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In June, 1917, the California Fish and Game Commission inaugurated scientific investigations of commercially important fishes of southern California. The writer, who is at present in charge of the investigations, has been asked many questions regarding the purpose of the work, and he has come to realize the necessity of an outline to which the various lines of research may be referred and thus understood. However, it is difficult to tell into what fields the pursuit of truth will lead in the case of each investigation, and it will be found that in this paper resort has been had to the statement of aims in terms which are perhaps applicable to fisheries research in general, rather than to that of the albacore in particular, the fish now being studied. The formulation is frankly tentative, due to the chaotic state of the branch of fisheries research concerned, and it is hoped that further experience will correct errors and enable clearer conceptions to arise.

The present paper has two purposes. First, it is an attempt to estimate the economic importance to the state of the bivalves here treated by putting on record the extent and position of the available mollusk producing grounds, the number and abundance of the edible species, and by contributing to a knowledge of their life histories lay the foundation for such protective legislation as may in the future be found necessary. Secondly, it proposes to make available to the camper and amateur naturalist a means of identifying the more common and important bivalves. During the last few years several agencies, chief among which are the development of the automobile and the extension of good roads, have greatly increased the number of people reaching the woods, the mountains and the sea. The campers at the seashore should realize the possibilities of food in the clams, mussels and other bivalves of the California coast, for these animals are at their best when freshly taken. It is hoped that the key and the figures here presented will enable any one to recognize the forms met with on this coast and that the accounts of their habits and use will make it possible to find and to utilize a source of food now distinctly neglected. By directing the attention of the camper to the interesting adaptations and beauties of these little known animals, his pleasure in the great out of doors will be correspondingly increased. Nearly five hundred species of bivalves are known from the west coast of America north of Mexico. Many of these are, of course, too small or too rare to be of possible food value. The following key will serve to identify the forms treated in the present paper, which includes, it is believed, all those to be met with in the markets or likely to be dug for food, but it must be remembered that many others, usually less abundant or less conspicuous, will be found on this coast. As far as known this is the first key to the bivalves of the coast that has been published and

This study of the variation in certain commercially important clupeoid fishes of western North America is one of a series by which it is designed to determine the relation which the varying characters of fishes bear toward the physical features of their environment. Although other characters and other environmental factors are receiving attention in these investigations, chief stress is now being laid on the correlation between the average number of vertebrae and the temperature of the water. The average surface temperature of the coast waters of San Francisco Bay (Golden Gate), Monterey Bay (Pacific Grove) and San Diego (off Coronado Beach) is indicated for the whole year by the three curves on Plate I. The marked difference in temperature between the ocean water of southern California and central California is illustrated by the curves for the San Diego region and for Monterey Bay, which is really a very open gulf. The usual maximum temperature for Monterey is lower than the ordinary minimum off San Diego. These is not an even gradation of temperature between these two localities, Point Conception marking the boundary between the cold waters of the central coast and the warmer waters of southern California. In each region, moreover, there is much local variation in temperature conditions, due not only to differences in protection and depth, but also, probably, to the differential upwelling of deep, cold water (McEwen, 1912, 1916). The curve for San Diego is taken from McEwen's 1916 paper; that for Monterey is smoothed from unpublished data supplied by Director Walter K. Fisher of the Hopkins Marine Station at Pacific Grove. The temperature curve at the entrance to San Francisco Bay, constructed by slightly smoothing Davidson's (1886) monthly averages, is intermediate between the San Diego and the Monterey Bay curves. The higher temperatures at San Francisco as compared with the Monterey records are due to the greater warming of the waters in the shallows of San Fr

