CalCOFI surveys occurred between 1953 and 

 1954. In 1953 less than 1 percent of the Cal- 

 COFI total of either sardine eggs or larvae 

 was obtained off southern California and ad- 

 jacent northern Baja California (station lines 

 80-107). In 1954, 38 percent of sardine eggs 

 and 33 percent of sardine larvae were col- 

 lected from these waters, and the distribution 

 was the most widespread we have encountered 

 (Ahlstrom, 1959b). Such marked changes in 

 distribution point up the need for the extensive 

 systematic coverage maintained by CalCOFI 

 surveys through I960. The percentage of sar- 

 dine larvae taken in each area during 1951-64 

 is summarized in table 3. 



The Gulf of California has a discrete popu- 

 lation of sardines. Surveys nnade intermittently 



over several years in the Gulf have shown that 

 sardines spawn throughout the Gulf in the 

 winter and spring. The Gulf population appears 

 to be a fairly large one, and genetic studies 

 using blood antigens have shown that it is 

 distinct from the stocks off Baja California 

 and California. 



The distribution and relative abundance of 

 sardine larvae are illustrated for two years 

 in figures 2 and 3. The widespread distribu- 

 tion of sardine larvae in 1954 is compared 

 to the nearly as widespread distribution of 

 anchovy larvae in that year (fig. 2). The 

 restricted distribution of sardine larvae in 

 1962 is contrasted to the very widespread 

 distribution of anchovy larvae in 1962 

 (fig. 3). 



Table 3. --Sardine larvae- -percentage of annual total taken in each area, 1951-64 

 [Station lines given below each area] 



1/ No sardine larvae taken on lines 40-57. 



DISTRIBUTION OF ANCHOVY LARVAE 



Eggs and larvae of the northern anchovy 

 have been identified and counted from all 

 collections made by the California Current 

 Resources Laboratory since it began ocean 

 surveys in 1939. A record of anchovy larvae 

 taken in plankton hauls made during the 1940 

 and 1941 surveys aboard the E. W. Scripps 

 was given by Marr and Ahlstrom (1948). 



Anchovy larvae, though superficially similar 

 in appearance to larvae of the sardine (fig. 4), 

 can be distinguished and have been routinely 

 identified. Even in 1940 and 1941, anchovy 

 larvae were slightly more abundant than sar- 

 dine larvae in the surveys made off southern 

 California; the ratio of anchovy larvae to 



sardine larvae was 1.18:1 in 1940 and 1.66:1 

 in 1941. 



Much less was known about the distribution 

 of anchovy eggs and larvae than about that 

 of sardine at the beginning of the CalCOFI 

 surveys. During the 1949 cruises, anchovy 

 larvae were taken off northern Oregon to 

 Point San Eugenio, central Baja California, 

 the north-to- south extent of the coverage. As 

 the surveys became more intensive and exten- 

 sive off California and Baja California, it was 

 found that the vast majority of anchovy larvae 

 were distributed between Point Conception, 

 Calif, and Point San Juanico, Baja California 

 (station lines 80-137). 



A brief account of the distribution and rela- 

 tive abundance of anchovy eggs and larvae in 



