Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

annually, which resulted in little consistency of spatial and temporal
data from which to delineate patterns of distribution and density.
These limitations required that the data be analyzed in the following
ways:
1) in most cases, data from all years were combined when
examining spatial distribution of taxon; 2) intra- and interannual
comparisons could only be made for three years for the non-Chionoecetes
(Malidae referred to here as Oregoniinae; See Section 4.0 Chionoecetes
and for Pinnotheridae; and 3) these two taxa were the only ones analyzed
for vertical patterns of larval distribution based on adequate
representation in the MOCNESS samples of the years 1980 and 1981.
5.3 Results, Discussion, and Summaries
5.3.1 Vertical Distribution
Vertical distributions of Oregoniinae and Pinnotheridae were examined
(1) to assure that bongo net samples collected routinely from 60 m
to the surface, or to within 10 m of the bottom in depths less than 60
m, included representative numbers of larvae on which to base abundance
estimates, and (2) to determine the vertical location of the majority of
these larvae in the water column.
Criteria for the analysis of the vertical distribution of individual
taxa were established and applied to 1980 and 1981 MOCNESS stations
in order to determine the mean percentages of larvae located at different
depth intervals. These criteria are: 1) a total of six larvae of
each taxon had to be counted in the subsample examined before an individual
MOCNESS station was used as an observation; and 2) at least five
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