U. S. S. Bowditch 
.July 11, 1946 
Lt. Cctadr. C. A. Barnes 
U. S. S. Bowditch 
Dear Comdr• Barnse: 
This is a brief summary of my work on the reef 
fishes of the Crossroads Project includi ng the Able Day results. 
Under ny supervision 38 poisoning stations 
have been executed that can be treated statistically as to the 
relative abundance of fishes. From these 38 localities 19,113 
fishes were picked up, one at a time, 14,633 which were 
preserved for further study, and 4480 duplicate specimens were 
identified and measurdd, ttetfdisc--rded or used as bait for hook 
and line fishing. 
The marine light was used at nig t with ths 
intention of measuring the abundance of fish attracted to it by 
keeping a record of the number of hours that the dip nets were 
used in picking up fishes. In all 13 stations were worked, 
totaling 42i hours, resulting in the capture of 5,123 fishes, 
besides several quarts of crustaceans and other invertebrates. 
The results of this work is too variable for definite conclusions 
as to relative abundance. 
<j 3 In addition 564 other fishes have been preserved 
with,more discarded because of their large size# This gives a 
grand total of 20,320 preserved and 4,503 discarded after 
essential data were recorded. In all 24,823 fishes ' ere tamen. 
The chief conclusions that may be reached after 
Baker Day concerning reef fishes depends on running about a 
minimum of 10 poisoning stations in strategic places supposed! 
subjected to radio-activity. The index of abundanc 9 (number of 
fish picked up per square yard searched)“should be compared before 
and after the atom bomb explosions but for similar habitats only. 
This index of relative abundance should reveal any major reduction 
in the relative abundance of reef fisl.es after Baker Day. 
In addition the number of species obtained at 
each statin will give another measure or index when this is 
worked out from the per served fi shies during the next few years. 
