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Fishery Bulletin 99(2) 
cm, x=5.2 cm SL; the 42 from July were 4.5 to 6.3 cm, x- 
5.4 cm SL; the 73 from August were 4.9 to 6.7 cm, x- 
5.6 cm SL; the 28 from September were 4.6 to 7.1 cm, x = 
6.2 cm SL; and the 46 from October were 5.8 to 8.0 cm, x = 
7.0 cm SL. Inferences based on these data can be extended 
to YOY of most Sebastes spp. in this setting because they 
grow at rates similar to S. mystinus. Another source for 
sizes of YOY Sebastes came from predator gut contents. 
There, individuals as small as 4.0 cm SL continued to be 
present throughout the three months of intensive preda- 
tion, whereas individuals smaller than this were present 
only through June (Table 2). 
It was evident that the YOY Sebastes remained where 
they had settled for at least five months. Over 90% of those 
counted at all sites from Mendocino to Marin were either 
Sebastes mystinus or 8. flavidus. (The third species allud- 
ed to above, S. melanops, dominated shoreward of the cen- 
sus area and followed the same pattern of annual abun- 
dance.) Fidelity to specific locations was noted through the 
end of October, when representatives of 8. flavidus left the 
area, presumably for deeper water. 
Although this chronicle of YOY occurrence ends each 
year with counts made through October, during some 
years assessments continued through the winter and fol- 
lowing spring. Results of these extended counts confirmed 
findings of others that juveniles of these species remain 
where they settle for at least a year (Love et al., 1991). 
That YOY S. flavidus left our study area for deeper water 
about five months after settlement may be related to Men- 
docino being toward the southern limit of its distribution. 
To the north, in Puget Sound (Moulton, 1977) and south- 
eastern Alaska (Carlson and Barr, 1977), schools of juve- 
nile S. flavidus have been observed at the same shallow 
sites for one to several years. 
Predators and general features of predation 
When diets of the predators during all months of all 
years are combined, the results (Fig. 4) generally are 
consistent with diets attributed to them in previous 
reports (e.g. Gotshall, et al., 1965; Rosenthal et al., 1988; 
Simenstad et al. 1 ), except that S. melanops appeared even 
more piscivorous than the other Sebastes species. The 
extent that S. melanops was found to consume fishes, how- 
ever, can be attributed to 79% of the specimens examined 
having been collected from June through August (com- 
pared with 45% of 8 . mystinus and 57% of H. decagram- 
mus). In fact, all three species consumed more fishes during 
the summer than during other seasons, and most of the 
increase came from eating YOY Sebastes (Fig. 5). It is sig- 
nificant that all but 6 of 537 YOY Sebastes recovered from 
gut contents of the three predator species came from speci- 
mens collected during these three months. Most were con- 
sumed during June, and sharply decreasing numbers were 
taken through July and August (Table 3). 
Interannual variation in predation on YOY Sebastes 
There was much interannual variation in predation on 
YOY Sebastes, and it can be related to interannual varia- 
