289 



AbStr3Ct. —Pigmentation, morpho- 

 metries, head spination, fin develop- 

 ment, and meristic characters were de- 

 scribed and illustrated for the develop- 

 mental series of larval and pelagic ju- 

 venile (4.7-38.2 mm standard length) 

 stripetail rockfish, Sebastes saxicola. 

 Pigment patterns were sufficiently dis- 

 tinct to differentiate larval and juvenile 

 S. saxicola from other Sebastes species 

 occurring in the study area (central 

 California). Early larvae of S. saxicola 

 were identified by the presence of pig- 

 ment on the postanal ventral midline 

 and the nape and by the lack of pig- 

 ment on the lower jaw and the pectoral 

 fins. Late larval S. saxicola had areas 

 of intense pigment along the dorsal, 

 lateral, and ventral midlines. Juvenile 

 S. saxicola were identified by their dis- 

 tinctive bar pattern and meristic char- 

 acters. Examination of otolith charac- 

 ters indicated that the extrusion check 

 radius of S. saxicola differed from that 

 of other Sebastes species examined. 

 Otolith characters, used in combination 

 with pigment patterns, readily sepa- 

 rated larval S. saxicola from other 

 Sebastes species. Calculated growth 

 rates for S. saxicola were slower than 

 most previously reported growth rates 

 for other Sebastes species. 



Description of pelagic larval and 



juvenile stripetail rockfish, 



Sebastes saxicola 



(family Scorpaenidae), with 



an examination of larval growth 



Thomas E. Laidig 

 Keith M. Sakuma 



Tiburon Laboratory. Southwest Fisheries Science Center 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 

 3150 Paradise Drive. Tiburon, California 94920 



Mary M. Nishimoto 



Moss Landing Marine Laboratories 



PO Box 450. Moss Landing, California 95039 



Present address Marine Science Institute 



University of California, Santa Barbara 



Santa Barbara, California 93106 



Manuscript accepted 23 October 1995. 

 Fishery Bulletin 94:289-299 ( 1996). 



Rockfishes {Sebastes spp.) are im- 

 portant to the commercial and rec- 

 reational fisheries of the northeast- 

 ern Pacific. In 1993, they accounted 

 for approximately 18% of the com- 

 mercial groundfish catch in weight 

 (PFMC 1 ) and 19.4% of all species in 

 the recreational landings off Cali- 

 fornia, Oregon, and Washington 

 (Witzig et al., 1992). Sixty-one spe- 

 cies of rockfish are reported from 

 California alone (Eschmeyer et al., 

 1983). Management of the fishery 

 has been plagued by taxonomic 

 problems. The need to separate 

 adult rockfish landed by the fishery 

 has long been recognized (Phillips, 

 1964; Chen, 1971). Larvae and ju- 

 veniles are far more difficult to 

 separate than are adults, but the 

 need to differentiate them is grow- 

 ing with their use as subjects of bio- 

 mass estimates and recruitment 

 studies (Moser and Butler, 1987; 

 Hunter and Lo, 1993; Ralston et 

 al. 2 ). Here we provide means to 

 identify the larvae and juveniles of 

 S. saxicola. 



Stripetail rockfish, Sebastes saxi- 

 cola, are small (maximum size 39 

 cm) and occur on soft bottom at 

 depths of 46-421 m (Eschmeyer et 

 al., 1983). This species accounts for 

 less than 1%' of the commercial 

 groundfish catch by weight (Pear- 

 son 3 ), perhaps because of its small 

 size. It is one of the more abundant 

 groundfish species off Santa Cruz, 

 California (Adams et al., 1995), and 

 is generally common in waters be- 



1 PFMC (Pacific Fishery Management 

 Council). 1994. Status of the Pacific 

 coast groundfish fishery through 1994 and 

 recommended acceptable biological catches 

 for 1995. Pacific Fishery Management 

 Council, Portland, OR, 118 p. 



2 Ralston, S.. J. R. Bence, M. B. Eldridge, 

 and W. H. Lenarz. 1993. Estimating the 

 spawning biomass of shortbelly rockfish 

 (Sebastes jordam) in the region of Pioneer 

 and Ascension Canyons using a larval pro- 

 duction method, 32 p. National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries 

 Science Center, 3150 Paradise Drive, 

 Tiburon, CA 94920. 



3 Pearson, D. E. 1994. National Marine 

 Fisheries Service. 3150 Paradise Drive, 

 Tiburon, CA 94920. Personal commun. 



