Jaws unusually long, with minute recurved teeth 

 on both jaws. Gills plumose. Esophagus short, 

 thin, no girdlelike region. Stomach well de- 

 veloped, empty, white. Intestine long, thick 

 walled, empty, posterior end with series of 12 

 melanophores on dorsal side till vent. Posterior 

 end of intestine of metamorphic Eurypharynx also 

 has similar series of five melanophores on dorsal 

 side. Liver elongate, pale yellow. Gall bladder 

 oval, thin, transparent. About 40 preanal and 

 110 postanal myotomes can be counted. Myotomes 

 in whiplike portion of tail are not distinct. Tip 

 of tail (caudal organ) enlarged into bulblike struc- 

 ture. Median fin delicate, low. Pectoral fins 

 large, fleshy. 



Pigmentation: Microscopic brown dotlike ju- 

 venile pigmentation scattered sparsely all over 

 body, but dense on snout and jaws. Larval pig- 

 mentation before vent as a row of linear patches. 

 Tip of tail unpigmented. 



METAMORPHIC FORM OF 

 EURYPHARYNX PELECANOIDES 



Figure 2P, Q 



SIO 68-451, central North Pacific, Hess Sea- 

 mount, 17°59.0'N, 174°24.1"W, 0-1,250 m, IKMT, 

 1(39 mm), 31 Aug.-l Sept. 1968. 



Description: Body elongate, compressed ex- 

 cept at head. Depth 8.0 in total length, maximum 

 depth near middle of body, posterior half tapering 

 gradually to whiplike tail with rudimentary 

 caudal organ (Figure 2Q). Head small, broad, 

 depressed, badly damaged. Snout very short, 

 blunt. Eyes large, round, black. Olfactory organ 

 rudimentary. Upper jaw cartilaginous, maxilla 

 toothless, its boundary not clear. Lower jaw lost 

 due to damage. Gills extremely small, five holo- 

 branchs, six gill slits, white in color, gills of both 

 sides placed very close together, gill filaments 

 very small, gill arches very soft, and do not appear 

 to have any bony or cartilaginous elements. 

 Esophagus short, slightly bulged, brown, followed 

 by rudimentary stomach (Figure 2P). Stomach 

 bulged, muscular, with brown pigment. Liver lost 

 due to damage. Intestine short, continued as 

 rectum with five black dendritic chromatophores 

 on dorsal side. Opisthonephros lost due to damage. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO. 2 



Myotomes about 105. Dorsal and anal fins 

 damaged. 



Pigmentation: Body covered uniformly with 

 dark brown juvenile pigmentation. Tip of tail 

 white except for black caudal organ. 



Ovary of adult (Figure 2R,S): Examination of 

 the ovary of one large specimen of E. pelecanoides 

 (600 mm, vertebrae 31 + 87 = 118) in the 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (group 25, 

 H. 52. 376) gives the following information. Ovary 

 large, oval, paired, brown in isopropyl alochol, 

 two ovaries of same size, 62.2 mm in length, 

 29 mm in breadth, oval in shape, maximum thick- 

 ness in center 10 mm, weight of two ovaries 

 18.4 g, about 33,000 ova in both ovaries, eggs 

 arranged in single layer which is folded into 

 laminae of double layers. Thus, each ovary is a 

 long sheet of ova. Ova embedded in sheet of 

 jellylike mass divided into hexagonal meshes, 

 each mesh enclosing single ovum. Ova well 

 developed, round, average diameter 0.9 mm, 

 yellow, containing 4 or 5 yellow oil globules of 

 varying sizes, diameter of largest oil globule 

 0.15 mm. 



Remarks: The two metamorphic forms L. 

 latissimus and L. pseudolatissimus were badly 

 damaged and distorted, making it very difficult 

 for illustration. But characters such as pigmenta- 

 tion and the caudal organ provided some informa- 

 tion on their identity to the adults. 



The metamorphic specimen of L. pseudolatissi- 

 mus has juvenile pigmentation, and the caudal 

 organ is well developed and is more advanced 

 than the larvae described before. The myotomal 

 count, the number of gill arches, the position 

 and structure of the caudal organ, the juvenile 

 pigmentation, and other characters clearly estab- 

 lish the identity of L. pseudolatissimus as the 

 larva of the deepsea gulper Eurypharynx pele- 

 canoides. 



The higher myotomal count of L. latissimus 

 certainly indicates its identity vjWhSaccopharynx, 

 as suggested by Tchernavin ( 1947a). Orton ( 1963), 

 in discussing the relationship of L. latissimus, 

 pointed out its possible identity as the larva of 

 Saccopharynx but also warned that the then 

 unknown monognathid larva might be a possible 

 candidate forL. latissimus. The characters of the 

 metamorphic monognathid and saccopharyngid 



558 



