566 



Fishery Bulletin 98(3) 



16 4 mm SL 



Figure 17 



harvae of Lepidopsetta hilineata (Ayres): (A) UW 083443, 3. 2 mm, Gulf of Alaska, 

 AFSC, 3 June 1990 ; (B) UW 083410, 6,3 mm. Gulf of Alaska, AFSC. 26 June 

 1978 (Matarese et al.. 1989); (C) UW 083411, 9.7 mm. Gulf of Ala.ska (Matarese 

 et al., 1989), AFSC, 28 June 1978; (D) UW 083412, 11.0 mm. Gulf of Alaska, 

 AFSC, 14 Sept 1978; (E) UW 083444, 9.3 mm, Puget Sound, AFSC, 1 June 1989; 

 (F) UW 083409, 16.4 mm. Gulf of Alaska, AFSC, 22 July 1977 (Matarese et al., 

 1989). Illustrations by B. Vinter, under contract to the National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service. Alaska Fisheries Science Center 



on the Slime Bank north of Unimak 

 I., to Cortez Banks, Baja California, 

 Mexico. It is common from the north- 

 ern Gulf of Alaska to Puget Sound and 

 is locally abundant along the coasts 

 of Washington, Oregon, and California. 

 Larvae have been collected from just 

 south of the Aleutian Islands to Tanner 

 Bank, Mexico (Moser et al., 1993: Char- 

 ter and Moser, 1996). 



Habitat 



Adults were collected over sand and 

 gravel substrates to depths of 339 m 

 (RACE^). Larvae were collected over 

 depths <1000 m. 



During our 22-year sampling period, 

 larvae were less common than those of L. 

 poly.xystra n. sp. in spring ichthyoplank- 

 ton surveys conducted in the Gulf of 

 Alaska. Larvae appeared in larger num- 

 bers later in the season (June) and the 

 highest densities occurred from Kodiak 

 Island to the eastern Gulf of Alaska 

 (Table 14: Fig. 18). In the CalCOFI 

 region, larvae were collected from Feb- 

 ruary to July: peak abundance was in 

 May (Charter and Moser, 1996). Larvae 

 were collected more frequently and in 

 higher densities closer to the coastline 

 (within 55.6 km, Moser et al., 1993). 



Life history 



In L. hilineata taken off the coast of 

 Oregon, brittlestars of the genus Ophi- 

 ura dominated the diet, and polychaetes 

 and mollusks constituted much of the 

 remainder (Kravitz et al. 1976). Adults 

 from the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian 

 Islands are often infested with the par- 

 asitic copepods Nectobrachia indivisa 

 and Naobranchta occidenialisJ Both 

 parasites were previously recorded in 

 Lepidopsetta by Kabata ( 1988). For both 

 parasite species, L. hilineata was sig- 

 nificantly less infested than L. polyxys- 

 tra n. sp,^ The maximum recorded age 

 for female Lepidopsetta is 18 yr at 49 

 cm FL and for a male is 17 yr at 40 

 cm FL (Levings, 1967: Forrester, 1969). 

 For early life history information, see 

 generic account. 



'' Zimmermann, M. and R. Harrison. 1998. 

 Personal commun. Resource Assessment 

 and Conservation Engineering Division. 

 Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Natl. Mar. 

 Fish. Serv.. NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Wav 

 NE, Seattle, WA 98115. 



