Deep-Water Fishes of the 2011 Hearst Philippine Biodiversity 
Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences 
Tomio Iwamoto and John E. McCosker 
Institute of Biodiversity Science and Sustainihility, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse 
Drive, San Francisco, California 94118; Email: tiwamoto@calacademy.org; Jmccoskeer@calacadermy.org 
The year 2017 will mark the 100 ^^ anniversary of the Albatross Philippine Expedition. Smith 
and Williams (1999) wrote: 
In the history of American maritime exploration, it was the second only to the Wilkes 
Expedition in temis of time spent and area covered. In temis of the material collected and 
the pages published, the Philippine Expedition is in a class hy itself and stands as one of 
the greatest of all oceanogi'aphic expeditions. 
Whereas the offshore collecting efforts of California Academy of Sciences Hearst Philippine 
Expedition (HEPD) of 2011 was much smaller and more limited in duration and locations sampled, 
it did accomplish similar successes in that the deepwater trawling and trapping along the Verde 
Island Passage (between Luzon and Mindoro islands) resulted in the capture of several undescribed 
and many poorly known fishes. Several of the specimens remain to be conclusively identified, 
however we present here our findings as of this date. 
During the period 28 May-4 June 2011, the MW DA-BFAR of the Philippine Bureau of Fish¬ 
eries and Aquatic Resources made a series of deepwater collections in waters off Batangas and 
Mindoro provinces off southwestern Luzon, Philippines (Fig. 1). The collecting began in the 
Batangas and Balayan bays, then out into the Verde Island Passage between Luzon and Mindoro 
islands, proceeded west tlirough the Calavite Pasage to the southern shores of the Lubang Islands 
and out to the shelf edge in the South Cliina Sea before returning along the northern coast of the 
Lubang Islands to Batangas Bay. A total of 39 stations were occupied (Table 1; station data) of 
which eight were trap stations, eight otter trawls (including station HEPD-027 where the gear was 
entirely lost), and 23 beam trawls. In addition, a few fish were captured on hook-and-line during 
one evening of fishing while the vessel lay-to for the night. Fishes comprised part of the catch at 
all stations except two where the otter trawl was used, one where the beam trawl was used, and two 
where traps were used. 
The number of fishes captured during this cmise included 78 families, 148 genera, and about 
214 species, so far as we have been able to detennine. Many of these represent new records for the 
area and a few represent species new to science and will be described elsewhere. A number of spec¬ 
imens could not be determined as to species, either because of inadequate descriptions in the pub¬ 
lished literature or because the taxonomy of the group is in need of a thorough revision. Included 
in this categoiy were badly damaged specimens, and some juveniles and larvae that we made no 
attempt to identify. Some unidentified specimens may well represent undescribed species. 
Methods And Materials 
Traps (Fig. 2) were of a standard design used by the local fishermen. They were cylindrical 
cage traps approximately 1 m long and 30 cm in diameter covered with polyethylene mesh and 
baited with fish. They were deployed in 40-trap sets, each trap tethered to a mainline at about 
50 m intervals. Depths fished with the traps ranged from as shallow as 60-77 m to as deep as 
821-836 m. Although the number of fishes captured in the traps was generally low, the species rep- 
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