NOTES 
Note on the Distribution of Euphausia eximia and E. gibboides 
in the Equatorial Pacific 
Claude Roger 1 
The material here considered was collected 
during the Alize cruise of the R.V. "Corio- 
lis” from the Centre O.R.S.T.O.M. Noumea. 
The Alize collections extended from 92°20'W 
to 162°45'E along the equator. The samples 
were taken with a 5-ft Isaacs-Kidd midwater 
trawl, towed obliquely from a depth of 300 m 
to the surface. 
GENERAL RESULTS 
The distributions of the whole euphausiid 
fauna will be discussed in detail in a further 
publication. At present they appear to be not 
far different from those described by Brinton 
(1962) ; however, two features become evident: 
1. There is an evolution of the specific com- 
position of the euphausiid fauna from east to 
west. 
2. Two species among the most important 
ones, Euphausia eximia Hansen and E. gibboides 
Ortmann, have been caught not only in the east- 
ern equatorial Pacific as previously recorded 
(Brinton, 1962 ), but also in the Central Pacific, 
as far westward as 164°15'W and 148°07'W, 
respectively. The present note deals with the oc- 
currence of these two species in Central Pacific 
waters. 
distribution of Euphausia eximia 
Table 1 lists the stations at which E. eximia 
were taken. 
According to Brinton (1962), the farthest 
westward record for this species is 118°W in 
the South Equatorial Current (2°N-2°S) and 
145°W at 10°N. During the Alize expedition, 
1 Section Oceanographie, Centre O.R.S.T.O.M. de 
Noumea, New Caledonia. Manuscript received May 
18, 1966. 
TABLE 1 
Quantitative Distribution of 
E. eximia and E. gibboides 
NUMBER PER STANDARD HAUL* 
STATIONS 
E. 
eximia 
E. 
gibboides 
0.50S, 92.20W 
752 
316 
0.49S, 95.28W 
416 
58 
0.53S, 98.18W 
6,224 
272 
1.00S, 101. 14W 
780 
36 
0.16S, 103.48W 
2,856 
256 
0.05S, 106.45W 
2,136 
96 
0.40S, 109. 10W 
1,233 
33 
0.20S, 115.40W 
896 
7 
0.03N, 118. 27W 
585 
24 
0.00 120.45W 
933 
45 
0.40S, 123. 35W 
1,330 
0 
0.40S, 125. 53W 
558 
16 
0.33S, 128.26W 
183 
5 
0.19S ,131.42W 
40 
5 
0.33S, 134.46W 
277 
4 
0.17S, 137.45W 
17 
3 
0.01N, 145.06W 
0 
0 
0.14S, 148.07W 
0 
1 
0.27S, 151. 15W 
0 
0 
0.28S, 154. 38W 
0 
0 
0.38S, 158. 10W 
0 
0 
0.22S, 161.06W 
1 
0 
0.20S, 164. 15W 
2 
0 
0.23S, 167.30W 
0 
0 
0.28S, 170. 30W 
0 
0 
0.23S, 174. 10W 
0 
0 
0.20S, 177. 30W 
0 
0 
0.23S, 179.00E 
0 
0 
0.27S, 176.05E 
0 
0 
0.12S, 172. 30E 
0 
0 
0.18S, 169.00E 
0 
0 
0.30S, 166.00E 
0 
0 
0.38S, 162.45E 
0 
0 
* Length of the column 
of water filtered: 5000 m. 
three specimens were caught at 164°15'W and 
l6l°06'W, about 2,700 miles farther west. 
E. eximia seems very common at 135°00'W, 
and very abundant east of 126°W. From 92° 
20'W (beginning of the cruise) to 137°45'W 
.429 
