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Fishery Bulletin 95(4), 1997 
ture. The error associated with the estimated 
spawn dates is therefore the same as that asso- 
ciated with the age-length relation. 
Growth of wild white seabass was compared 
with growth of three groups reared in the labo- 
ratory. Eggs spawned on 8 May, 24 June, and 
25 September 1989 were reared as described 
above. Mean length-at-age was estimated from 
random subsamples (n=16-76 fish) taken at ir- 
regular intervals during rearing. Linear growth 
models were fitted to the length-at-age data for 
both reared and wild fish to facilitate statisti- 
cal comparisons of growth rates with ANCOVA. 
Although growth of white seabass from hatch- 
ing to 150 mm SL was nonlinear, growth over a 
smaller size range of 6-104 mm SL was de- 
scribed equally well by linear models (r 2 >0.94). 
Results 
Distribution and abundance 
The overall abundance of white seabass in the bays wer e caught in 1,250 tows along the coast and 10 
and along the coast of San Diego County was low. white seabass were caught in 2,527 tows in the bays. 
Most tows caught no white seabass. 
Lengths of fish ranged from 6.2 to 149 
mm SL (x= 30.2 mm SL), but 80% were 
smaller than 40 mm SL (Fig. 2). About 
40 fish (33%) were smaller than 15 mm 
SL, the approximate length at metamor- 
phosis (Moser et al., 1983). 
White seabass were caught primarily 
in shallow water in both coastal and bay 
habitats. Along the coast, nearly all white 
seabass (97%) were collected in the shal- 
lowest (4-8 m) depth stratum, with the 
highest density at 6 m (Fig. 3). Only three 
fish were taken in deeper water and these 
were among the largest caught, ranging 
from 92 to 149 mm SL. In the bays, all 
ten fish were caught in the shallowest (0— 
1 m) stratum. 
Settled (demersal) white seabass were 
present in shallow strata only during 
spring and summer, although one fish, 
the 149-mm-SL juvenile, was caught in 
January 1988. Along the coast, white 
seabass were caught from June to August 
1987, and from May to October 1988, 
when sampling ended (Fig. 4). In both 
years, abundance was highest in July, 
with mean densities of 15/ha (1987) and 
24/ha (1988). White seabass were found 
in 54 of 210 tows (26%) made in the 4-8 m 
no. tows = 
0 0 2 18 68 56 46 21 42 49 79 55 71 25 
Depth (m) 
Figure 3 
Distribution of white seabass and the mysid Metamysidopsis elongata 
along the coast in relation to depth. White seabass abundance is the 
mean (± 1 SE) during months fish were captured ( Jun-Aug 1987, May- 
Oct 1988). Number of tows at each depth during this period is indicated 
at the top of the graph. Mysid data are redrawn from Clutter (1967) and 
represent total number of M. elongata caught from 1960 to 1962 at a site 
~3 km south of the Torrey Pines 2 site (Fig. 1). Sampling effort for mysids 
was similar for all depths. 
During regular sampling, a total of 112 white seabass 
