This report provides paralarval cephalopod and ichthyoplankton data from Manta net (surface) tows and Bongo net (oblique) tows and associated station and tow data from quarterly California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) cruises and a single California Current Ecosystem Survey (CCES) conducted in the Southern California Bight region and central California in 2009. It is the 68th report in a series that presents these data for all of the biological-oceanographic CalCOFI surveys from 1951 to the present. CalCOFI cruises occupied a total of 321 stations covering the area from Avila Beach to San Diego, CA in winter, spring and fall and Point Reyes to San Diego in summer. CalCOFI transects extended seaward in a southwesterly direction to approximately 330 n. mi. from shore. The most seaward station, 90.0 120.0, was approximately 400 n. mi. west of Punta Baja, Baja California, Mexico. The CCES cruise occupied 83 stations along 10 transects from just north of Santa Cruz to San Diego, California in spring. CCES transects extended seaward in a westerly direction to a maximum of approximately 160 n. mi. The data are listed in a series of twelve tables; the background, methodology, and information necessary for data interpretation are presented in the accompanying text. All pertinent station and tow data, including volumes of water strained and standard haul factors, are listed in Tables 1 and 7. Other tables detail, by station and month, raw and standardized (number per 100 cubic meters of water filtered for Manta nets and number under 10 square meters of sea surface for Bongo nets) counts of each of the 5 paralarval cephalopod and 57 larval fish categories identified in Manta net tows and each of the 20 paralarval cephalopod and 152 larval fish categories identified in Bongo net tows. This series of reports makes the CalCOFI and CCES paralarval cephalopod, ichthyoplankton and station data available to all investigators and help interpret the computer data base.

The California Current System is one of the best studied ocean regions of the world, and the level of oceanographic information available is perhaps only surpassed by the northeast and northwest Atlantic. The current literature (later than 1993) offers no comprehensive, integrated review of the regional fisheries oceanography of the California Current System. This volume summarizes information of more than 60-year California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI). While providing a large bibliography, the intent was to extract themes relevant to current research rather than to prepare a compendious review of the literature. The work presents a useful review and reference point for multidisciplinary fisheries scientists and biological oceanographers new to working in the California Current System, and to specialists wishing to access information outside their core areas of expertise. In addition it aims to deliver an up to date reference to the current state of knowledge of fisheries oceanography in the California Current System.