The Velvet Whalefish, Barbourisia rufa, added to California's Marine Fauna, with Notes on Otoliths of Whalefishes and Possible Related Genera

Abstract

California's north coast trawl fishermen normally sort their catches at sea and deliver the most desirable species (rockfishes, Sebastes spp. and Sebastolobus spp.; sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria; lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus; and several kinds of pleuronectid flatfish) in a fresh state to shoreside markets where most are filleted, packaged, and frozen. If, when sorting his catch, a fisherman finds what he believes is a rare or unusual fish, mollusk, crustacean, or other organism he often will leave it at the market with a request that it be placed in their freezer and saved for the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG). Similarly, if while processing a load, plant personnel encounter an "odd-ball" (some animal of unusual color, size, or condition; or an organism that is tagged or one that cannot be identified by those present at the time; etc.) that specimen too will be saved.