The corrected ichthyoplankton data base was then examined 

 statistically and outliers were found and checked as above. 

 Distributional plots were then prepared for each taxon and these 

 were checked by reviewing the data sources mentioned above and by 

 examining archived specimens. A listing of each taxon by station 

 (Table 4) was produced, which became the primary document for 

 subsequent checks. Misidentif ications found in geographic 

 outlier checks and other misidentif ications and data problems 

 discovered in the course of examining archived samples resulted 

 in several iterations of Table 4. Finally, totals in Table 4 

 were checked against annual summaries of incidence and abundance 

 (Tables 2 and 3). Ecological analyses of the data (Moser et al., 

 1987) were conducted concurrently with editing procedures and 

 provided cross-checks that allowed correction of errors. 



SPECIES SUMMARY 



Larvae of the anchovy (Engraulis mordax) constituted 33% of 

 all larvae collected during 1956 CalCOFI cruises, and with the 

 larvae of Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) , which constituted 

 22%, made up 55% of the total larvae collected in that year 

 (Tables 2 and 3). These two species ranked 2nd and 5th in 

 occurrences, respectively. The next most abundant taxon, 

 Sebastes spp., constituted 7.1% of the total number of larva, but 

 ranked 1st in number of occurrences. The next two most abundant 

 species, Leuroglossus stilbius , a deepsea smelt, and 

 Stenobrachius leucopsarus , a lanternfish, contributed 4.5% and 

 3.7% of the total fish larvae and ranked 3rd and 4th in 

 occurrences. The 5 top-ranking taxa accounted for over 70% of 

 larvae collected in 1956. Sardine larvae, Sardinops sagax , 

 ranked 6th in numbers, 3.7%, and 14th in occurrence. The 7th 

 most abundant larva was the lanternfish Triphoturus mexicanus , 

 which ranked 6th in occurrence. The 8th most abundant was the 

 sanddab Citharichthys fragilis , which ranked 24th in occurrence; 

 its high ranking resulted from several large collections in July 

 and August south of line 110. The 9th in abundance and 

 occurrence was the gonostomatid Vinciguerria lucetia . Jack 

 mackerel, Trachurus symmetricus , ranked 10th in abundance (2.6% 

 of total larvae) and 11th in number of occurrences. The 10 top- 

 ranking larvae contributed 84% of the larvae taken in 1956. The 

 remaining 16% were distributed among 124 taxa, plus the 

 unidentified and disintegrated categories. 



EXPLANATION OF TABLES 



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

 tow data for 1956, 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 



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