In the last few years, the alleged destructive influence of the purse seine industry on the supply of fish in southern California waters has been much discussed among professional fishermen, as well as among other persons interested in our sea fisheries and their future. Articles to the effect that aliens were destroying the natural supply of fish in this region by means of purse seines have been published repeatedly in the newspapers. To quote from one of these articles: "For many of them [the purse seiners] nothing is more pleasing than to enrich themselves at our expense and risk." The most serious complaint against the purse seine fishermen is that, by killing small barracuda in enormous quantities, they are depleting this fish. Another serious complaint is that these men unsettle the market conditions by landing very large individual catches. There is a rather widespread opinion that purse seining for barracuda, white sea bass, and yellowtail should be prohibited in southern California. Even though it is evident that the complaints are based mainly on hearsay and only to a very little extent on personal and more or less systematic observations, they are too serious to be disregarded. In order to establish the most important facts of the "purse seine problem," the California Fish and Game Commission undertook a preliminary investigation. This was entrusted to me, as a member of the staff of the California State Fisheries Laboratory, and was begun in May, 1922. The present paper is the immediate result of this investigation. The special problems to be examined were as follows: 1. The present economic condition of the purse seine industry. 2. The importance of the purse seiners as a source of supply to canneries and fresh fish markets. 3. The effect of purse seine fishing on the natural supply of fish, with special regard to the barracuda. 4. The possibilities and results of prohibitive or restrictive legislation against the purse seiners. The field to be covered

There has been a truly marvelous development of the sardine fishery in California. Although it originated as a great fishery during the stress of war, the industry has shown a vitality which augurs well for its permanence so long as the raw material is obtainable. The amount caught exceeds by far that taken of any other species in California, and there appears at present no other which is capable of the tremendous yield, unless it be the unused anchovy. Experience with older fisheries has shown that rational use demands a knowledge of at least two things. There must, above all else, be information from time to time regarding the manner in which the species is withstanding the strain of the fishery. But there must also be an understanding of the natural changes in abundance which inevitably occur, so that these may be distinguished from the effects of overfishing and also may be foretold and understood. Based on such knowledge regulation and exploitation may be rational and restrained. To this end we must concern ourselves principally with the commercial catch, in which lies mankind's major interest. In so doing we meet at once the problem of accurately recording that catch and then of analyzing the complex underlying the biologic and economic conditions. It is hoped that the program which has been adopted for this purpose by the State of California will prove by further experience to be sound and to lead far. Begun as a simple introduction, this paper was at first intended merely to give the background of our investigations. It has been expanded to include a discussion of several things fundamentally important to our purposes, and this discussion portrays rather imperfectly the viewpoint acquired by actual experience with the Pacific sardine. The investigation has, indeed, molded and directed our first ideas and methods. The purposes of the investigation were the seemingly simple ones of detecting depletion caused by overfishing and of following the great natural ch

This investigation under the authority of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Division of Fish and Game of California, was started in the fall of 1927. The paper, while all on the general subject of Sacramento salmon, is in three parts, each of which is a separate problem. The first part, "Historical and Statistical Review of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Salmon Fishery," takes into consideration the early investigations, history, and statistics of the fishery, artificial propagation, legislation, water supply, prices, and the causes of depletion, with suggested remedies. The second problem, "Survey of Salmon Spawning Grounds in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Systems," shows the available salmon spawning grounds in the systems as contrasted with the extent of the grounds in the early days. Each stream in the systems is taken up individually to show runs, spawning time and beds, obstructions to the fish, and abundance. The last part is on the "Determination of the Age of Maturity of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha)," and deals with the methods of age determination, the age of maturity, and age classes in relation to sex and types.

The goal striven for was to find all works written previous to the close of 1929, dealing in any way with the five large tunas: Thynnus thynnus, Neothunnus macropterus, Germo alalunga, Euthynnus pelamis, and Sarda chiliensis. As one would expect, other names and species have been included for reasons which are made clear by an examination of these papers. The rule followed in puzzling questions of synonymy in the index was this: when in doubt as to what fish was being considered, the exact name was used as given in the paper. The synonyms about which there was no doubt are all given a place in the index as "see also" references and all author citations are listed under the accepted name. However, it was thought best to retain the names and spelling used by each author in the résumé of each paper. The titles fall mainly into the following groups: systematic, morphologic, biologic, commercial, the latter concerned with local conditions of fisheries of the world, and with fishing methods and gear.

This report is presented to aid directly the administrators of the Division of Fish and Game in their conservation program. Herein is given an account of the California halibut fishery and a detailed analysis of the catch in the Los Angeles Harbor district by means of the catch per unit of effort expended. The paper is so arranged that the general and fundamental aspects of the fishery and the results of a catch analysis are briefly given in the first part. For those who may be interested in the details of the fishery some of its life history and methods of boat catch analysis employed, the balance of the paper will be of importance.

