296 



Fishery Bulletin 94(2), 1996 



S. auriculatus at 14.3 pm, SD=0.939 /im; S. semi- 

 cinctus at 15.8 //m, SD=1.085 /./m). The two remain- 

 ing species had extrusion check radii significantly 

 smaller (P<0.05) than that of S. saxicola (S. maliger at 

 9.1 ^m [SD=0.141 //m] and S. atrovirens at 10.6 //m 

 [SD=0.148//m]>. 



The extrusion check radius from individuals with 

 axillary pectoral-fin pigment varied from that of 

 S. saxicola (Fig. 3). The difference between extru- 

 sion check radius in all the larvae with axillary pig- 

 ment (11. OSjUm; SD=1.79//m) and S. saxicola was not 

 significant. However, when the larvae with axillary 

 pigment were separated into two groups (one with 

 extrusion check radius greater than 13 /.im and the 

 other with extrusion check radius less than 11 /im), 

 the extrusion check radius of each group (13.46 /.tm 

 [SD=0.055 ,um] for the larger and 9.89 //m [SD= 

 0.532 //m] for the smaller) was significantly different 

 from that of S. saxicola and from each other (P<0.001 ). 



A linear model provided the best fit for the rela- 

 tionship of total otolith radius versus SL (r 2 =0.967) 

 (Fig. 4). A power curve was used to fit the relation- 

 ship of SL and age (r 2 =0.927)(Fig. 5). The model pre- 

 dicted that a fish would be 4.5 mm NL at extrusion 

 (age=0), which is similar to what we observed. 



Discussion 



Sebastes saxicola have unique pigment patterns 

 which allow them to be distinguished from other 

 Sebastes spp. Of the 51 Sebastes spp. with published 

 illustrations of pre-extrusion or the recently extruded 

 larvae that occur in the study area, 10 are similar to 

 S. saxicola (Morris, 1956; Moser et al., 1977; Stahl- 

 Johnson, 1985; Matarese et al.. 1989; Moreno, 1990; 

 Wold, 1991; Sakuma and Laidig, 1995; Laroche 4 ). 

 Pre-extrusion S. saxicola larvae can be separated 



