FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 73, NO. 2 



and Fry 1959). Lindsey and AH (1971) have 

 recently argued against this suggested rela- 

 tionship, despite the fact that their data showed a 

 direct relationship betw^een the number of anal fin 

 rays and egg size in the medaka, Oryzias latipes. 

 Blaxter and Hempel (1963) found no relationship 

 between incubation time and egg size in herring, 

 but did find a positive correlation between time to 

 yolk sac absorption and egg size. If this correlation 

 is true for the mid- water fishes considered in this 

 report, if the correlation continues beyond the 

 point of yolk sac absorption, and if the meristic 

 characters in question are determined after 

 hatching, it might result in a longer period of de- 

 termination of these characters in larvae from 

 larger eggs. 



We lack essential developmental and ecological 

 information to complete our hypothesis. We know 

 little or nothing for most mid- water species about 

 age and size at first spawning, number of spawn- 

 ings per female, fecundity, seasonality of 

 reproduction, course of larval development, or 

 factors actually determining survivorship of lar- 

 vae. The answer to the question of mechanism 

 awaits the comparison of these population 

 parameters between populations in areas of high 

 and low productivity. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank the following individuals and institu- 

 tions for the loan of valuable specimens: R. 

 Lavenberg, Natural History Museum of Los An- 

 geles County (LACM), Los Angeles; E. Ahlstrom, 

 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS-LJ), La 

 Jolla, Calif.; P. Struhsaker, National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (NMFS-H), Honolulu; P. Four- 

 manoir. Office de la Recherche Scientifique et 

 Technique Outre-Mer (ORSTOM), Noumea, New 

 Caledonia; R. Rosenblatt, D. Dockins, J. Copp, 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), La 

 Jolla; T. Clarke, Hawaii Institute of Marine 

 Biology, University of Hawaii (UH), Kaneohe, 

 Hawaii; C. R. Robins, University of Miami 

 (UMML), Miami; B. Nafpaktitis and R. McGinnis, 

 University of Southern California (USC), Los An- 

 geles; R. H. Gibbs, Jr., Division of Fishes, National 

 Museum of Natural History (USNM), Washing- 

 ton, D.C.; R. Backus, J. Craddock, R. Haedrich, 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), 

 Woods Hole, Mass. 



We thank the following individuals for infor- 

 mation from their own research and for aiding the 



completion of this project: E. Ahlstrom, B. 

 Collette, D. Cohen, C. L. Hubbs, J. Kethley, G. 

 Krefft, H. Marx, R. Rosenblatt. We thank the 

 Division of Photography, Field Museum of Na- 

 tural History, for aid in preparing the figures. This 

 paper is based in part on the results of the An- 

 tipodes and Styx Expeditions of the Scripps Insti- 

 tution of Oceanography. This work was supported, 

 in part, by NSF Grant GB 7596 to R. H. Rosenblatt 

 and W. Newman. We are grateful to T. Poulson for 

 critically reading the manuscript and offering 

 valuable suggestions for its improvement. We are 

 particarly indebted to E. H. Ahlstrom and R. H. 

 Rosenblatt for their advice, criticism, and en- 

 couragement throughout the development of this 

 research. 



MATERIAL EXAMINED 



Diplophos taenia. The material examined of this 

 species is listed in Johnson and Barnett 1972. 

 Supplementary station list of materials examined 

 for a study of meristic variation in Diplophos 

 taenia Guenther. Ref . Ser. Scripps Inst. Oceanogr. 

 72-4, 1-8 (unpublished manuscript available from 

 the Library, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 

 La Jolla, Calif). 



Pollichthys mauli. GG: 24 (28.5-46.9), UMML 

 22881 (1), UMML 24132 (1), UMML 24237 (1), 

 UMML 24266 (3), UMML 24658 (6), UMML 27884 

 (6), UMML 27929 (5), UMML 28159 (1). SCS: 11 

 (21.1-31.1); SIO 61-744 (1), SIO 69-20, (10); PS: 10 

 (33.8-49.9); SIO 70-308 (1), SIO 70-309 (1), SIO 

 70-334 (2), SIO 70-337 (2), SIO 70-340 (4). 



Vinciguerria attenuata. SCS: 71 (13.0-37.8); SIO 

 70-341 (5), SIO 70-343 (5), SIO 70-344 (52), SIO 

 70-345 (5), SIO 70-346 (3), SIO 70-347 (1). PS: 71 

 (13.0-28.1); SIO 70-308 (12), SIO 70-309, (10), SIO 

 70-310 (6), SIO 70-311 (12), SIO 70-314 (11), SIO 

 70-318 (1), SIO 70-333 (15), SIO 70-334, (1), SIO 

 70-337 (2). 



Vinciguerria nimbaria. GG: 20 (21.0-37.5); 

 UMML 21902 (20). SCS: 35 (11.7-32.0); SIO 70-341 

 (4), SIO 70-343 (5), SIO 70-344 (10), SIO 70-345 (5), 

 SIO 70-346 (5), SIO 70-347 (6). PS: 729 (11.6-39.9); 

 SIO 70-306 (63), SIO 70-308 (6), SIO 70-309 (18), SIO 1 

 70-310 (23), SIO 70-311 (29), SIO 70-314 (45), SIO 

 70-318 (52), SIO 70-326 (7), SIO 70-327 (3), SIO 

 70-328 (12), SIO 70-329 (22), SIO 70-331 (2), SIO 

 70-332 (11), SIO 70-333 (173), SIO 70-334 (15), SIO 

 70-336 (6), SIO 70-337 (14), SIO 70-339 (2), SIO 

 70-340 (226). CEP: FMNH (Field Museum of Na- 

 tural History) 77100 32 (16.9-36.0). CNA: USNM, 



296 



