Analysis of a series of cruises from the joint Navy-Smithsonian Institution's 

 "Ocean Acre" program indicates that the vertical distributions for a num- 

 ber of critical species of fish and cephalopods demonstrate behavioral varia- 

 tions relevant to known characteristics of the deep scattering layers."- Of 

 the numerically important species taken in the collections, some show clear 

 evidence of diel migration patterns, while others have been identified as non- 

 migrants. 



A report has been completed of the geomorphology of the Middle Atlantic 

 Continental Shelf region from Cape Cod to Virginia.-^ This report supple- 

 ments 15 previously published large scale bathymetric maps of this region 

 that were prepared by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The report de- 

 scribes the shelf configuration and sediments and discusses its evolution 

 and the processes involved in its formation. These charts will be extremely 

 useful to fishermen in locating more precisely the kinds of bottom on which 

 certain valuable resources concentrate. 



The first rearing into the larval stage of the eggs of any species of tuna 

 was accomplished at the BCF Tropical Atlantic Biological Laboratory." 

 Eggs of the little tuna, Eutliynnus, caught in the Gulf Stream off Miami, 

 Florida, were brought into the laboratory where they were hatched and 

 the larvae reared to 20 days of age by feeding them on plankton. This allows 

 scientists for the first time to identify the very early stages of the little tuna. 



Finally, experiments in the possible hybridization of selected Atlantic and 

 Pacific fish species indicate that this process can occur should certain migra- 

 tory patterns be established.-^ These results indicate that further investiga- 

 tion is warranted, especially in view of the possibility of a sea-level canal 

 between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 



Funding for the many and varied programs of U.S. marine research is 

 shown in figure XI-2 and the distribution of funds to the major oceano- 

 graphic laboratories is illustrated in figure XI-3. 



The Distribution of Researcli 



In 1968, the Marine Sciences Council designated the Science Information 

 Exchange of the Smithsonian Institution as the national information center 

 for unclassified, current marine science infoiTnation. Specifically, the Ex- 

 change undertook the responsibilities for receiving, compiling, cataloging, 

 and disseminating information concerning unclassified, ongoing research 

 and development activities in the marine sciences. 



"U.S. Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory, New London, Conn. (Contract 

 NOO 1 40-6 9-C-0 166). 



^ Franklin Stearns, "Bathymetric maps and geomorphology of the Middle Atlantic 

 Continental Shelf," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fishery Bulletin, vol. 68, No. 1, 

 pp. 37-66, 1969. 



-' Houde, Edward P., and William J. Richards, "Rearing Larval Tunas in the 

 Laboratory" Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 31, No. 12, pp. 32-34, 1969. 



"" RubinofT, R. W., and Ira Rubinoff, "Interoceanic Colonization of a Marine Goby 

 through the Panama Canal," Nature, vol. 217, No. 5127, pp. 476-478, February 

 1968. 



158 



