SPECIES SUMMARY 



Larvae of northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax) represented 

 39% of all fish larvae taken on CalCOFI cruises during 1955 and 

 numbered over twice as many as Pacific hake (Merluccius 

 productus) , the next most abundant species (Tables 2, 3). 

 Anchovy and hake ranked 2nd and 5th in incidence, respectively. 

 Larvae of Sebastes spp., a composite of about 70 species of 

 rockfish, were next most abundant (8% of total) and ranked 1st in 

 occurrence. These 3 taxa accounted for about 2/3 of all fish 

 larvae taken in 1955. Leuroglossus stilbius , a deepsea smelt, 

 ranked 4th in abundance and 3rd in occurrence. Larvae of 

 Sardinops sagax , Pacific sardine, ranked 5th in abundance but 

 only 12th in occurrence, indicating relatively large sample 

 sizes. Jack mackerel, Trachurus symmetricus , larvae ranked 6th 

 in both abundance and incidence. The next most abundant were 

 three midwater species, a lanternfish (Triphoturus mexicanus) , a 

 lightfish (Vinci guerria lucetia) , and another lanternfish 

 (Stenobrachius leucopsarus) , ranking 7th, 8th, and 9th, 

 respectively. Triphoturus ranked 4th in occurrence, Vinciguerria 

 was 7th, and Stenobrachius 13th. The 10th ranked taxon by 

 abundance was the sanddab genus Citharichthys composed of 

 specimens that could not be identified to species because of 

 small size, poor condition, or variable taxonomic characters. 

 These 10 top-ranking taxa contributed 87% of all larvae taken 

 during 1955. The remaining 13% was represented by 112 taxa plus 

 the unidentified and disintegrated categories. Of the 10 taxa, 4 

 were midwater species, 3 were coastal demersal species or generic 

 groupings, and 3 were coastal pelagic species. 



EXPLANATION OF TABLES 



Table 1 - This table lists by cruise the pertinent station and 

 tow data for 1955, the volume of water filtered and 

 standard haul factor for each tow, the percent of 

 sample sorted, and the total numbers of fish eggs and 

 larvae. CalCOFI cruises are designated by four digits; 

 the first two indicate the year and the second two the 

 month. Within each cruise the data are listed in order 

 of increasing line and station number (southerly and 

 seaward directions) ; the order of station occupancy is 

 shown on the station charts (Figures 2-10) . Stations 

 are designated by two groups of digits; the first set 

 indicates the line and decimal fraction and the second 

 set indicates the station on the line. Decimal 

 fractions were not used in 1955. Time is listed as 

 Pacific Standard Time at the start of each tow in 24- 

 hour designation. Methods for determining tow depth, 

 volume of water strained, standard haul factor, and 

 percent sorted were described in the methods section. 

 The values for total fish eggs and larvae represent raw 

 counts (unadjusted for percent sorted or standard haul 

 factor) . Ship codes are as follows: BD, Black 



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