Laguna Barine Laboratorp 19 
THE FISHES OF LAGUNA BEACH, 
CALIFORNIA, I. 
CHARLES W. METZ 
The present paper is a result of a study of the tide-pool and in- 
shore fishes found in the vicinity of Laguna Beach and Newport 
Beach, Orange County, California. The material for the work was 
obtained during July and August, at the 1911 session of The Laguna 
Marine Laboratory. The main object of the study has been to make 
as complete as possible a survey of the local shore fishes, together 
with observations and dissections bearing on their ecological rela- 
tions. In the immediate vicinity of Laguna Beach is an unusual 
abundance of tide-pools, large, varied, and rich in aquatic vegeta- 
tion, offering exceptional opportunities for shore work. For this 
reason an especial effort was made to work the pools and in-shore 
waters exhaustively throughout the limited time of our stay. No 
attempt has been made to cover the deep water fishes, or fishes that 
are not typically shore forms. Oceasionally, however, representa- 
tives of the deep water species were brought in by fishermen or 
accidentally taken near the shore, and these have been mentioned in 
their places. Likewise a few notes on species taken at other locali- 
ties along the coast have been included when they were of especial 
interest. ; 
Most of the work in this study was done at the Laboratory in 
Laguna Beach, under the direction of Professor C. F. Baker, to whom 
the author is greatly indebted for assistance in many ways. Por- 
tions of it, however, have been since completed at Stanford Univer- 
sity; and I am indebted to Dr. Gilbert, and Professors Starks and 
Snyder, of that institution, for kindly suggestions and advice. It is 
with pleasure, also, that I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. J. E. 
Souder, owner of the fishing launch ‘‘Ruth’’ of Newport Beach, for 
his hospitality, and his active interest in the work of collecting during 
the summer. ; 
The nomenclature here followed is that of Starks and Morris, in 
“The Marine Fishes of Southern California,’’ except in a few cases 
where changes have been made since this appeared (1907). Any 
such changes are noted in the text. 
During the course of the work at Laguna the author became con- 
siderably interested in the gross visceral anatomy of the local fishes, 
especially where this related to the food and habits of species. Time 
did not permit of extensive investigations along this line; nor did the 
