PILCEAED EGGS AKD LARVAE MD OTHER FISH LARVAE, 

 PACIFIC COAST, 1951 



This report contains the results of quantitative sampling of pilchard 

 ( Sardinops gae yulep,) eggs and larvae off the west coast of California and 

 Baja California during 1951. (The area surveyed is shown in figure 1.) 

 Although the collections were designed primarily to yield information on 

 the distritution and abundance of pilchard eggs and larvae, a not unexpec- 

 ted byproduct was information on a number of other fish of present or poten- 

 tial commercial importance. We are including records of the larvae of five 

 of these: northern anchovy ( Engraiilis mordajc ). jack mackerel ( Trac^urus 

 symmetricus ). hake (Merluccius productus ) . Pacific mackerel ( Ppietimatoicihorus 

 diego ) and rockfish (Sebastodes spp,). 



In the tables, pilchard eggs are enumerated by age (in day^ since 

 spawning; pilchard and anchovy larvae by size categories; and for the re- 

 maining species a tabulation is given of the numbers taken. 



The haul data for the 1951 collections have already been presented in 

 the report on "Zooplankton Volumes off the Pacific Coast, 1951" (Special 

 Scientific Report: Fisheries No. 73, May 1952). However, a record of the 

 standardized haul factors was not included, and they are presented as Table 

 I in this report. 



The investigation of the extent and amouut of pilchard spawning, and 

 of the survival of pilchard larvae in relation to oceanographic conditions 

 constitutes one of the major lines of research being pursued by the South 

 Pacific Fishery Investigations of the U. S. Fish and V/ildlife Service \inder 

 the California Cooperative Sardine Research Program. This program is spon- 

 sored by the Marine Research Committee and is being carried out in conjunc- 

 tion with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of 

 California, the Bureau of Marine Fisheries of the California Department of 

 Fish and Game, the California Acadenjy of Sciences and the Hopkins Marine 

 Station of Stanford University. It is a pleasure to acknov/ledge the whole- 

 hearted cooperation of the above agencies. 