The two papers herein presented comprise further results from a continuous study of the California sardine. The program of investigation was inaugurated in 1919 and has been carried on by a staff of numerous workers.1) DOMINANT SIZE-GROUPS AND THEIR INFLUENCE IN THE FISHERY FOR THE CALIFORNIA SARDINE (Sardina caerulea)2) THE COMMERCIAL CATCH OF ADULT CALIFORNIA SARDINES (Sardina caerulea) AT SAN DIEGO

The present paper is a digest of the work accomplished in a salmon investigation conducted under the authority of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries of the California Division of Fish and Game. Active work was begun in 1919, and is still in progress. At the outset the investigation was so planned as to contribute as directly as possible to the solution of certain questions relating to the conservation of the fishery. The work has progressed in a fairly satisfactory way in some directions as will appear, while in others the results are not so good. The information now most needed relates to the seaward migration of young salmon, and to the relative contribution of natural and artificial propagation to the population of the river.It may seem that the matter of depletion is overstressed in this report, since its progress has been evident for years. A condition of increasing depletion was not sufficiently evident on the Klamath however, to be convincing to those most interested. In fact, opinions to the contrary were commonly held, some asserting that the "run" was not only maintaining itself but that it was gradually building up. There is very little exact information concerning fishing operations on Klamath River previous to 1912, and no really dependable statistics are available relating to the catch before that time. During the period of placer mining on the river, large numbers of salmon were speared or otherwise captured on or near their spawning beds, and if credence is given to the reports of old miners, there then appeared the first and perhaps major cause of early depletion. In 1912 three plants operated on or near the estuary and the river was heavily fished, no limit being placed on the activities of anyone. A resume of commercial fishing near the mouth or the river appears on page 88.In the collection of statistical data relating to the ocean catch of salmon, the state authorities have not been able to separate the different species. Four occur in the state

Soon after coming to California in 1914, the senior author of this report began compiling the locality records of the freshwater fishes of the State with the ultimate object in view of preparing a distributional catalogue of the species that have been recorded from definite localities in California.This work required a critical examination of all the literature pertaining to the freshwater fishes of the State, as species or kinds, in order that we might know not only what species are known to occur in California, but also the geographic distribution of each of those species within the State.In the present publication we have given a Bibliography of all the papers of a faunistic character, that we have been able to consult dealing with the freshwater fishes of California. The titles in this Bibliography are arranged chronologically. Under each title is given a brief summary of what it contains relating to the subject in hand. Following the Bibliography is a Distributional List of all native species of freshwater fishes known to occur in California. This list is arranged systematically in accordance with the recently published Check-list of Fishes of North and Middle America by Jordan, Evermann & Clark.Under each species are given all the definite localities from which it has been recorded, together with the authority for the record and the date of the record (which are usually in parenthesis), with the name under which recorded when that name is different from the present accepted name of the species.

"Packed like sardines in a can" is a familiar enough expression but to few persons is it known that the sardine packing business in Cornwall, England, and Brittany, France, is the life blood of commerce and the very sustenance of the fisherfolk. Nor is it much more widely known that the California sardine furnishes by far the largest output of any single fish (494,000,000 pounds for 1930) in the huge fishing industry of this State. Some seasons in Europe the sardine comes in enormous schools and then at other times fails to put in an appearance. A French expression "la crise sardinière" (the sardine crisis) conveys the idea that a failure takes on the proportions of a disaster, and such it is to the people who depend upon it almost solely for food and employment. As would be expected much has been written to account for the erratic habits of this fish, which is so vital to the commercial life of our State as well as certain parts of Europe. So in the hope that a collection of all the theories and the facts, both scientific and commercial, might prove of assistance to those interested, this bibliography has been compiled.The work of compiling was started by Mrs. Ruth Miller Thompson and completed by the writer after almost two years of research in eleven libraries on both the east and west coasts of the United States. Papers dealing with life history, classification, anatomy and commercial information about the sardines of the world are included. The list is as complete as possible but some papers were omitted for lack of sufficient information and doubtless others have been overlooked. The species included are Sardina pilchardus (Europe), Sardina melanosticta (Japan), Sardina ocellata (South Africa), Sardina sajax (west coast of South America), and Sardina caerulea (west coast of North America). Other names than these have crept in through synonomy and because it seemed wise to include fossil forms. It must be confessed that even the herring worked itself in, but th

