highest in May and June, but no geographical preference 

 was evident. 



The families Ammodytidae, Bathymasteridae, 

 Cyclopteridae, and Pleuronectidae each contributed 1.0 

 to 1.4% of the total catch. Sand lance, Ammodytes hex- 

 apterus, were most abundant in May with a geo- 

 graphical preference for the northern stations. Bathy- 

 masterid abundance was about equal for May, June, and 

 July followed by a significant drop in August. Cyclop- 

 terids and pleuronectids were most abundant in June. Of 

 the less frequently collected families, agonids were most 

 abundant in May, and myctophids, zoarcids, and hex- 

 agrammids did not have distinct seasonal changes. 

 Pholids, gasterosteids, and ptilichthyids were too rare to 

 exhibit any geographic or seasonal trends. 



(Wing and Reid 1972), but results were not quite com- 

 parable as a larger mesh net (0.526 mm) was used which 

 retained less phytoplankton and fewer small copepods. 

 Predominant forms of plankters were determined dur- 

 ing sorting (Table 4). In order of complete biomass 

 dominance, copepods lead with 62 samples, followed by 

 phytoplankton in 40, and chaetognaths and euphausiids 

 in 3 each, amphipods in 2, and barnacle nauplii in 1. 

 Eleven samples shared dominance between two orga- 

 nisms. On several occasions phytoplankton clogged the 

 nets, sharply reducing efficienty of the nets. The greatest 

 diversity among dominant organisms occurred in No- 

 vember, when phytoplankton, copepods, and amphipods 

 dominated at two stations each and euphausiids at one. 



Plankton Volumes and Composition 



Plankton settling volumes were measured for 122 

 samples and converted into milliters per 1,000 m' of 

 water filtered (Table 3). Maximum abundance occurred 

 in May, when the mean was 3,740.3 ml/l,000\ followed 

 by June with a mean of 3,156.7 ml/1,000 m'. In July 

 abundance had dropped sharply and then continued a 

 consistent decline into November. In a previous study, 

 planktonic abundance in Auke Bay had peaked in June 



LITERATURE CITED 



AHLSTROM, E. H. 



1948. A record of pilchard eggs and larvae collected during surveys 

 made in 1939 to 1941. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Spec. Sci. Rep. 54, 

 76 p. 

 WING. B. L., and G. M. REID. 



1972. Surface zooplankton from Auke Bay and vicinity, southeast- 

 ern Alaska, August 1962 to January 1964. U.S. Dep. Commer., 

 Natl. Oceanic Atmos. Admin., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Data Rep. 

 72, 765 p. 



