where D = depth of haul = cosine of the average angle 

 of stray of the towing cable multiplied by 

 cable length (m) 



V = total volume of water (m ) strained 



during the haul 



V = R • a • p 



where R = total number of revolutions of the current 

 meter during the haul 



2 



a = area (m ) of the mouth of the net 



p = length of column of water (m) needed to 

 produce one revolution of the current 

 meter. 



Tow depth, volume of water strained, and standard haul factor are 

 listed in Table 1 for each tow taken during 1966. Detailed 

 descriptions of factors involved in calculating these values are 

 presented in Ahlstrom (1948), Kramer et al. (1972), and Smith and 

 Richardson (1977) . 



IDENTIFICATION 



Identification of ichthyoplankton species beyond those 

 separated during the sorting process was carried out by a 

 separate group of specialists. Ontogenetic stages of fishes are 

 inherently difficult to identify and this is further complicated 

 by the large number and diversity of species which contribute to 

 the ichthyoplankton of the California Current region. Most 

 identifications were accomplished by establishing ontogenetic 

 series on the basis of morphology, meristics, and pigmentation 

 and then identifying these series by relating them to known 

 metamorphic, juvenile, or adult stages with overlapping features 

 (Powles and Markle, 1984) . A total of 154 taxa was identified 

 for 1966, with 90 taken to species, 32 to genus, 28 to family, 

 and 4 to order or suborder. Beginning in 1961, larvae in the 

 families Paralepididae and Labridae were identified to genus or 

 species. 



The task of producing a reliable and equitable 

 ichthyoplankton data base required extensive procedures to 

 verify, correct, and edit the original identifications. The 

 primary data source was the original identification sheets (see 

 Kramer et al., 1972, for examples); however, a critical resource 

 used in all phases of this process was the CalCOFI 

 ichthyoplankton collection in which the samples are archived. 

 Throughout the course of CalCOFI ichthyoplankton studies, samples 

 have been identified to the lowest taxon possible. In reviewing 

 these identifications for the data base, our approach has been 

 conservative and we have preserved those identifications and 

 counts which we could confirm, while correcting as many of the 



