NOTE Anderl et al. Is the first annulus missing on the otolith of Pleurogrammus monopterygius? 



169 



face waters in the summer. Between their first sum- 

 mer and their second spring, the young fish return 

 to nearshore waters, settling to a semidemersal ex- 

 istence. It is during this second spring that the first 

 translucent zone appears on the otolith. Perhaps the 

 translucent zone does not form during the first spring 

 because the larvae are still planktonic. The translu- 

 cent zone in Atka mackerel otoliths may be a mani- 

 festation of changes in temperature and food availabil- 

 ity along the ocean bottom. 



Conclusions 



When all available evidence regarding otolith char- 

 acteristics and seasonal changes in size and habitat 

 are combined, the most parsimonious explanation of 

 these data is that Atka mackerel have survived two 

 fall-winter periods prior to formation of the first 

 translucent zone. 



Acknowledgments 



We thank Annette Brown for her advice and support 

 of the daily increment study. We also thank Mark 

 Blaisdell, Kevin Bailey, Morgan Busby, Bill Rugen, 

 Robin Harrison, and biologists at the National Re- 

 search Institute of Far Seas Fisheries of Japan for 

 sharing their specimens and data on Atka mackerel 

 with us. Our appreciation goes to two anonymous 

 reviewers for their constructive and helpful com- 



ments. Finally, we thank Dan Kimura for his sup- 

 port throughout this project and for initially posing 

 the question which became the focus of this study. 



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