Table 1.— Morphometries (mm) and meristics of Ptilichthys goodei from Oregon waters. 



'Total length is given for comparison with other publications, although the long caudal filament was not intact. 



^Dorsal and anal fin ray counts include possible caudal fin elements dorsal and ventral to the fleshy caudal extension respectively. 



30ne fused caudal vertebra found in each adult specimen was counted as one vertebra. 



face form a single row on the anterior one-fourth 

 to one-half the length of the gut and a double row 

 along the remaining length. Body pigmentation is 

 concentrated dorsally and ventrally. From a dorsal 

 view, the dorsal melanophores appear somewhat 

 as a double row, one on each side of the dorsal 

 midline, extending from a point over the middle of 

 the gut to near the tail tip (arrow in Figure 1). 

 These dorsal melanophores are larger than the 

 ventral ones. Ventrally, a heavy concentration of 

 melanophores lines the body margin from the 

 hindgut to near the tail tip. Posterior to this ven- 

 tral body pigment is a small unpigmented area. 

 Posterior to the ventral unpigmented area (arrow 

 in Figure 1) is the fleshy caudal extension 

 characteristic of the species. Pigment on -this ex- 

 tension is distinct from that on the rest of the 

 body. It is scattered rather evenly dorsally and 

 ventrally on the body and out on to the finfolds. 

 The lateral midline of this area remains unpig- 

 mented. 



Identification of the larvae was possible because 

 of the link to the adults provided by the 1 14-mm SL 

 transforming specimen captured in the same area. 

 The 114-mm specimen has meristics (Table 2), 

 hooked dorsal spines, and a fleshy protrusion of the 

 lower jaw characteristic of adult P. goodei and 

 pigmentation similar to the larvae described 

 above. The fleshy caudal extension is more distinct 

 than in the larvae. Gut length (28% SL) is propor- 

 tionately shorter and snout length (26% HL) 

 proportionately longer. Additional pigment occurs 

 on the dorsal surface of the head posterior to the 

 eye, on the snout, and in a line along the margin of 

 the preopercle extending posteriorly from the 

 angle of the lower jaw. The ventral gut 

 melanophores are in a single row along the entire 



gut length. Body pigmentation is less pronounced 

 than in the larvae but still distinct. 



Adults of P. goodei are characterized by their 

 extremely elongate body, the absence of a distinct 

 caudal fin, and the presence of a fleshy protrusion 

 at the tip of the lower jaw. When alive, the two 

 Oregon specimens were brightly colored. The body 

 was light green dorsally shading to yellow ven- 

 trally and orange on the throat. Two dark maroon, 

 horizontal stripes were present laterally with 

 maroon spots scattered over the entire dorsal sur- 

 face. Several dashed maroon lines radiated 

 posteriorly from the snout. A distinct maroon- 

 colored, horizontal bar extended anteriorly from 

 the margin of each eye half the distance to the 

 snout tip. Morphometries and meristics appear in 

 Table 1. Gut length (29% SL) is similar to that for 

 the transforming specimen, but the snout length 

 (31-33% HL) is greater. Both specimens exhibited 

 a vertebral anomaly in which the centra of two 

 adjacent vertebrae were fused to form a single 

 element with two neural and two hemal spines. In 

 the 309-mm SL specimen the 160th vertebra was 

 fused and in the 272-mm SL specimen it was the 

 169th element. 



Occurrence 



Collection data for P. goodei from Oregon waters 

 is presented in Table 2. All specimens came from 

 waters off the central coast of Oregon between 

 March and August. All but one was captured dur- 

 ing daylight. All but one was taken in water 

 greater than 120 m deep on the continental shelf 

 18 km or closer to shore where the bottom was 

 primarily gray sand. 



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