658 



Fishery Bulletin 97(3), 1999 



shortest blade lengths. Only shiner perch abundance 

 appeared related to eelgrass physical characteristics. 

 This was not surprising because shiner perch are 

 closely associated with the amount of eelgrass cover 

 (Onuf and Quammen, 1983). 



In conclusion, we found that for Alamitos Bay: 1) 

 shallow unvegetated and eelgrass habitats were im- 

 portant for many fishes, especially juveniles, 2) ju- 

 venile California halibut and barred sand bass used 

 different habitats; California halibut inhabited 

 unvegetated areas and barred sand bass inhabited 

 eelgrass beds, 3 ) habitats nearest the bay mouth were 

 particularly important for juvenile California hali- 

 but and barred sand bass, whereas habitats farther 

 inside the bay were more important for other fishes, 

 4) habitat and site selection for juvenile California 

 halibut, barred sand bass, and most other fishes ap- 

 peared unrelated to physical characteristics of eel- 

 grass or abiotic factors, 5) habitat and site selection 

 for juvenile California halibut and barred sand bass 

 may be related to larval supply and to the first suit- 

 able habitat and site encountered, but may be modi- 

 fied subsequently by movement into other areas in 

 search of preferred food items. A closer look at shal- 

 low unvegetated and eelgrass habitats in other bays 

 in relation to California halibut and barred sand bass 

 abundance is warranted. Protection of these habitats 

 from elimination or even alteration may be important 

 for the successful management of these species. 



Acknowledgments 



This work was primarily funded through the Fed- 

 eral Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act. We thank the 

 following individuals for invaluable assistance in the 

 field: Mary Larson, Paul Gregory, Kris Eager, other 

 California Dept. of Fish and Game staff, and students 

 from California State University at Long Beach. 

 Calvin Chun helped with the statistical analyses. We 

 also thank David Parker, Rick Klingbeil, Larry Allen, 

 Calvin Chun, and three anonymous reviewers who 

 provided valuable comments on this manuscript. 



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