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Fishery Bulletin 98(3) 



pigment was absent in the next two larvae in the series 

 (4.4 and 4.9 mm I but it was present in the remaining 

 larvae of the series. Additional melanophores were added 

 until the entire dorsal surface of the caudal peduncle was 

 lined with pigment by 12.2 mm. 



Fins Melanophores were present on the pelvic fin bud 

 at its emergence in the 3.6-mm (9 DAH) specimen. This 

 pigment became concentrated on the first ray and in the 

 membrane between the first and second rays as fin ele- 

 ments developed. Melanophores appeared on the mem- 

 brane between the second and third rays by 5.5 mm and 

 continued to increase until pigment was present between 

 the first four pelvic rays by 12.2 mm. Pigment appeared in 

 the dorsal-fin membrane behind the second dorsal spine 

 by 3.6 mm (10 DAH) and continued to increase as that 

 spine grew, so that pigment extended out along the entire 

 length of the spine. At 4.9 mm, additional melanophores 

 were present near the distal margin of the dorsal-fin mem- 

 brane between the third and fourth, fourth and fifth, and 

 fifth and sixth spines. This latter condition was not con- 

 sistent over the series; the 5.5-mm specimen had pigment 

 between the third and fourth, fifth and sixth, sixth and sev- 

 enth spines, whereas the 5.6-mm specimen had pigment 

 only between the fifth and sixth spines. As seen in the 

 largest specimens of the series, pigment eventually devel- 

 oped in the membrane between all of the dorsal spines 

 but pigment was consistently most extensive behind the 

 second dorsal spine. By 12.2 mm, melanophores appeared 



in the proximal region of the fin membrane at the base of 

 the spines. One melanophore was present at the base of 

 the last dorsal ray by 9.6 mm, and by 12.2 mm pigment 

 covered the entire base of the dorsal fin. As the anal fin 

 formed, one to four melanophores from the pav series per- 

 sisted over the posterior pterygiophores. At sizes larger 

 than 9.6 mm, additional melanophores began to form on 

 the anal fin base, and by 12.2 mm the pterygiophores of 

 the last six rays were pigmented and eventually the entire 

 anal-fin base was covered. The distal region of the anal 

 fin and the pectoral fin were extensively pigmented in the 

 26.3-mm specimen. Pigment on the caudal-fin rays first 

 developed on the ventralmost rays and subsequently near 

 the posterior margin of the fin until in the 26.3-mm speci- 

 men, the membrane between the rays was pigmented from 

 the base out to the edge of the fin. 



Comparison of reared and wild larvae 



Reared and wild red snapper larvae were examined and 

 compared to determine variability and usefulness of var- 

 ious developmental characters iFigs. 1-6; Tables 1-4). 

 Field-collected larvae were identified as red snapper by 

 the presence of morphological and pigmentational fea- 

 tures described in Collins et al. (1980i and Richards et 

 al. ( 1994), as well as by their general resemblance to the 

 reared larvae described in our study. All wild larvae were 

 collected in shelf waters in the northcentral GOM, where 



