FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 3 



to the completion of the developmental series 

 were obtained principally from midwater and 

 bottom trawls. These developmental stages are 

 described herein, with special emphasis on the 

 developmental osteology of the larvae. Also, 

 the geographic distribution of the larvae in the 

 CalCOFI area is presented and compared with 

 the known distributions of juveniles and adults. 



METHODS 



Larvae of S. macdonaldi from 4 years (1953, 

 1960, 1965, 1966) of CalCOFI survey cruises 

 were identified and counted. From these and 

 selected other specimens, two developmental 



series that encompassed the entire larval period 

 were established. Larvae of the first series were 

 measured with the ocular micrometer of a stereo- 

 scopic microscope to produce a table of mor- 

 phometries (Table 1) for comparison of body 

 proportions of 5. macdonaldi larvae with those 

 of S. paucispinis and other species. This series 

 also provided a framework for the descriptions 

 of larval morphology and melanophore pattern. 

 Larvae of the second series, cleared with a 

 graded series of KOH-glycerin solutions and 

 stained with Alizarin Red-S, were used to de- 

 termine the sequence of ossification of bones and 

 fin rays and to prepare a table of meristic char- 

 acters (Table 2). 



Table 1. — Measurements (mm) of larvae and pelagic juveniles of Sebastes macdonaldi. 



dashed lines are undergoing notochord flexion.) 



(Specimens between 



Pelagic juvenile. 



942 



