robert 

 Gordon Sproul was granted to A. Rocha-Olivares by 

 the Ship Operations Office of the Scripps Institution 

 of Oceanography. Additional support for A. Rocha- 

 Olivares was provided by the Consejo Nacional de 

 Ciencia y Tecnologia (Mexico) and the Shirley-Boyd 

 Memorial Fellowship through the Scripps Institu- 

 tion of Oceanography. D. W. Foltz read an earlier 

 version of the manuscript. William Watson and three 

 anonymous reviewers offered helpful suggestions. 

 We are indebted to C. Manning and W. Watson for 

 preparing the illustrations of Figure 2. 



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