KARNELLA: SYSTEMATIC STATUS OF MERLUCCWS 



300 



350 

 STANDARD 



400 

 LENGTH 



600 



MM 



Figure 7. — Gulf (squares) and Atlantic (circles) populations: relation of 

 maxillary length to standard length. 



Table 7. — Frequency distribution of the number of gill 

 rakers on the first gill arch for the Gulf and Atlantic 

 populations. 



Table 8. — Frequency distribution of the number of first 

 dorsal rays for the Gulf and Atlantic populations. 



ulations. However, for all characters but the 

 number of first dorsal rays there was an increase 

 in the range of one to three elements. In gen- 

 eral, the average values computed from data 

 presented in Ginsburg (1954) for M. albidus 

 and M. magnoculus agree well with the average 

 values calculated for the Atlantic and Gulf pop- 

 ulations respectively. 



Total vertebral counts for the Atlantic and 

 Gulf populations were similar in both ranges 

 and averages (Table 12). Geographic variation 

 in most meristic characters is slight. Vertebral 

 elements, pectoral fin rays, and anal fin rays are 

 more variable than other meristic characters 

 examined. 



The ranges for all meristic characters studied 

 are identical or nearly so for both the Gulf and 

 Atlantic populations. For all characters there 

 is a difference of less than one element in the 

 average value between the two populations. 

 Within each population there is variation in some 

 or all of the meristic characters studied. The 



Table 9. — Frequency distribution of the number of second dorsal rays for the 



Gulf and Atlantic populations. 



89 



