564 



Fishery Bulletin 98(3) 



Lepidopsetta b 

 Farallones, M. 

 contract to the 



mentary; total gill rakers on second 

 arch 6-11; supraorbital pores 3-9; 

 preopercular pores 5-7; lateral-line 

 pores 70-91; sum of scales above and 

 below lateral line 65-88; interorbital 

 narrow; blind-side coloration white, 

 with glossy highlights along myo- 

 tome margins increasing anteriorly. 

 Larvae are distinguished from 

 other species of Lepidopsetta by the 

 following characters: body deep, 

 snout-to-anus length short; hatch- 

 ing, flexion, and transformation at 

 comparatively smaller sizes; preflex- 

 ion pigment pattern with pigment 

 patches along distal edges of dorsal 

 and anal finfolds, four prominent 

 spots along dorsal midline (in a pat- 

 tern resembling alternating dorsal 

 and ventral spots, with posterior- 

 most dorsal spot coalescing with a 

 corresponding ventral patch to form 



a bar), and a series of small ventral midline melanophores 

 extending from gut to last myomere; flexion pigment pat- 

 tern with distinctive anterior dorsal midline spot and pos- 

 teriormost dorsal spot forming a bar with corresponding 

 ventral patch; pectoral-fin rays unpigmented. 



Description of adults (Fig. 15) 



Body ovate, greatest depth 40.8-57,0 (47.0)'7, SL, scales 

 above lateral line 25-43 and scales below lateral line 

 27-53; head relatively acute, length 24.0-32.9 (28.2)'7f 

 SL; dorsal margin of head at dorsal-fin origin concave, 

 snout length 3.1-6.1 (4.5)';f SL (12.4-22.4 (16.1)':/, HL); 

 ocular-side maxilla length 25.3-32.5 (27.9)9r HL; blind- 

 side maxilla relatively long, length 25.2-41.2 (31.3)% HL; 

 ocular-side mandible length 38.3-46.1 (41.9)'7f HL; teeth 

 5-10 on ocular-side premaxilla. 20-27 on blind-side pre- 

 maxilla and 10-12 on ocular-side dentary, 23-29 on blind- 

 side dentary; gill rakers of first arch typically broad and 

 robust, 6-11 total, 1-4 on upper arch, 5-7 on lower; gill 

 rakers of second arch 6-11 total, 1 on upper and 5-10 

 on lower arch; dorsal orbit larger than eye length, orbit 

 length 23.4-32.5 (28.1)% HL, dorsal eye length 17.9-30.3 

 (24.2)% HL; ventral eye length 18.2-35.4 (24.8)% HL; 

 interorbital narrow, up to 3 scales at narrowest portion, 

 2.1-6.0(3.5)'/, HL; cheek with 9-16 scales, length 28.1-41.8 

 (34.2)% HL, depth 13.9-24.2 (19.2)'/, HL; preopercular 

 pores 5-7; ocular-side suborbital pores 14-29; blind-side 

 suborbital pores 6-13; lateral-line pores 70-91, lateral- 

 line arch length 49.3-58.1 (54.3)% HL, its depth 24.8-37.1 

 (30.2)% of its length; both anterior and posterior supra- 

 temporal branches relatively long, anterior pores 2-12, 

 posterior pores 8-30; supraorbital canal long, extending to 

 dorsal rim of dorsal orbit near insertions of dorsal-fin rays 

 3-4, pores 3-9; ocular-side pectoral-fin length 12.2-18.2 

 (15.2)% SL (43.6-66.2 (,53. 9)% HL); blind-side pectoral-fin 

 length 6.7-12.2 (9.9)'/, SL (23.2-44.3 (35.0)'/, HLi, about 

 equal to ocular-side pelvic-fin length 7.6-12.5 (9.8)':"^ SL 



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Figure IS 



lUneata (Ayres), neotype, CAS 42650, 207.6 mm, Calif, Gulf of the 

 Moriguchi, August-September 1978. Illustration by B. Vinter, under 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center. 



(26.7-44.7 (34.8)% HL); dorsal fin with 67-89 rays, height 

 10.7-16.5 (13.3)% SL, in specimens with 72-79 rays sup- 

 ported by 71-78 pterygiophores, 9-11 anterior to first 

 neural spine; anal fin with 54—77 rays, in specimens with 

 54-62 rays supported by 53-60 pterygiophores; caudal 

 peduncle relatively slender, least depth 8.2-12.3 ( 10.2)'/, SL 

 (29.6-43.0 (36.2)% HL; 90.0-152.4 (112.6)% caudal pedun- 

 cle length); greatest depth 10.5-14.3(12.1)% SL (37.2-53.0 

 (42.8)'/, HL); caudal peduncle length 7.2-10.9 (9.1)% 

 SL (25.5-42.2 (32.4)% HL); caudal-fin length 15.3-23.6 

 (20.8)% SL. Vertebrae 40-41, with 11 precaudal and 29-30 

 caudal. 



Scales around head and those scattered posteriorly on 

 ocular side moderately rough with columnar tubercles in 

 large adults; strong spines in small adults and juveniles. 

 Urogenital flap darkly pigmented in 21-58 mm juveniles. 



In life, blind side in adults translucent to bright white, 

 with glossy highlights along edges of myotomes; in juve- 

 niles, primarily translucent, and having reduced glossy 

 areas especially prominent over the head. When preserved, 

 blind side of all individuals uniform creamy white to yel- 

 low-brown. Ocular side slightly more green than that of 

 congeneric in Puget Sound. 



Remaining description as for genus. Largest specimen 

 examined 426 mm (UW 044012). Maximum size reported 

 ca. 540 mm (580 mm TL'^). 



Description of juveniles (Fig. 16) 



Most individuals were collected on bottom (Fig. 16A) by 

 19.0 mm; newly settled juveniles with dorsal eye completely 

 migrated; median fin rays formed; lateral line nearly formed; 

 expanded anteriormost anal-fin pterygiophore well devel- 



' Resource Assessment and Consen.'ation Engineering (RACEi 

 Division. 1996. Unpubl. data from RACE database. Alaska 

 Fisheries Science Center, Natl. Mar Fish. Serv., NOAA, 7600 

 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115. 



