106 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



when treated with aUzarin). Larvae of this 

 species are pelagic on the open sea. 



Prejuvenile. — Defined as beginning with end of 

 the larval stage and continuing until the in- 

 dividual leaves its pelagic habitat, descends to the 

 bottom, and completes a transformation in 

 physical appearance to that of the juvenile and 

 adult. Early prejuveniles have immaculate soft 

 dorsal and anal fins; later ones have the soft 

 parts of the vertical fins spotted, with or without 

 a black edge. The maximum size for prejuveniles 

 in nature apparently is about 65 mm. 



Juvenile. — Defined as commencing when trans- 

 formation to the adult physical appearance is 

 complete (in the bottom habitat) and terminating 

 with attainment of sexual maturity. In both 

 juveniles and adults the soft parts of the vertical 

 fins are immaculate except for a black edge. 

 The size at which the juvenile-adult transition 

 stage is reached was not determined. 



Adult. — Defined as starting with the onset of 

 sexual maturity. 



STUDY MATERIAL 



The larvae of P. alius used in this study were 

 collected during plankton surveys conducted 

 from the M/V Theodore N. Gill in the waters off 

 the Atlantic coast of the southeastern United 

 States by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 South Atlantic Fishery Investigations (now 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Lab- 

 oratory, Brunswick, Georgia). Several prejuvenile 

 and numerous adult specimens are also deposited 

 at this laboratory as a result of exploratory- 

 fishing operations conducted by other Bureau 

 vessels (primarily M/V Oregon, Silver Bay, and 

 Combat) and my own collections. All of the 

 material at this laboratory is referred to in this 

 paper by the letters BLBG (no catalog numbers) 

 and accompanying pertinent data. 



This study material was greatly supplemented, 

 especially in the middle sizes, by specimens from 

 various institutions. I am most grateful to the 

 persons named here for permitting me to examine 

 materials in their charge or, in two instances, for 

 examining specimens for me. These persons and 

 their institutions, collections, or the place in which 

 they examined specimens include — 



United States National Museum (USNM), 

 through Leonard P. Schultz; Chicago Natural 

 History Museum (CNHM), through Loren P. 



Woods; Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia (ANSP), through James E. Bohlke; 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), 

 through Richard H. Backus; University of Florida 

 Collections (UF), through John C. Briggs, John 



D. Kilby, and Daniel M. Cohen; Bingham 

 Oceanographic Collection (BOC), through James 



E. Morrow; Tulane University (TU), through 

 Royal D. Suttkus; University of Georgia (UG), 

 through Donald C. Scott; Charleston Museum 

 (ChM), through E. Milby Burton; University of 

 Miami Ichthyological Museum (UMIM), through 

 Luis R. Rivas; University of North Carolina 

 Institute of Fisheries (UNC), through Earl E. 

 Deubler; Stanford University Natural History 

 Museum (SU), through George S. Myers and the 

 late Margaret Storey ; University of Miami Marine 

 Laboratory (UMML), through C. Richard 

 Robins; Cornell University (CU), through 

 Edward C. Raney ; California Academy of Sciences 

 (CAS), which includes old Indiana University 

 numbers (lUM), through W. I. Follett; U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service Ichthyological Labora- 

 tory, U.S. National Museum (USFWS Ich. Lab.), 

 through Giles W. Mead; M/V Delaware collections, 

 through Robert H. Gibbs (RHG) ; Academy of 

 Sciences in Havana, Cuba (ASH), examined by 

 P. P. Duarte Bello and Jose Suarez Caabro; 

 Museum of the Naval Academy at Mariel, Cuba 

 (MNAMC), examined by Duarte Bello and Suarez 

 Caabro. In addition to these, I am particularly 

 grateful to Winfield Brady, who is now, and J. B. 

 Siebenaler, who was then, of Florida's Gulfarium, 

 Fort Walton Beach; to F. G. Wood of Marine 

 Studios, Marineland, Florida; and to Craig 

 Phillips, who was then of the Miami Seaquarium, 

 for specimens deposited for this study at this 

 laboratory and at the University of Florida 

 Collections. 



Specimens examined and their present location 

 are listed in table 1 . Where available, data as to 

 depth of capture for bottom-caught individuals 

 and, in pelagic specimens, depth of water over 

 which capture was made, are also included. 

 Estimated depths are from liydrographic charts. 

 Habitats are listed with question marks when 

 data with the specimen were incomplete — the 

 habitat being inferred either from the geographical 

 location or physical appearance of the specimen 

 as compared with that of specimens of known 

 habitat. 



