catch. Scorpaenid larvae ranged in size from 

 4.2 to 16.3 mm SL, witii the majority from 5 to 



7 mm. 



The distribution of scorpaenid larvae was not 

 uniform in either major area, with a range of 



8 to 136 larvae per station in Puget Sound, and 

 to 542 in the oceanic area. Abundance seemed 

 to be related to area, particularly in the oceanic 

 region. 



In the oceanic area scorpaenid larvae were 

 most abundant in waters over the continental 

 shelf and upper continental slope (i.e., where 

 depth of water was 914 m or less); 84% of the 

 oceanic catch was collected in this region. The 

 largest single catch (542 larvae) was made at a 

 station near the Cobb Seamount where the water 

 depth was about 250 m. At three oceanic sta- 

 tions the catch exceeded 150 scorpaenid larvae, 

 and bottom depth at these stations was less 

 than 914 m. The average catch was only 9.4 

 scorpaenids at the remaining 84 oceanic stations. 

 At 21 stations no scorpaenid larvae were caught. 



Pleuronectidae 



Flatfishes, the second most abundant family 

 group, made up 18% ofthe total catch; 61% ofthe 

 flatfishes were caught in Puget Sound and 39% 

 in oceanic waters. In Puget Sound the most 

 abundant larvae were Parophrys vetidus (58% ), 

 Psettichthys melanostictus (16%), Platichthys 

 stellatus (12%), and Lyopsetta e.vilis (12%). By 

 contrast, in the oceanic area, one species (tenta- 

 tively identified as Isopsetta isolepis) made up 

 70% ofthe pleuronectid larvae; Parophrys vetu- 

 lus contributed 10%, Platichthys stellatus 7%, 

 and Psettichthys melanostictus 6%. Larvae of 

 Microstomus pacificus, commercially one ofthe 

 most important flatfishes of the Pacific coast, 

 accounted for only about 0.6% of the total 

 pleuronectid larvae caught. Most pleuronectid 

 larvae were from 5 to 9 mm SL with an extreme 

 range of 4 to 16 mm. In general, larvae of 

 Platichthys stellatus were the shortest and those 

 of Glyptocephalus zachirus the longest. 



In the oceanic area almost the entire catch 

 came from stations over the continental shelf 

 in 55 m of water (96%). Only 0.1% ofthe catch 

 came from waters beyond the continental slope. 

 The average catch was 60 peluronectid larvae 

 at the 55 m oceanic stations and 69 larvae per 

 station within Puget Sound. 



Gadidae 



Larvae of the family Gadidae were the third 

 most abundant group and constituted 17% ofthe 

 total catch ; 96% of these were caught in Puget 

 Sound. Larvae of Merluccius productus, the 

 Pacific hake, were caught only in Puget Sound 

 and occurred at 14 of the 15 stations in that 

 area; 50% were caught at a single station in 

 Port Susan. Hake larvae made up 59% of all 

 gadids. Although positive identification was 

 not made, it was felt that the remaining gadids 

 were Theragra chalcogramma or Microgadus 

 proximus, the walleye pollock, and Pacific 

 tomcod, respectively. No gadids were collected 

 beyond the continental slope in the ocean area. 

 Gadid larvae ranged from 2.8 to 15.9 mm SL. 

 Most hake were 5 to 6 mm in length and "other 

 gadids" were 5 to 8 mm SL. 



Myctophidae 



The fourth most abundant group, the myc- 

 tophids, were restricted entirely to the oceanic 

 area where they were second in abundance. 

 They had a somewhat more uniform pattern of 

 distribution than either the scorpaenids or the 

 pleuronectids. There were more zero catches of 

 this family in the area over the continental 

 shelf than over deeper water, and the largest 

 catches were made in the southern portion of 

 the survey area (from lat 45 °N south ward). There 

 was a noticeable difference between day and 

 night catches, as was expected. Equating day 

 collections to those made between 0501 and 



1900 hr and night collections to those between 



1901 and 0500 hr (PST), 35% ofthe day collec- 

 tions and 15% ofthe night collections contained 

 no myctophids. All of the large catches (more 

 than 75 larvae per station) were made at night. 

 The mean catch for stations with catches of 

 myctophids was 16 larvae per station for day- 

 time catches and 30 per station for nighttime 

 catches. 



The dominant species were Stenobrachius 

 leucopsarus (78%), Tarletonbeania crenularis 

 (10%), and Diaphus theta (8%). The size of 

 myctophid larvae ranged from 2.7 to 18.8 mm 

 SL, with the majority in the 5 to 10 mm range. 

 The largest larvae were those of Tarletonbeania 

 crejiularis. 



Some species seemed to have a distribution 