This paper has been written to furnish a relatively simple means of distinguishing between the different kinds of sharks and rays in California and to establish official common names for each of these species.There are 23 kinds of sharks and 15 kinds of rays recorded from the coast of California. of these, about 12 of the former and eight or nine of the latter may be considered common enough to be caught almost any time; the rest are only occasional or rare visitors. Commercial fishermen, catching these fish only incidentally while fishing for other things, discard the greater part of the shark and ray catch as unmarketable, killing the fish and throwing them back into the sea. Sport fishermen, fishing in sloughs, along the shore from pleasure piers, and from pleasure boats, likewise often catch these fishes, and usually also cast them aside as worthless. This wastefulness is simply another sign of the great wealth of the country, which permits people to choose only the choicest morsels in the ocean and to destroy whatever else they find. As it becomes necessary for fishermen to look for more expensive species farther and farther away, as present trends indicate, it is possible that attention will be drawn to the cheaper grades of fish nearer home. It is characteristic of older fisheries centers, that the people utilize the marine products to a much greater extent than we of a new fishery center do.

This paper reports the studies in progress during the past four and one-half years on the organisms, particularly invertebrates, which attached themselves to submerged blocks throughout the year.

The following paper presents a study of the life histories of the two species of shrimp, Crago franciscorum (Stimpson) and Crago nigricauda (Stimpson), which make up the commercial shrimp catch of San Francisco Bay. The earliest shrimp fishing in San Francisco Bay was done about 1869 by Italian fishermen. The shrimp were taken in seines, 60 feet long by 8 feet deep, with a bag in the center. With this gear they took ample shrimp to supply the demand as well as some fish for the fresh fish market. In 1871 the Chinese began using the Chinese shrimp net which greatly increased the catch. By 1897 there were twenty-six camps operating on San Francisco Bay. For a time shrimp fishing was carried on also in Tomales Bay but was abandoned a few years prior to 1897. After the Chinese began shrimp fishing, the local market could absorb only a small part of the catch, as the consumption of fresh shrimp was always limited. A profitable export trade, however, was built up on the dried product which was shipped to the Orient. Agitation against the use of the Chinese shrimp nets soon developed, the contention being that many young fish were destroyed by them, particularly small striped bass in San Pablo Bay. In 1897 and again in 1910, N. B. Scofield investigated the Chinese shrimp fishery for the California Fish and Game Commission. In 1901, as a result of his findings, the Legislature established a closed season to shrimp fishing during the months of May, June, July and August. The Chinese hired attorneys to contest the laws restricting their operations, but in 1911 the use of the Chinese nets was prohibited entirely. In 1915 the Legislature passed a law allowing the use of the Chinese shrimp nets in south San Francisco Bay (District 13). About this time trawl fishing for shrimp started in the northern end of the bay. The trawl fishermen restrict their operations to north San Francisco Bay (District 12) so that catches from Districts 12 and 13 represent respectively the catch made

This paper deals with the sizes of California sardines (Sardinops caerulea) caught in the different areas of the Monterey and San Pedro regions off the coast of California. The present report is a sequel to Fish Bulletin 43, "The sizes of California sardines caught by the different fishing gear and in the different localities of the Monterey and San Pedro regions," except that in the present report no further work dealing with the sizes of sardines caught by different fishing gear was found necessary. The data of five more seasons have been added, allowing more definite conclusions, particularly for the Monterey region, where the data for only two seasons were available for the previous work. Also, a new fishing area has been added to the Monterey region.This report is concerned only with the fishery as carried on in connection with the canning and reduction of sardines and does not include the fishery for the fresh fish and bait industry. The former phase is the more important and the one for which we have continuous sampling data.The results of this investigation are of importance to cannery and reduction plant operators and to us, in showing the sizes of fish that can be expected in the different areas during an average season. Also additional evidence is furnished that indicates a southward movement of sardines along the California coast during the winter months.The findings for the Monterey region tend to have more bearing on the sampling of sardines than do the findings for the San Pedro region. During the fall months there are significant size differences between sardines in the southern and northern areas of the Monterey region, whereas in the San Pedro region consistent size differences between sardines in the different areas are not present. Therefore, during a season when the fishery might be carried on for the most part in the northern areas of the Monterey region, we will have larger size-groups represented than during a season in which the fishery migh

