FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 3 



(12.7 mm long), the ostium is 6.3 mm long and 

 the Cauda, 6.3 mm. In this genus, the crista su- 

 perior is as long as or longer than the crista in- 

 ferior, which distinguishes Pseudophycis sagit- 

 tae from those of other genera in this group. 

 An additional distinguishing character is the 

 greatly expanded, knobby middorsal portion. 

 Three pairs of P. backus sagittae were available 

 for examination. 



Auchenoceros punctatus (Hutton,1873) {Fig- 

 ure IL). — In the illustrated otolith (4.7 mm 

 long) the ostium is 2.3 mm long and the cauda, 

 2.4 mm. The greatly expanded anterior end 

 easily distinguishes Auchenoceros sagittae from 

 those of the other genera known to belong in this 

 group. Two pairs of Auchenoceros otoliths were 

 examined. 



Lotella callarias Giinther, 1863 {Figure IF). 

 — In the illustrated otolith (11.3 mm long), the 

 ostium is 5.7 mm long and the cauda, 5.5 mm. 

 The combination of a pointed anterior end, a rel- 

 atively smooth, unexpanded middorsal portion, 

 and a crista superior that is shorter than the 

 crista inferior distinguishes Lotella otoliths from 

 those of other genera assigned to this group. 

 Eight pairs of sagittae from L. callarias were 

 examined. 



PA_)'i/V«/«5-group( Figure 4) 



Otoliths in this group are characterized by 

 having a relatively short ostium (comprising 

 one-third or less of total otolith length) and a 

 crista inferior that is almost twice as long as 

 the crista superior. The anterior end of the 

 sagitta usually is bluntly pointed but may be 

 broadly rounded, it is never expanded. Sagittae 

 of this group that have been illustrated are 

 Physiculus dcdwigki (Vaillant, 1888), Physicu- 

 lus peregrinus (Kotthaus, 1970), Physiculus ca- 

 pensis {Karrer, 1911) , Physiculus spp.'! (Hatai, 

 1965, as Odontobutis ; Fitch and Brownell, 1968, 

 as morid #1 and morid *2), Gadella maraldi 

 (Schmidt, 1968, as Uraleptus maraldi', Karrer, 

 1971), Laemonema robustum (Vaillant, 1888), 

 L. laureysi (Schmidt, 1968; Karrer, 1971), L. 



Figure 4. — Drawing of right sagitta from Physicultis 

 rastrelliger illustrating features of Physiciibis-gxoui> 

 otoliths. 



barbatulum (Karrer, 1971), Tnpterophycis gil- 

 christi (Karrer, 1971), and Brosmiculus imber- 

 bis (Karrer, 1971). 



Microlepidium verecundum {Jordan and 

 Cramer, 1897) {Figure IH) .—In the illustrated 

 otolith (3.5 mm long) , the ostium is 0.8 mm long 

 and the cauda, 2.7 mm. The crista superior (1.2 

 mm) comprises 33% of total otolith length and 

 is slightly less than one-half the length of the 

 crista inferior (2.3 mm). This otolith is char- 

 acterized by having a thin ventrally directed 

 "blade" projecting from the posteriormost 40% 

 of the inner face. Ten pairs of sagittae from M. 

 verecundum were examined. 



Laemonema barbatulum Goode and Bean, 

 1895 {Figure lA). — In the illustrated otolith 

 (7.3 mm long), the ostium is 2.4 mm long and 

 the cauda, 4.6 mm. The crista superior (2.1 mm 

 long) is slightly less than one-third the total 

 otolith length, but more than one-half as long 

 as the crista inferior (3.5 mm). Sagittae of 

 Laemonema are broadly rounded anteriorly, and 

 by this character can be distinguished from oto- 

 liths from other genera placed in the Physiculus- 

 group. Eleven pairs of sagittae from L. bar- 

 batulum were examined. 



Physiculus rastrelliger Gilbert, 1890 {Figure 

 ID). — In the illustrated otolith (9.6 mm long), 

 the ostium is 2.7 mm long and the cauda, 6.7 mm. 

 The crista superior (2.7 mm long) comprises 

 about 28% of total length and is slightly more 

 than half as long as the crista inferior (4.8 mm) . 

 The otolith of P. rastrelliger can be distinguished 

 from that of P. vematopv^ by the width of the 



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