FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. 3 



the 10.6-mm SL larva of E. microstomus 

 figured here (see Figure 4A) in pigmentation, 

 stage of development, and mouth size. Kyle's 

 specimens are probably Cithanchthys or Etro- 

 pus as Gutherz (1970) suggests, but lack of 

 knowledge of larval bothids prevents identi- 

 fication. 



Ahlstrom (1965) figured several stages of 

 C. stigmaeus, C. sordidus, and C. xanthostigma. 

 However, he provided only a small amount of 

 descriptive information on the larvae of these 

 species together with larvae of C. fragilis and 

 C. gilberti. 



VERIFICATION OF 



IDENTIFICATION OF LARVAL 



E. MICROSTOMUS AND 



C. ARCTIFRONS 



The larvae of E. microstomus and C. arcti- 

 frons were identified using the series method 

 of Schmidt (1905). Developmental series of 

 larvae of each of two distinguishable but similar 

 flatfishes were taken from VIMS collections 

 made in the Chesapeake Bight. Larvae in each 

 series were linked together primarily by pig- 

 ment patterns and meristics. Migration of the 

 right rather than the left eye in the largest 

 specimens indicated they were members of 

 the Scophthalmidae or Bothidae rather than 

 the Pleuronectidae. VIMS records of adult 



sinestral flatfishes other than cynoglossids taken 

 in the Chesapeake Bight (Table 1) listed one 

 scophthalmid and seven bothids. Descriptions 

 of larvae of Scophthalmus aquosus (Moore, 

 1947), Bothus ocellatus (Colton, 1961; Jutare, 

 1962), Hippoglossina obloiiga (Agassiz and 

 Whitman, 1885; Miller and Marak, 1962; 

 Leonard, 1971b), Paralichthys dentatus 

 (Deubler, 1958; Smith and Fahay, 1970) re- 

 vealed differences from the larvae in question. 



The unknown larvae were the most numerous 

 flatfishes collected by VIMS in the Chesapeake 

 Bight from 1959 to 1963. The great numbers 

 of larvae in each series comprised large size 

 ranges which indicated they were progeny of 

 adults of two species which also should be 

 fairly abundant in the same area. E. microsto- 

 mus and C. arctifrons, constituting well over 

 half of the total number of bothid and scoph- 

 thalmid flatfishes taken in spring and summer 

 of 1966 (Table 2), were prime candidates; 

 other possible candidates, C. macrops or E. 

 crossotus, occur only rarely in the bight. 



Most of the unknown lai'vae were collected 

 between July and October and were assumed 

 to be products of summer spawnings. We have 

 obtained gravid E. microstomus in July and 

 August and C. arctifrons in August and Sep- 

 tember from the Chesapeake Bight. 



Dorsal and anal fin ray and vertebral counts 

 (Table 1) of the largest larvae in each series 

 correspond to those of adult E. microstomus 

 and C. arctifro)is. 



Table 1. — Abundance, spawning season, and meristics of adult bothid and scophthalmid flatfishes which occur in the 



Chesapeake Bight.' 



' Compiled from Jordan and Evermann, 1898; Parr, 1931; Norman, 1934; Moore, 1947; Ginsburg, 1952; Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953; 

 Deubler, 1958; Colton, 1961; Jutare, 1962; Gutherz, 1967. 



- Data from studies conducted at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. 



738 



