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PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoE XIII, October, 1959 
only from off southern California, recently it 
has been reported from off northern Cali- 
fornia (Hagerman, 1950) and from off Wash- 
ington (Welanderand A1 verson, 1954: 42-43). 
Unpublished records show that this com- 
mercially utilizable fish is not uncommon in 
deep waters off northern California and Wash- 
ington. It is becoming of minor importance 
in the trawl fishery, as operations are being 
extended into deeper water. Its occurrence on 
at least one seamount suggests the possibility 
that the trawling grounds may eventually be 
extended far seaward, where depths are 
appropriate. 
I have underway a distributional and vari- 
ational study of this poorly-known flounder. 
Sebastodes ruberrimus Cramer and Other 
Fishes on Cobb Seamount 
A rockfish caught on Cobb Seamount, 
about 280 nautical miles off Washington and 
about 240 miles southwest of Vancouver Is- 
land, at Eat. 46° 44' N., Long. 130° 47' W., 
was described by Welander and Alverson 
(1954: 37-40, figs. 1, 2) as representing a new 
species, Sebastodes hilineatus. By examining 
this specimen (No. 10099, University of 
Washington Eish Collection) in detail on 
June 11, 1956, 1 verified the belief of Julius B. 
Phillips, W. I. Eollett, and myself that it is a 
specimen of the large S. ruherrimtis, in the 
striped, juvenile stage. The contrast between 
the dark ground color and the light stripes is 
unusually bold, but since color intensity 
varies so greatly in fishes and since all other 
characters observed fall within the observed 
range of variation of S. ruberrimus, it seems 
doubtful that the species is modified on Cobb 
Seamount. Slight differentiation, however, is 
a remote possibility. Data on the type of S, 
bilineatus will be included in a forthcoming 
contribution by Hubbs and Follett. 
Thompson (1915: 121) observed that 5. 
ruberrimus is "the most abundant of all spe- 
cies of the genus on the halibut banks,” but 
in the same paper described what is now 
thought to be a specimen of this species as 
S. babcocki, new species. 
Welander and Alverson mentioned that the 
type of 5. bilineatus was one of 30 fish speci- 
mens "caught by personnel of the U. W. 
oceanography vessel Brown Bear in the vicin- 
ity of Cobb Seamount on August 7, 1953.” 
It is to be hoped that complete lists of species 
taken on or about each seamount will be 
published. 
Perhaps fisheries may develop on the sea- 
mounts for rockfishes {Sebastodes spp.), as 
well as for the halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis 
Schmidt, and other flatfishes. 
SHORE AND PELAGIC FISHES ON BANKS AND 
SEAMOUNTS OFF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 
A number of coastal and pelagic fishes of 
expectable species were recorded by Follett 
(1952) from several banks and seamounts off 
the central California coast, at no very great 
distance offshore. This is not to mean, how- 
ever, that high interest and potential impor- 
tance is not to be attached to such inshore 
rises. 
TUNAS AND TUNA FORAGE FISHES FROM 
"STRANGER BANK” ("HURRICANE BANK”) 
In 1957, on an expedition from Scripps 
Institu tion of Oceanography, on the research 
ship "Stranger,” Adrian F. Richards discov- 
ered, at Eat. 16° 52' N., Long. 117° 30' W., 
roughl)^ 200 nautical miles southwest of 
Clarion Island, a shallow bank rising from 
oceanic depths to a depth of approximately 
15 fathoms. This bank was assigned the tenta- 
tive name Stranger Bank by the discoverer. 
Tuna fishermen of San Diego, who dub the 
structure "Hurricane Bank,” from the heavy 
weather often encountered there, promptly 
began fishing there and in less than a year had 
taken from the newly found fishing ground 
well over 1,000 tons of yellowfin tuna, Neo- 
thunnus macropterus (Temminck and Schlegel), 
and smaller quantities of skipjack tuna, Katsu- 
wonus pelamis (Linnaeus). At the time of writ- 
