412 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



tliese had liglit pigmentation. The body sliape of 

 most of them had begun transforming, but some 

 liad not (fig. 5, lowermost). 



The largest pelagic specimen, 61.0 mm., was 

 taken over shallow water (less than 11 fathoms), 

 but very close to deep water and on a day when 

 the seas were extremely rough. The wind was 

 from the southwest and the 100-fathom line less 

 than a mile southwest of Abaco Light, with the 

 1,000-fathom line being only about -1 miles distant. 

 The next largest, 58.0 and 59.5 mm., were taken 

 over water depths between 1,000 and 2,000 

 fathoms. These were juveniles which jorobably 

 had not found shallow water in which to settle. 



TJiere was no evidence of color transformation. 

 The transforming 43.0-mm. specimen mentioned 

 above, dip netted over 27 fathoms, was light 

 colored and had begun to acquire the three charac- 

 teristic lateral blotches of tlie species. Since it 

 was dip netted over shallow water there is the pos- 

 sibility that it had settled to the bottom and 

 I'eturned to the surface. It showed no evidence, 

 of injury. 



Thus it seems tliat P. maeuJatua has two juvenile 

 stages — the first pelagic and the second a shallow- 

 water, bottom-living stage. The pelagic stage is 

 retained until the fisli eitlier finds shallow water. 



Figure .'i. — Collected with rotenone. bottom-livhiR, trnnsforming Pxcuiluiintcux ninrulntKx. From top to bottom, 

 .=i6..=) mm.. .".l..'"> mm., mikI 49.5 mm. (.\NSF «4S4(); B.ihlUc colloc-tion. B.-ihaiuas. ) 