The mackerel is one of the leading commercial fishes of California; its catch is exceeded only by that of the sardine. However, for many years prior to 1928, the fishery based on the Pacific mackerel, Pneumatophorus diego, was relatively unimportant. Since the turn of the century the mackerel had supplied a steady but limited demand for fresh fish, but at no time was any appreciable part of the great number of mackerel in the ocean utilized. In 1928 the first large scale canning of mackerel took place. The subsequent development of the mackerel canning industry provides one of the most spectacular pages in the history of the world's fisheries. Almost overnight the mackerel catch rose from tenth to second place among the fisheries of California.Today ever-expanding fishing operations are endangering the supply of mackerel. In the not too distant future it will be necessary to impose restrictions on the industry so that it can continue to exist. At present there is no legislation in California pertaining to the mackerel specifically. Such legal protection as it receives consists of general gear restrictions, the establishment of areas closed to all commercial fishing, and the application of general laws prohibiting the waste of fish or the manufacture of fish into meal and oil.The mackerel fishery, being new and still growing, is changing rapidly. Differences in gear and in boats are to be noted during the first few years of its development. It is the purpose of this paper to present a study of the fishery during its formative period, with particular emphasis on the boats comprising the mackerel fleet, in order to facilitate direct comparisons in future years. In this connection it can be said that the present account is a sequel to the general report issued as Fish Bulletin 40 (Croker, 1933). In the brief interval since the publication of that paper, a number of developments have taken place in the industry, illustrating the changing character of this fishery.

The following paper has been compiled as an answer to the innumerable questions constantly asked by an interested public about the tuna fishery. Whereas the tunas of this coast are now the object of a biological study by the California State Fisheries Laboratory, this paper is in no sense a contribution to this study. It is merely a limited description of the fishery and the boats engaged therein.It is limited because it covers only one — the most important, the most interesting and most spectacular — branch of the tuna fishery, namely the high seas live bait fishery for skipjack and yellowfin tuna. Both these species are also caught by purse seine boats and by small live bait boats fishing in local waters, but their catches are minor and erratic. It is the steady deliveries of the larger bait boats throughout the year upon which the industry depends. In actual value of the product, tuna is second only to salmon on the entire Pacific coast. In tonnage landed, it ranks second in the fisheries of California. In 1936 the total pack of tuna approximated 2,600,000 cases. Virtually the entire catch of these two species is canned in southern California, with San Diego and San Pedro as the home ports of the fleet. Negligible quantities are sold to a limited fresh fish trade.There are five so-called tunas taken in California and each supports a fleet of more or less specialized boats which contribute to California's tuna pack. Descriptions of these fisheries may be found elsewhere, but the present account pertains exclusively to the live bait, hook and line fishery for yellowfin and skipjack followed by the larger boats.The tuna fleet comprises about 70 boats, built at a cost approaching $6,000,000. According to the size of the individual vessel, this fleet may be divided arbitrarily into two parts. Those under 90 feet are herein referred to as the "smaller tuna boats" and these will be discussed only incidentally. Those over 90 feet are designated as the "larger tuna boats

Sciaenidae is quite an extensive and diversified family, including a large number of species, divided, according to Jordan (1923, pp. 201–202), among not less than 84 recent genera, many of which are so closely related that their definitions offer great difficulties. Even the delimitation of the family is fraught with complications.The family is nearly limited to warm seas, where most of the species occur along sandy shores. A few species extend into relatively cool waters, but none of them tolerates cold water. Occurrence in fresh water is very rare.Most of the members of the family are capable of producing a peculiar noise, hence their name "croakers." On the west coast of North America, several of the vernacular names are misleading. Such names as herring, sea trout, tomcod, whiting, etc., which should be applied to widely different species, are frequently used for some of the California species. In order to avoid further confusion, these names have barely been mentioned in connection with the treatment of the species dealt with in this paper. Only one English name has been given to each species, viz., the one accepted by the California Division of Fish and Game.Only those species of Sciaenidae which have been recorded in California have been described in the present paper. Other species of the family, viz., Cynoscion othonopterus (gulf corbina), Cynoscion reticulatus (striped corbina), Cynoscion xanthulus (orange-mouthed corbina), and Cynoscion macdonaldi (totuava), have appeared more or less recently in our fresh fish markets. These forms, however, are not native in California, but are taken in Mexican waters, mainly in the Gulf of California and are shipped mostly by trucks into California where they are sold extensively in the southern part of the State. In regard to the striped corbina, it must suffice to state that it is not brought into California in commercial quantities. The orange-mouthed corbina also plays a minor role in the fresh fish supply. The mos

