Orr and Matarese: Revison of the genus Lepidopsetta Gill, 1862 



541 



from the first pore branching from the temporal canal to 

 the anteriormost pore; all pores were counted, including 

 those dorsal and ventral to the canal. Blind-side suborbital 

 pores were counted from the first pore branching from the 

 postorbital canal to the anteriormost pores. Pore counts of 

 the dorsal anterior and posterior branches of the accessory 

 dorsal branch of the lateral line ( ADB) began with the first 

 pore of each branch and did not include the single pore 

 typically found at the intersection of the two branches. 

 Supraorbital pores include the first pore dorsal to the post- 

 orbital canal and include those pores at the posterior rim 

 of the dorsal orbit (Fig. 1). Preopercular pores begin with 

 the first pore posterior to the mandibular articulation and 

 end at the last pore before the temporal canal. Caudal-fin 

 terminology follows Sakamoto (1984a). 



Larval collections 



Most data were garnered from samples collected by the 

 AFSC with standard bongo gear during ichthyoplankton 

 surveys of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska (1971-1994, 

 Table 1, Appendix Table 1). In most cases, the identities 

 of specimens collected prior to 1985 (when the uniden- 

 tified pleuronectid developmental series was first sepa- 

 rated) have been verified. All larval specimens used for 

 illustrations and morphological descriptions have been 

 cataloged at the University of Washington Fish Collection 

 (UWFC); other material will be archived at the LfWFC as 

 well (see Appendix Table 1). Additional data for Lepidop- 

 setta in Canadian waters were obtained from the Canadian 

 Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Biological 

 Station, Nanaimo (W. Shaw), and Vancouver Public Aquar- 

 ium (J. Marliave; these specimens are now deposited at 

 UWFC ). The Washington Department of Fisheries also pro- 

 vided distribution and life history data for Puget Sound. -^ 

 In addition, dip-net sampling in Puget Sound conducted 

 by the AFSC from 1985 through 1995 resulted in 16 col- 

 lections of Lepidopsetta larvae (Busby et al, 2000). Two 

 larvae from the Washington, Oregon, and northern Cali- 

 fornia survey area were examined — the only two Lepidop- 

 setta larvae collected during the eight years (from 1980 

 to 1987) during which the AFSC conducted ichthyoplank- 

 ton cruises in the region. Geoff Moser, NMFS Southwest 

 Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), provided data for Lep- 

 idopsetta collected during California Cooperative Fisher- 

 ies Investigations (CalCOFI) cruises conducted along the 

 coast of California. 



Identirication of juveniles 



Recently transformed juveniles present particular prob- 

 lems in identification because adult characters, such 

 as meristics and pigment patterns, are not completely 

 developed and some aspects of larval shape, structure, 

 and pigment patterns are retained. Thus, early juveniles 

 (approximately 20-35 mm SL) were identified by a combi- 



Figure 1 



Supraorbital pores of Lepidopsetta species: 

 (A) L. bilineata. UW 29670, 187. .5 mm; (B) L. 

 polyxystra n. sp., UW 044023, 239.5 mm; (C) 

 L. mochigarei, USNM 68245, 174.0 mm, holo- 

 type. View of dorsal (right lateral I side. Scale 

 bar equals 15 mm. 



Penttila, D. 1996. Personal commun. Puget Sound Forage 

 Fish Unit, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 1702 

 Anderson Road, Bay 4, Mt. Vernon, WA 98173. 



nation of characters, including gill-raker counts of the first 

 arch, larval pigment characters retained on the blind side, 

 and size at transformation. Although gill rakers were not 

 fully formed, specimens with counts greater than seven on 

 the lower arch were assumed to be the new species. Juve- 

 niles with counts of seven or less were identified in con- 

 junction with other characters. Postsettlement juveniles 

 gi-eater than 30 mm SL were separated by using the above 

 characters in addition to counts of the number of supraor- 

 bital pores. Lepidopsetta bilineata typically has 4-6 head 

 pores along the supraorbital canal, whereas the new spe- 

 cies typically has 1-3. Differences in gill-raker structure 

 useful in distinguishing adults are usually not evident at 

 sizes less than 200 mm SL. 



