PEARCY ET AL.: SUBMERSIBLE OBSERVATIONS OF DEEP-REEF FISHES 



Both of the assessment methods have biases, 

 and differences between them are to be ex- 

 pected. The trawls were designed to avoid con- 

 tact with the bottom and sampled a large volume 

 of water at a gi'eater distance above the seafloor 

 and retained mostly large fishes, whereas the 

 submersible was most effective for surveying 

 small fishes on or close to the seafloor. Most 

 large pelagic fishes probably avoided the sub- 

 mersible. Although yellowtail rockfish were at- 

 tracted to the submersible, only a small fraction 

 of the individuals in schools were visible from the 

 viewing port. Differences in sampling locations 

 and times undoubtedly contributed to differ- 

 ences in species composition. Thus quantitative 

 surveys from submersibles appear to be most 

 useful for assessing fishes closely associated with 

 the sea floor, for comparing relative abundances 

 among habitats, and for studying fine-scale dis- 

 tributions of fishes. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank B. T. Washington, Greg Brown (the 

 pilot of the Mermaid II), and the support crew of 

 the Aloha for their efforts to ensure successful 

 dives onto Heceta Bank. A. G. Carey, Jr. identi- 

 fied the invertebrates, C. B. Miller helped with 

 submersible observations, Brian Tissot assisted 

 with data analysis, and two anonymous re- 

 viewers made helpful comments on the manu- 

 script. NOAA's Office of Undersea Research 

 provided funds to make the submersible avail- 

 able for this research. The Oregon Department 

 of Fish and WildUfe and the International Pacific 

 Halibut Commission helped to support the 

 research. 



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