Gillichthys mirabilis — Barlow 
Annual Variation 
Material for the study of annual variation 
came from the Salton Sea and from Bahia Cholla 
(northern Gulf of California). Each sample was 
from a year class hatched in the year consid- 
ered. This affords a rough estimate of the sta- 
bility of the statistical parameters used in the 
comparison of separate populations. 
The Salton Sea was sampled during the same 
month on three successive years. The fish of 
one sample are larger than the others ( Table 6 ) 
and probably were hatched earlier in the year 
than those of the other two samples. In addi- 
tion, the 1954 collection was from a different 
part of thd Sea, but I doubt that this is of im- 
portance. Both body measurements and fin 
counts were taken. 
The two samples from Bahia Cholla came 
from year classes that had hatched under strik- 
61 
ingly different temperature conditions. The first 
were embryos during an unusually cold period 
late in the winter of 1949. A moderate fish kill 
occurred in the northern Gulf at that time. The 
second collection, 1954, consists of fish that had 
developed in a relatively normal temperature 
situation. Only counts were taken because the 
specimens are small. 
Slight, but significant, differences occur be- 
tween the means of fin counts of different year 
classes from the Salton Sea (Table 6). In the 
1955 class, all counts are higher than in the 
previous two years (except for the first dorsal 
fin: 1955 vs. 1953, t = 0.67, * 0.95 (58) = 
1.67). The mean of the second dorsal fin ex- 
ceeds that of the anal fin by about one ray in 
each year class. 
The ratios of median fin rays to pectoral 
rays, as indicated by the fin indices, remain ap- 
proximately the same. Thus while the means 
TABLE 4 
Bilateral Asymmetry of Pectoral Fins 
Arranged by Regions, from North to South 
PERCENTAGES 
AREA 
n 
L > R 
R > L 
R + L 
Pacific Coast 
San Francisco 
30 
17 
20 
37 
Morro Bay 
30 
23 
10 
33 
Goleta 
30 
10 
27 
37 
Venice 1 
28 
29 
25 
54 
Newport Bay 
25 
4 
12 
16 
San Elijo Lagoon 
30 
13 
23 
36 
Mission Bay 
30 
3 
13 
16 
Estero Pta. Banda 
20 
25 
10 
35 
Bahia San Quintin 
14 
14 
21 
35 
Pta. Abreojos 
16 
19 
6 
25 
Bahia Sta. Maria 
30 
13 
3 
16 
Salton Sea 
1953 
30 
17 
13 
30 
1954 
30 
7 
10 
17 
1955 
30 
20 
13 
33 
Gulf of California 
Bahia Cholla — 1949 
30 
10 
17 
27 
Bahia Cholla — 1954 
30 
10 
10 
20 
San Felipe 
31 
10 
3 
13 
Estero Soldado 
31 
13 
16 
29 
Mulege 
30 
10 
10 
20 
Bahia Agiabampo 
10 
0 
10 
10 
1 Aberrant; see pectoral fin section. 