For more than twenty years, investigations have been conducted at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography on the distribution and abundance of marine plankton diatoms at several stations along the Pacific coast from Scotch Cap, Alaska, to La Jolla, California. Besides these regular series of collections, numerous short series have been taken on cruises of the research vessel of the Scripps Institution, Navy vessels, and private yachts, covering routes from Alaska to Callao, Peru, and in the Gulf of California. In the course of examining the thousands of samples collected, many perplexing problems of identification of species have arisen. In an effort to help solve some of these problems and to fill a need for a taxonomic paper on the plankton diatoms of our region, a need evident from the many requests received at the Scripps Institution, the present paper has been prepared. Although the main emphasis has been placed on the pelagic diatoms found in waters off southern California, pelagic species present along the Pacific coast from Alaska to the Canal Zone and in the Gulf of California, as well as some littoral species frequently found in plankton collections, have been included. A small number of species listed on the Scripps Institution records but not verified by the author have been omitted, and without doubt some species have been overlooked. A serious attempt has been made to include a large number of drawings of many species to show variations that commonly occur in size and structure, since much of the confusion in quantitative enumeration arises because of the departure of species from their “typical” appearance as sketched in the usual papers and books on the diatoms. Only a brief general discussion of the group as a whole has been included. The aim has been to produce a usable manual for the rapid and easy identification of species commonly found in plankton collections.

The classification of the tunas throughout the world has remained unsatisfactory for many years due chiefly to the difficulties involved in comparing large specimens from many localities. On the eastern side of the Pacific are found several species which have not been clearly separated from those of the Western and Mid-Pacific. of these forms four play an important role in the fisheries of California, Mexico and Central America. The present study was undertaken in March 1940, to determine the geographical range of these species and the relationships between them and similar ones occurring in the Central, Western and Equatorial Pacific. This was the first essential step in a comprehensive investigation of the tuna populations supporting the California industry. In particular, it was necessary to explore the differences between the bluefin and the oriental tuna and to know whether or not the yellowfin tuna, the skipjack and the albacore are of the same species as those taken in Japanese and Hawaiian waters. If such proved to be the case additional studies would be required to determine if any intermingling occurred between the populations in the different localities. If on the other hand, the species proved to be distinct the Eastern Pacific population might be exploited without regard to the fisheries of Hawaii and Japan.The only comprehensive work on the systematics of the Pacific tunas was published by Kishinouye. He found that separation of the various species required a careful study of the anatomy of these fish. To follow the approach laid down in his paper, a similar detailed anatomical treatment of the problem was required to compare those species supporting the California fishery with Kishinouye's descriptions. Although this work appears to be principally morphological, the great detail in which the anatomy of the Eastern Pacific tunas has been studied will form a firm foundation upon which investigations may be extended into lines more directly applicable to

The three papers included in this Fish Bulletin constitute a summary of the work which has been done by the Bureau of Marine Fisheries of the California Division of Fish and Game between 1936 and 1944 to measure movements and abundance of the sardine population by means of a tagging program:Movements and Abundance of the Sardine as Measured by Tag Returns. By Frances N. Clark, and John F. Janssen, Jr.The Effect of Internal Tags upon Sardines. By John F. Janssen, Jr. And J. Alfred Aplin.Measurement of The Losses in the Recovery of Sardine Tags.By Frances N. Clark and John F. Janssen, Jr.

