Table 2.-Some meristic characters of laboratory-reared specimens of Brevoortia smithi. 



Table 3. -Distribution of myomeres relative to other body parts for Brevoortia smithi larvae. 



by Reintjes (1962) for yellowfin menhaden, but 

 yolk diameters differ greatly. In his specimens the 

 perivitelline space averaged more than 30% of the 

 egg diameter, but in our specimens it averaged 

 only 16%. The difference might be partly account- 

 ed for by the incubation salinities. Salinities at 

 Indian River where Reintjes did his study were 

 relatively low, ranging from 20.5 to 27.2°/ oo, while 

 those in Biscay ne Bay during our study exceeded 

 32°/ oa Hettler (1968) also reported narrow perivi- 



telline spaces in hybrid eggs from B. smithi x B. 

 patronus that he artificially fertilized at the 

 collection site where salinities were 33-34 Voo. 

 Previtelline spaces in his embryos ranged from 7 

 to 17% of the egg diameters, and he attributed the 

 narrow spaces to possible effects of high salinity. 

 Yellowfin menhaden eggs have been collected by 

 us from Biscayne Bay on many occasions in 1971 to 

 1973, and they always are characterized by a rela- 

 tively narrow perivitelline space, which is unusual 



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