DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGGS AND LARVAE OF 

 THE YELLOWCHIN SCULPIN, ICELINUS QUADRISERIATUS 



(PISCES: COTTIDAE) 



Richard F. Feeneyi 



ABSTRACT 



The development of the eggs and larvae of Icelinus quadriseriatus is described from laboratory-reared 

 and field-collected specimens. 



The eggs have diameters from 1.08 to 1.17 mm, an adhesive chorion, and multiple oil globules. Before 

 hatching the oil globules coalesce into one 0.14-0.19 mm in diameter. The embryo develops a patch of 

 tubercles on the dorsal surface of the head that are lost immediately after hatching. 



The larvae hatch at 2.6-3.4 mm. Distinguishing characters are 1-6 rows of ventral gut melanophores, 

 25-63 postanal ventral melanophores, and lower jaw angle pigment. Larvae over 3.9 mm may develop 

 chin and pectoral insertion melanophores. Nasal and parietal spines appear at 9.3 mm. Postflexion lar- 

 vae develop three patches of pigment dorsolaterally on the body by 10.5 mm and transform to juveniles 

 by 16.3 mm. 



Scorpaeniform fishes are represented in the North 

 Pacific Ocean by a large group of endemic taxa 

 whose early life histories are poorly known. The 

 early life histories of many sculpins (Cottidae), the 

 second largest family in the order, were recently 

 described (Richardson and Washington 1980). Lar- 

 vae of several species ofArtedius, Clinocottus, and 

 Oligocottus have been described by Washington 

 (1986). Synchirus gilli larvae were described by 

 Marliave et al. (1985). Reared and field-collected lar- 

 vae of Chitonotus pugetensis have been described 

 (Misitano 1980; Richardson and Washington 1980); 

 however, the larval stages of the closely related 

 Icelinus, including nine described species and one 

 undescribed species (Yabe et al. 1980; R. Rosen- 

 blatt^), are unknown. The purpose of this paper is 

 to describe the eggs and larvae of the yellowchin 

 sculpin, Icelinus quadriseriatus, using both labora- 

 tory-reared and field-collected material. 



Icelinus quadriseriatus occurs along the coast of 

 California north to Sonoma County (lat. 38°23.5'N; 

 long. 123°08'W) and south to Cabo San Lucas, Baja 

 California (Miller and Lea 1972; Eschmeyer et al. 

 1983). Adults are usually collected at depths from 

 18 to 90 m (based on Natural History Museum of 

 Los Angeles County (LACM) and California Acad- 

 emy of Sciences (CAS) adult collection data); occa- 



'Section of Ichthyology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles 

 County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007. 



2R. Rosenblatt, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University 

 of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, pers. commun. winter 

 1983. 



sionally they range beyond these limits, being found 

 in the intertidal zone and as deep as 201 m (Love 

 and Lee 1974). The period of peak occurrence of 

 prespawning females for /. quadriseriatus ranges 

 from January to April, but mature oocytes have 

 been found in females in every month except Octo- 

 ber (in one year of a 2-yr study) indicating an almost 

 year-round spawning capability (Goldberg 1980). 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Adult /. quadriseriatus were collected by otter 

 trawl off Santa Monica, CA, on 8 February 1981, 

 3 July 1981, and 11 March 1982 and off of Hunt- 

 ington Beach, CA, on 19 March 1981. The females 

 were separated from the males (easily recognized 

 by their darkly pigmented anal fin and gill mem- 

 branes) and their eggs stripped into petri dishes 

 filled with seawater. Sperm stripped from the males 

 was then added to selected clutches of eggs while 

 other clutches were left unfertilized. One clutch from 

 the spawn of July 1981 and two clutches from the 

 spawn of March 1981 were split in half and only one- 

 half was fertilized. 



The eggs were incubated in natural seawater in 

 a refrigerated 227 L tank with undergravel filter 

 and within a temperature range of 13°-16°C (the 

 March 1981 spawn was kept at 14° -16°C). The egg 

 clutches were kept separate in plastic containers 

 each with its own airstone. For the last spawning, 

 March 1982, the undergravel filter was not used and 

 the gravel removed completely in an attempt to cut 



Manuscript accepted December 1986. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 85, NO. 2, 1987. 



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