This bulletin is written with two objectives in mind. First, it is designed to provide authorized names for the more common marine fishes of California, in the hope that these names will be used in the fishing industry and by sportsmen. Second, it is designed to provide a ready reference from which the fisherman or the buyer can identify those species seen most often in the commercial and the sport catch. It is not presented as a treatise on our marine fishes, for it describes only a fraction of the species known from California. It is meant as a guide for any person interested in fish regardless of his technical background, so scientific terminology is avoided wherever possible.There have been two other bulletins of this sort published by the California Division of Fish and Game. The first, Number 28, was very broad in scope. It included both fresh-water and marine fishes, sharks, rays, and some invertebrates. The second,Number 45, treated sharks and rays in considerably more detail. The present publication is concerned only with the "true" bony fishes caught in the ocean off California, including the anadromous species—those which enter fresh water to spawn.By limiting this paper to marine fishes, we have been able to include a number of species which were not discussed in Bulletin 28. The criterion for selection was whether or not the fish in question was one appearing with reasonable frequency in either the sport or the commercial catch. Several fish of no importance either economically or as game fish come under this standard. They are, however, caught sufficiently often, usually by accident rather than design, to be the objects of interest and recurring questions as to their identity. It was not always easy to decide whether a given fish should be included, and no doubt some readers will wonder why one fish appears while another does not. The list as finally selected reflects the views of many interested people and is as representative as space would allow.The

The order Heterosomata, the great group of the flatfishes, has long been of major economic importance in the marine fisheries of the world. Its multiform representatives are the subject of a very extensive and diverse literature which, however, is but a brief prologue to what research can bring to light. This paper is an attempt to contribute to the knowledge of one member of the group, and it is hoped that it may be of some value to intelligent management of the fishery in the future. The specimens of starry flounder for this study were taken during the last four months of 1946 and throughout the years 1947 and 1948 from the waters of Elkhorn Slough, the mouth of the Salinas River and at various localities in Monterey Bay. In Elkhorn Slough the fish were caught in a bobbinet seine 255 cm. long and 94 cm. deep, with hexagonal meshes of 3 mm. diameter. At the mouth of the Salinas River a minnow seine was used for monthly collections made from September, 1946, to February, 1947. This net measured 3 m. long, 1 1/4 m. deep, and had meshes 12 mm. in length. During the period from March, 1947, to August, 1947, the samples from the same locality were taken in a modified beam trawl. This gear had a beam 2 m. long, a depth of 50cm. and length of 4 m. The mesh length was graduated from 4 cm. at the lead line to 2 cm. in the sack. A bag of bobbinetting was sewed around the sack to impound all fish small enough to pass through the mesh of the sack. The fish taken from Monterey Bay were secured from commercial fishermen and wholesale fish dealers. These fish were caught in trammel nets off Santa Cruz; in drag nets off Monterey and Moss Landing; in purse seines off Capitola, Fort Ord, and Moss Landing; and in crab nets off Moss Landing and the Pajaro River.

The identification of larval forms of marine fishes, of fish fragments found in stomach contents and of fossil fish is often difficult. As an aid to such work a study is being made of the vertebral characteristics of adult marine fishes found off the coasts of Mexico, California, Oregon and Washington and a key based on these characteristics is being constructed.The possibility of such a key was suggested by Ford (1937), who described at considerable length and with the aid of some excellent photographs the differences in the vertebral columns of several teleostean fishes, approaching the subject from the "functional" angle without any attempt to form a key.Work was begun on the present study in 1938 and has been continued as material and time were available. Because of the large number of species involved it has been found necessary to divide the study into geographical units. The first unit, covered in this paper, comprises 163 species of fish, omitting the Elasmobranchii, found between Point Conception and San Diego. Work will be continued on fishes from the areas to the north and south of this region and published as completed.The material for this study consisted mainly of fresh adult specimens which were lightly boiled to loosen the flesh from the bones. To secure less common forms it became necessary to use material which had been preserved in alcohol or formaldehyde. Since no amount of boiling will loosen the flesh from the bones of preserved specimens, the clearing and staining technique described by Hollister (1934) was adopted with some modifications (see appendix). This technique was also used on the smaller fresh individuals to avoid loss of vertebrae in the boiling process.In naming the various parts of the skeleton, Starks (1901) was followed, with one exception. Starks calls the last fanlike tail segment articulated with the last true vertebral centrum, the "hypural." Since the term "hypural" is used by many authors to designate the spines which are

The three papers included in the symposium on the antiquity of man in California were presented before the Southwestern Anthropological Association in the Fall of 1951, The writing of this introduction and editing these papers has been one of the pleasanter aspects of my role as president of the Association. In this symposium there were brought together three of the outstanding scholars of California and inter-mountain pre-history. Bringing as they do a variety of background and special interests and techniques to a common problem, they serve to highlight the present state of knowledge of this particular aspect of anthropology, and to point toward future needs and expectations.

