APRIETO; EARL'l DEVELOPMENT OF FIVE CAR.ANG1D FISHES 



B 



CO 05 



S "^ 



E O 



* J' 



^ CO 



BQ g 



o 6 



<: CO 



. 6 



« 6 



a « 



t. <-< 



O ^ 



» 7: 



:cs CO 

 §■6 



q 



CO 



d 



J 



CO 



E 



00 



u 



Bi 



D 

 O 



CO 



e 

 g 



o 



00 



CO 



g 

 g 



o 

 d 



The body is slender but appears robust at the an- 

 terior end in view of the distended yolk sac (Figure 

 8B). The head is well marked and the eye buds are 

 discernible. The dorsal finfold originates behind 

 the nape and is continuous with the anal finfold at 

 the tail region. At the first day of hatching, 

 the yolk sac is reduced to a spherule, the eyes 

 are formed but unpigmented, and the dorsal and 

 anal finfolds completely surround the larva except 

 at the mouth. More and bigger melanophores are 

 formed along the sides and back, and a large 

 ventral melanophore is located at the opening of 

 the gut (Figure 8C). 



Early larvae of O. saurus are slender compared 

 to other larval carangids. Body depth increases 

 relative to standard length and ranges from 20 to 

 26.9^f during the larval period (Table 10). It in- 

 creases to a maximum of 32% at metamorphosis 

 and thereafter declines to 28 to 29%. The slender 

 gut is straight and forms a single loop at 4 mm. A 

 second loop develops at metamorphosis, and a 

 third is added in the early juvenile period. Snout- 

 to-anus distance ranges from 51 to 61% during the 

 larval period and decreases slightly in subsequent 



437 



