FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72, NO, 4 



area surrounding the rays. From one to three 

 deeply imbedded melanophores were present near 

 the hypural plate when larvae reached 11 to 

 16 mm. Larger specimens had similar pigmenta- 

 tion in the caudal region except that the number 

 of melanophores surrounding the caudal rays 

 continued to increase as larvae grew. 



Transformation 



Transformation of larvae apparently was com- 

 plete between 22 and 24 mm. Scaled sardines 

 of 22 mm conformed to descriptions of juveniles 

 and adults in most respects (Storey, 1938; Rivas, 

 1950, 1963). Proportional measurements relating 

 preanal length, predorsal length, head length, 

 and eye diameter to standard length became con- 

 stant at 22 to 24 mm (Table 1). Only body 

 depth continued to increase relative to stan- 

 dard length for larger individuals. The slender 

 rodlike shape of larvae was replaced by the 

 deeper bodied, laterally compressed shape of 

 juveniles during transformation. Also, the rela- 

 tion between standard length and total length 

 became constant when scaled sardines were 22 

 to 24 mm (Table 1). Full fin ray complements 

 were present by 19.5 mm (Table 3), slightly 

 before the dorsal and anal fins had completed 

 their movements during transformation. Scales 

 first developed at 21 to 22 mm, and the typical 

 silvery coloration of juveniles was apparent at 

 22 to 24 mm. Some outstanding features during 

 transformation were forward movement of the 

 dorsal fin, shortening of the gut, forward move- 

 ment of the anal fin, and relative increases in 

 head length, snout length, eye diameter, and body 

 depth. 



COMPARISONS 



Eggs and larvae of scaled sardines can be 

 distinguished from those of similar genera in 

 south Florida marine waters. Houde and Fore 

 (1973) have prepared a guide that will help to 

 identify eggs and larvae of some clupeid fishes, 

 including scaled sardines, from the Gulf of Mexico. 



Scaled sardine eggs are larger than those of 

 other clupeid genera from south Florida. Only 

 scaled sardines have eggs larger than 1.50 mm 

 diameter. Eggs of Opisthonema oglinum, Sar- 

 dinella anchovia, Brevoortia spp., and Etrumeus 

 teres rarely exceed 1.35 mm diameter. The oil 



globule of scaled sardine eggs is smaller than 

 that reported for other clupeid genera. Eggs of 

 Etrumeus have no oil globule and cannot be 

 confused with scaled sardines. Two other species 

 o{ Harengula may occur near Miami. Harengula 

 humeralis and H. clupeola are not common 

 compared to H. jaguana, but their eggs may be 

 similar to those of scaled sardines. Eggs of 

 Jenkinsia spp. are undescribed and cannot be 

 compared to scaled sardine eggs. 



Scaled sardine larvae can be distinguished 

 from all other genera of clupeids with which 

 they might cooccur, except perhaps for Jenkinsia 

 spp., which are undescribed. Myomeres do not 

 exceed 42 in Harengula larvae, but number 45 

 or more in other genera, except for Jenkinsia 

 which has myomere numbers similar to Haren- 

 gula. Larvae of//, humeralis and //. clupeola 

 are undescribed, but probably are similar to those 

 of scaled sardines. Caudal pigmentation of larvae 

 less than 9 mm serves to separate scaled sardine 

 larvae of those sizes from larvae o{ Opisthonema 

 and Sardinella. Those two genera have melano- 

 phores only on the ventral side of the notochord 

 tip while scaled sardines always have melano- 

 phores on the dorsal side of the notochord tip 

 and frequently on the ventral side as well. 

 Brevoortia larvae have caudal pigmentation like 

 that o^ Harengula, but they rarely have fewer 

 than 45 myomeres. 



Eggs and larvae of two species that Berry 

 (1964a) and Whitehead et al. ( 1966) would assign 

 to the genus Sardinella have been described 

 as Harengula zunasi (Uchida et al., 1958; Takita, 

 1966) and //. rouxi (Marchal, 1967). Eggs and 

 larvae of//, zunasi from Japanese waters (Uchida 

 et al., 1958; Takita, 1966) closely resemble those 

 of //. jaguana. Egg diameters and oil globule 

 diameters of H. zunasi average slightly larger 

 than for //. jaguana , but the very wide pervitel- 

 line space and exceptionally small oil globule 

 are similar in the two species. Pigmentation is 

 present only on the ventral side of the notochord 

 tip in H. zunasi larvae, thus differing from 

 //. jaguana. Both //. zunasi and H. jaguana 

 larvae have less than 45 myomeres — 43 in 

 H. zunasi, usually 40 or 41 in //. jaguana. 

 Marchal's (1967) Harengula (= Sardinella) rouxi 

 eggs and larvae also more closely resemble those 

 of H. jaguana than other clupeid eggs and larvae 

 that we have observed from Florida waters. 

 Eggs of//, rouxi are smaller than //. jaguana. 



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