In a recent paper (Cook, 1951) the fossilization of bone was consideredfrom the standpoint of the behavior of the principal components: calcium,phosphate, and carbonate. These substances may increase or decrease with theduration of fossilization and in detail are subject to wide fluctuation,depending on the chemical nature of the soil matrix in which the bones are imbedded.Leaching, accumulation, and ion exchange may raise or lower the levelof any of the inorganic constituents in such a way as to make the analyticalvalues in a single specimen of little use in estimating the age of the bone.The organic matter, on the other hand, appears to undergo a consistent secularreduction which is much less dependent upon the chemical and physical environment.The water content likewise decreases quite uniformly with age.The present paper reports the results of recent investigations of theorganic components and water in fossil bone. Application of the results todating is not attempted here in detail but will be dealt with in a separatepaper.

In using the data available during the conduct of a bearings only approach two rather different procedures are usually followed.One is to attempt the complete solution for range, course and speed by taking usually six bearings while maneuvering the submersible in a rather specialized way. The other methods involve the use usually of three bearings and an assumed range or speed to calculate the course and the speed or range (whichever was not assumed).The purpose of this paper is to show that using four bearings it is first actually possible to solve the problem completely (range, course and speed solution) in a very general way, and second to give in detail several simple, direct methods for making such a solution without restricting the motion of the submersible.

During April and May of 1949, test excavations were made at a largestratified shellmound on the shores of San Francisco Bay. 1 The site,designated in the records of the U.0. Archaeological Survey as 4-Mrn-115,is located on a point of land just north of San Rafael. The property isowned by Mr. W.H. Thomas of San Rafael, whose friendly cooperation in permittingthe excavation is here gratefully acknowledged.The preliminary excavations were made to check the stratigraphic andcultural associations of the mound. At the time, it was hoped that excavationof the site would be continued on a larger scale. However, variousfactors have prevented continuance of the work, and it now appears desirableto place on record the sketchy data obtained from the preliminary tests.The artifact sample is regrettably small, consisting of only a handful ofspecimens, but it appears sufficient to outline the cultural position of thesite. The excavation which has been done to date is of importance for tworeasons: first, a C14 date was obtained which throws some light on theterminal period of the Middle Horizon on San Francisco Bay, and second, aburned house ruin was exposed which merits description because of the rarityof such features in Central California archaeology.

The main controlling factor of physical conditions and processes,and of distribution and spread of plants and animals, is climate and itschanges. Low temperature and, in some regions, excessive snowfall havecaused extensive glaciations. The withdrawal of water to form the icesheets lowered the oceans. Increased precipitation and reduced evaporationinduced pluviations in arid regions. Rise of temperature has madeice sheets and glaciers shrink and disappear. Climate has thus controlledthe geological factors. Biota have moved latitudinally andaltitudinally with the climatic belts. Plants and animals have beentrapped by climatic changes in unfavorable locations to become regionally.or universally extinct.The temperature rise which has occurred during the last hundredyears in North America and in Europe (and perhaps elsewhere), togetherwith the general parallelism of the past temperature histories, indicatethat the marked, long-continued temperature ages have prevailed simultaneouslyin the two continents. The major temperature ages and theirsequences consequently supply a basis for long-distance correlation; andthe temperature changes should therefore be used for the principaldivision of time. Regionally, subordinate divisions on other conditionsmay be practical. In dry and semiarid regions the natural basis isconditions and changes in moisture. For stratigraphic divisions erosionsare suitable markers.

The valley of the lower Colorado River is well known for the immenseoutline figures of gravel which occur on its river terraces. Despite thisfact, only a few archaeologists have shown an interest in them, and as aresult there is little detailed information available concerning them.This paper is designed to sumarize briefly and to note the present stateof such information in order to facilitate future research.The two largest groups of gravel outlines yet discovered are the"giant desert figures" and the "mystic maze." The "giant desert figures"site is located approximately sixteen miles north of Blythe, California,and is clearly pictographic in nature. The "mystic maze" is situatedacross the river from Topock, Arizona, and like a number of the othergravel constructions of the region, may or may not be pictographic innature. However, in the light of presently available information, it doesnot seem practical to attempt to decide which gravel alterations are orare not pictographic. The locations of all known sites are indicated onthe distribution map. As can be seen, many such sites have been reportedsome distance from the lower Colorado River valley, particularly in theCalifornia deserts.