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Fishery Bulletin 95(4), 1 997 
evaluated. In addition, food habits, age, and growth 
of these fish in the wild have not been examined. 
The specific goals of this study were to determine 
1) the depth distribution of early juvenile white 
seabass along the open coast and in bays of San Di- 
ego County, 2) size-specific food habits of white 
seabass, and 3) age and rate of growth. 
Materials and methods 
Sampling design 
Most white seabass were obtained from a survey 
originally designed to sample settled California hali- 
but, Paralichthys californicus (Kramer, 1990). Two 
bays (Mission Bay and Agua Hedionda Lagoon) and 
the open coast of San Diego County were sampled 
monthly from September 1986 to September 1988 
with a depth-stratified sampling design. The coast 
was sampled at four primary sites with a 1.6 m x 
0.35 m beam trawl (Fig. 1). At each site, four benthic 
tows were made in each of three bottom depth inter- 
vals (strata): 4-8, 9-11, and 12-14 m. A few tows 
were made in water as shallow as 3 m on days when 
the sea was calm. Tows were made parallel to shore 
at about 0.6 m/s for 10 min. The exact depth of tows 
within each stratum was chosen at random. Sam- 
pling depth was maintained along the chosen 1-m depth 
contour with the aid of a fathometer. An odometer at- 
tached to the trawl recorded tow distance, which ranged 
from 250 to 450 m. An additional four sites were 
sampled from April to October 1988 by biologists at 
San Diego State University (SDSU) with identical gear, 
but only at the 4—8 and 9-11 m depth strata. 
A similar sampling design was used to sample the 
two bays. Mission Bay and Agua Hedionda Lagoon 
were subdivided into five and three blocks respec- 
tively to sample the various habitats adequately 
within each bay (Fig. 1). Each block was further sub- 
divided into three depth strata: 0-1, 1-2, and 2-4 m. 
Within each stratum and block, three benthic tows 
were made at random locations with a 1.0 m x 0.35 m 
beam trawl equipped with an odometer. In the two 
deeper strata, the trawl was towed by a 5-m skiff for 
5 min, covering a distance of 100-250 m. In the 0-1 m 
stratum, the trawl was towed by hand for a mea- 
sured distance of 20-50 m. The 0-1 m depth stra- 
Map of San Diego County showing location of the eight coastal sites and sampling areas (blocks) 
within Mission Bay and Agua Hedionda Lagoon. Four coastal sites were sampled by Kramer (1990) 
and four were sampled by San Diego State University (SDSU). The sampling design used along the 
coast is also shown. 
