NOTE Thedinga et a\ : Habitat, age, and diet of Tnchodon tnchodon 



635 



13-14 15-16 17-18 19-20 21-22 23-24 



Total length (mm) 



Beach seine 

 Summer 



60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99 100-112 130-150 



Fork length (mm) 



50 

 40- 

 30- 

 20 



n=120 

 FL=150 



Mid-water trawl 

 Spring 



120-129 130-139 140-149 150-159 160-169 170-190 



Fork length (mm) 



Figure 3 



Length frequency of Pacific sandfish (Trichndon 

 tnchodon) near The Brothers Islands, south- 

 eastern Alaska. (A) Larvae were captured in 

 March. 2002-2004, (B) juveniles and subadults 

 were captured in July, 2001-2003, and (C) sub- 

 adults and adults were captured in May 2001 

 and May 2003. Total length was measured for 

 larvae and fork length for juveniles, subadults. 

 and adults. 



rence of food items in stomachs varied among years 

 for age-1 Pacific sandfish (Fig. 4). Occurrence of fish 

 in stomachs of age-1 fish ranged from 72% in 2001 

 to 19% in 2002, and occurrence of larvacea ranged 

 from 62% in 2001 to 1% in 2002. Nearly all identifi- 

 able fish in juvenile stomachs were gadids. For 2001 

 and 2002 combined, decapod larvae occurred in about 

 98% of stomachs, euphausiids in 74%, and amphipods 

 in 65%. For adults (2003; 2age-4), fish were the most 



100 



80- 



60  



40 



20 



Age 1 

 n=96 



Age 1 

 n=68 





2001 



2002 



2003 



100 



80 



60 



40 



20 



2001 



2002 



2003 



Figure 4 



(A) Percent weight of stomach contents and (B) percent 

 frequency of occurrence of prey items in stomachs of 

 Pacific sandfish (Tnchodon trichodon ) near The Brothers 

 Islands, southeastern Alaska. Data for 2001 and 2002 

 represent age-1 fish captured with a beach seine in July, 

 and data for 2003 represent fish >age 4 captured with 

 a mid-water trawl in Pybus Bay and Frederick .Sound 

 in May. See Figure 2 for site locations. 



frequently occurring food item and were present in 

 77%f of stomachs. 



Discussion 



Pacific sandfish larvae and juveniles use shallow, near- 

 shore habitats, whereas most adults occupy deeper 

 waters farther from shore. Larvae were similar in 

 size and anatomical features to larvae (0-29 day-old) 

 described by Marliave (1980). Thus, we estimate that 

 the larvae we captured probably hatched between early 

 February and early March — a hatching period similar 

 to that reported by Clemens and Wilby (1967) for British 

 Columbia, Canada, but 1-2 months earlier than hatch- 

 ing dates estimated by Bailey et al. (1983) for northern 

 southeastern Alaska. Pacific sandfish spawn on rocky 

 intertidal shorelines, eggs incubate for about one year, 

 and larvae develop in shallow nearshore areas (Marliave, 

 1980). Because of the relative high abundance of Pacific 



