FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 87, NO. 4, 1989 



2A- 



2B- 



9B- 



9C- 



15A- 



9A- 



2C- 



12B- 



15B- 



12A- 



IIB- 



IIC- 



llA- 



3C- 



14- 



5A- 



5B- 



6B- 



6A- 



8A- 



8B- 



o!i o!2 0:3 



Euclidean Distance 



Figure 3. — Dendogram showing results of cluster analysis based on presence/ 

 absence offish species from 21 transects. Dive numbers are shown along Y-axis and 

 Euclidian distance along the X-axis. Roman numerals indicate the two major 

 habitat groups and letters indicate subgroups (see Table 2). 



lobus alascanus, and greenstriped rockfishes 

 were usually in deep water on mud bottoms and 

 in shallow water on mud or rocky bottoms, re- 

 spectively (Tables 2, 3). Often thornyheads 

 rested in shallow depressions in the bottom. 



Largest concentrations of small- and inter- 

 mediate-sized benthic rockfishes were seen dur- 

 ing a dive at 149 m over rock (15A). Most of 

 these were tentatively identified as sharpchin 

 and pygmy, S. wilsoni, rockfishes. Their mean 

 density on this transect was about 1.3/m" (Table 

 2). Pygmy; sharpchin; and Puget Sound, S. em- 

 phaeus, rockfishes were collected on this dive 

 (Table 3). On another dive (not shown in Table 

 2), the densities of these small benthic rockfishes 

 in areas of flat rocks, ledges, and cobble were as 

 high as 5-10/m- at depths of 120-140 m. These 

 fishes rested among rocks and ledges on the bot- 

 tom but also swam one or two meters off the 

 bottom. When frightened they often retreated 

 into crevices and under rocks. 



Large Schooling Rockfishes 



Schools of large (30-50 cm) rockfishes were 

 seen on five of the dives where bottom depths 



Table 3.— List of fishes (standard lengttis in mm) collected 

 witti the slurp gun during five Mermaid dives onto Heceta 

 Bank in August 1987. 



Dive 3 



Slender sole 

 Smootheye poacher 



Dive 4 

 Splitnose rockflsh 

 Bigeye starsnout 

 poacher 



Dive 6 

 Rosethorn rockfish 

 Sharpchin rockfish 



Dive 8 

 Blacktail snailfish 



Dive 15 

 Threadfin sculpin 

 Spotted cusk-eel 

 Thornback sculpin 

 Pygmy rockfish 



Sharpchin rockfish 



Puget Sound rockfish 



Lyopsetta exilis (186, 129) 

 Xeneretmus leiops (1 70) 



Sebastes diploproa (181) 

 Bathyagonus pentacantha 

 (186) 



Sebastes helvomaculatus (162) 

 Sebastes zacentrus ( 1 32) 



Careproctus melanurus (227) 



Icellnus filamentosus (162) 

 Chilara taylorl (263) 

 Paricelinus hopliticus (1 56) 

 Sebastes wilsoni (M9. 148, 



141, 136, 129, 117) 

 Sebastes zacentrus (1 32, 92, 



82) 

 Sebastes emptiaeus (^0^) 



^These fish had two white stripes, one above and one 

 below the lateral line, with reddish pigmentation over the 

 rest of the body. 



were less than 150 m. No schools of large rock- 

 fishes were seen in deeper water. These shal- 

 low-water schools were predominantly of yel- 

 lowtail rockfish and occasionally of canary rock- 

 fishes. Other than an occasional canary or 



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