UALLEY and WINTERS: EARLY LIFE HISTORY OK SAND LANCE 



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LAKE MELVILLE, OCT. 1952 

 N=14 



HAMILTON INLET BANK, OCT. 1952 

 N = 3J 



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COLLIERS BAY.SEPT,1965 

 N=14 



PENGUIN ISLANDS, AUG, 1969 

 N = 23 



OFF HERMITAGE BAY, AUG, 1969 

 N=34 



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15 20 25 JO 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 



LENGTH(MILUMETERS) 



FlGURF> 4. — Length-frequency distributions of historical sand 

 lance samples from the Newfoundland area. 



lands and Hermitage Bay) <Fig. 1 ) are interesting 

 because although they were collected approxi- 

 mately 30 miles apart on successive days, the two 

 samples have completely distinct length- 

 frequency distributions. The sample collected on 

 August 20 ranges in length from 32 to 48 mm, and 

 the one collected on August 21 ranges from 17 to 

 31 mm. The distribution of both of these samples 

 indicates that there may be more than one mode 

 in each of the smaller and larger groups. These 

 two completely different distributions may reflect 

 multiple spawning cohorts or different spawning 

 seasons in the case that they are comprised of 

 different species. 



Meristic Development 



The staining procedure resulted in cartilagi- 

 nous tissue being stained blue and ossified tissues 

 red. Very few of the larvae had vertebral columns 

 that stained for both cartilage and bone. The pro- 

 cedure resulted in three categories of vertebral 

 columns. In the first category, the whole column 

 stained blue, and this sometimes made counts dif- 

 ficult because parts of the notochord had not been 

 replaced by individual vertebrae. The second cat- 



egory contained larvae in which part of the verte- 

 bral column was stained blue and part was 

 stained red. These were few and had varying por- 

 tions of red and blue stain. Neither the anterior 

 nor the posterior portion of the vertebral column 

 consistently ossified first. The third category con- 

 tained those larvae in which all of the vertebral 

 columns were ossified and stained red. Most lar- 

 vae fell into this category. The observation that 

 larvae in the second category did not show a con- 

 sistent sequence of ossification may be an artifact 

 of the preservation. Fixation of any protein or its 

 amino acid derivatives will be followed by a drop 

 in pH wherever formaldehyde is employed (Steed- 

 man 1976). Low pH causes decalcification or solu- 

 bility of small deposits of calcium carbonate 

 (Steedman and Omari 1976) and could therefore 

 bias the interpretation of the normal developmen- 

 tal sequence of ossification. Moser (1972), 

 Fritzsche and Johnson (1980), and Matarese et al. 

 (1980) found that ossification of the vertebral 

 column proceeded posteriorly in rockfish, white 

 perch, striped bass, and Pacific tomcod, respec- 

 tively. The sequence of development and ossifica- 

 tion of fin rays was from anterior to posterior and 

 from proximal to distal portions of the rays. 



637 



