510 



Fishery Bulletin 93(3), 1995 



anterior and midbody surfaces of the fins and gradu- 

 ally expanded over the medial portion with develop- 

 ment (Fig. 4). 



Paralichthys lethostigma Newly hatched P. letho- 

 stigma larvae had melanophores on the dorsal and 

 anal finfolds that were concentrated in the middle of 

 the body (Fig. 2C). Dorsal midline pigment was well 

 developed and generally occurred from the anterior 

 portion of the caudal region to the head and snout. 

 There were fewer melanophores on the dorsal and ven- 

 tral midline posterior to the anus (i.e. in the caudal 

 region). Pigment was observed on the oil globule. 



Like P. albigutta, characteristic pigment on P. letho- 

 stigma preflexion larvae was almost-paired and al- 

 most-contiguous dorsal and ventral midline melano- 



phores that merged into one row of dorsal and ven- 

 tral melanophores in the future caudal-fin region 

 (Fig. 5A). On very early preflexion larvae (2.8-3.0 

 mm NL) that still contained vestiges of yolk and oil, 

 the dorsal midline melanophores were continuous 

 over the brain and snout, and the ventral midline 

 melanophores were continuous over the gut. Melano- 

 phores on the lateral portion of the caudal region 

 were not observed on early preflexion larvae (ca. <3.6 

 mm NL) and were not as well developed on later 

 preflexion larvae compared with P. albigutta larvae 

 (Figs. 3A and 5A). In the gut region of preflexion P. 

 lethostigma, the lateral portion of the gut was typi- 

 cally devoid of pigment (Fig. 5A) and was never as 

 well developed as that observed for P. albigutta (Fig. 

 3A). Usually, ventral melanophores in the gut region 



