Grunion classified in the family Atherinopsidae along with other New World silversides including the jacksmelt and topsmelt. The California grunion, "L. tenuis", is found along the Pacific Coast from Point Conception, California, to Punta Abreojos, Baja California Sur. They are rarely found between San Francisco in the north and San Juanico Bay, Baja California Sur, in the south. The Gulf grunion, "L. sardina", is found along the coast of Baja California in the Gulf of California. Inhabiting the nearshore waters from the surf to a depth of , marking experiments indicate they are not migratory. They are small, slender fish with
USS Grunion Iwasaki. He sent them a translation of an article written by the officer who had commanded the merchant ship "Kano Maru". The article described an encounter with a submarine near Kiska Island in the Aleutians about the time the "Grunion" was reported missing. Several years later, John Abele, cofounder of Boston Scientific, met Dr. Robert Ballard, famous for discovering the RMS Titanic's wreckage. Ballard gave him advice on how to locate a shipwreck, and Abele decided to fund an expedition to find the lost submarine "Grunion". In 2006, Williamson Associates, using side-scan sonar, located a promising target at almost at