432 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



DISTRIBUTION 



Briggs (1958) listed the range of Mulhis aura- 

 tus as Bermuda and Nova Scotia to tlie West 

 Indies and tlirougliout the Uiilf of Mexico. All 

 of my specimens (table 7) fall within this range, 

 and their locations of capture are shown in 

 figure 24. 



ECOLOGY 



A pelagic larval existence is suggested for 

 M. auratus by the capture of the young up to 



46 mm. by dip net only. Specimens 47.1^ mm. and 

 larger were taken by bottom trawl (table 8, p. 429) . 

 The larval and premetamorphosed juveniles 

 were, for the most part, preserved in formalin 

 and ranged in color from dark to medium brown. 

 The metamorphosed juveniles and adults were 

 tan, yellowish, or red, depending on the length of 

 time that they had been preserved, and had many 

 varicolored stripes on their fins (stripes disappear 

 with preservation). 



40 



35 



30 



-25 



20 



• M MARTtNICUS 

 " M. AURATUS 



ATLANTIC OCEAN 



<:p^ 



CI> 



CARIBBEAN 



SEA 



10 



'U 



95 



I 



90 



85 



60 



75 



L_ 



70 



I 



65 



L_ 



60 



I 



Figure 24. — Locations of capture of MnUus auratus and Mulloidichthys martinicus. 



