274 
Fishery Bulletin 11 6(3-4) 
O'" 
LD 
oi 
CM 
CM 
CO 
1.0 
0 5 
0.0 
- 0.5 
- 1.0 
Month 
▲ May 
T June 
♦ July 
• August 
■ September 
+■ October 
s, 
+■ 
*. 
S. jordani 
S. alutus 
S. neb ulos us 
♦ S. reedi 
. SPRING 
^S^pinniger 
X ^ S. crameri 
4 S. flavidus * 
Salinity 
NPGO ^ s diploproa «T 
S. aleutianus ,/ss 
AS. entomelas' 
Distance from shore _ 
+ * tui 
S rosaceus #^PDO 
♦ 
S. melanostomus 
SUMMER 
• S. brevispinis 
S. rubernmus * 
^ T S. paucispinis 
S melanoslicus 
S. ensifer 
S elongatus' 
.* ■ 
S. miniatus • 
♦ 
S. maliger 
S helvomaculatus* 
S babcocki \ 
• I* 
-1.5 - 
H—-——--i-—-—i--i -———i-—--——r-- —t- -——-—i— 
-2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 
Axis 1 = 38.9% 
Figure 5 
Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordinations showing axes 1 and 2 for larval rockfishes ( Se- 
bastes spp.) identified by cytochrome b sequencing after collection off Washington and Oregon dur¬ 
ing 2005-2008 and environmental covariates. Environmental data include sea surface temperature 
(SST) and salinity at the sea surface (1 m; SSS), Upwelling Index (UI), Pacific Decadal Oscillation 
(PDO) index, and North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) index. Asterisks (*) denote species with 
coefficients of correlation >0.15. Each symbol represents the species composition of larvae collected 
in a single complete haul of a midwater trawl ordinated in species space. The arrows indicate the 
directionality and strength (by length of arrow) of physical correlations between hauls and physi¬ 
cal variables measured during the collection period. 
conducted indicator species analysis to identify species’ 
affinities to particular months and years (Table 2). Al¬ 
though month and year analyses were performed sepa¬ 
rately, results are combined in the table. In 2007 and 
2008, years previously identified as having high mean 
concentrations (>60 individuals/1000 m 3 ) of rockfish 
larvae in the northern California Current ecosystem 
(Auth, 2011), we identified the rosethorn rockfish as 
an indicator species. This species was also more likely 
to be sampled in summer (August). Two of the spe¬ 
cies that were strongly associated with spring months 
(May and June) in NMS ordinations (canary and wid¬ 
ow rockfish) were also significant indicators in spring 
months. Another spring indicator species that was not 
included in NMS ordinations was the yellowtail rockfish 
(S. flavidus ). The NH-100 station was sampled only 
once during the study, in June 2008. Because widow 
and yellowtail rockfish were identified as significant 
indicator species in June and were identified in high 
abundance from the NH-100 station sampled in 2008, 
these results suggest that widow and yellowtail rockfish 
either spawn far off the shelf, were more abundant, or 
were more susceptible to offshore advection than other 
spring spawning species in 2008. 
The spatial distribution patterns of the dominant 
rockfish taxa for selected cruises showed much over¬ 
lap overall (Suppl. Figs. 7-9) (online only). The redstripe 
rockfish was found mainly later in the summer and 
predominantly at the outer stations at the shelf break 
and beyond, although the NH transect had high catches 
some years at the inshore station (Suppl. Fig. 7) (online 
only). In contrast, the greenstriped rockfish tended to 
show lower abundances and were caught almost exclu¬ 
sively beyond the shelf break (Suppl. Fig. 8) (online only). 
The rosethorn rockfish had a patchy distribution, but 
there were indications for some cruises that sampling 
did not extend far enough offshore to capture the full 
distribution of this species (Suppl. Fig. 9) (online only). 
