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



565 



oped. Preanal pigment increased 

 along head and gut; postanal 

 pigment smaller and distributed 

 in random patches; urogenital 

 papilla darkly pigmented through- 

 out its length. Blind side with pig- 

 ment similar to that of postflexion 

 larvae. Orbit length larger, mouth 

 smaller, body depth less, gill-raker 

 counts on lower arch less, and 

 distance from pelvic-fin origin to 

 anal-fin origin greater than in L. 

 polyxystra n. sp. Pelvic- and pecto- 

 ral-fin rays formed. 



By 30.0 mm, pigmentation has 

 increased along body, with darker 

 patches and spots throughout 

 (Fig. 16B) obscuring pigmented 

 urogenital papillae. Lateral line 

 more fully developed; supraorbital 

 canal pores visible. 



Description of larvae (Fig. 17) 



19.0 mm SL 



B 



Snout-to-anus length is 32.9- 

 34.6'^ SL, remaining constant 

 during development; body depth 

 4.7-35.7% SL, increasing with 

 development, sharply after flex- 

 ion; head length 13.3-29.3% SL, 

 increasing with development, 

 sharply after flexion; snout length 

 22.6-20.7% HL, remaining con- 

 stant during development; orbit 

 length 5L9-23.8% HL, decreas- 

 ing with development (Table 2). 

 Total myomeres 37-44. 



Larvae hatching at small 

 lengths, at sizes less than 3.0 

 mm, yolk absorbed by 2.7-4.5 

 mm. Preflexion larvae ranging in 

 size from 3.8 to 6.6 mm; flexion 

 larvae, from 6.4 to 11.1 mm; post- 

 flexion larvae from 10.8 to 16.0 mm. Transformation occur- 

 ring at lengths as small as 10.0 mm (often accompanied 

 by a decrease in total body length); postsettlement juve- 

 nile stage usually attained by 20.0 mm (Table 13). 



Preanal pigment present initially along lower jaw and 

 ventral side of cleithral region, increasing with develop- 

 ment to snout, upper jaw, and isthmus. Pigment ventrally 

 along gut and dorsally on anus; by flexion a distinct patch 

 of melanophores along the posterior edge of the gut; pig- 

 ment increases laterally with development. 



Postanal pigment present as melanophores along distal 

 edges of dorsal and anal finfolds; four distinct pigment 

 areas along the dorsal midline, anterior (first) spot begins 

 1-5 myomeres after anus at about myomere 12-16, second 

 spot begins at about myomere 23-26. third spot begins at 

 about myomere 33-46, and the fourth spot begins at about 

 myomere 41-42 (after initially forming as a dorsal midline 



^WmM 



33,0 mm SL 



Figure 16 



Juveniles of Lepidopsetta bilineata (Ayres); (A) LrW 083484, 19.0 mm, Kaehemak Bay, 

 Alaska, 59°37.8'N, 15r44.2'W. 34 m depth, 17 July 1996; (B) UW 083483. 33.0 mm, 

 ofT Vancouver Island. 48°39.5'N, 12.5°.55.2'W. 19 September 1977. Illustrations by B. 

 V'inter. under contract to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Sci- 

 ence Center. 



patch, the posteriormost spot coalesces with ventral patch 

 to form a caudal bar); series of melanophores from the 

 gut along the ventral midline beginning in a double row, 

 changing to a single row posterior to the ventral stripe 

 of the caudal bar; several additional melanophores along 

 the ventral midline posterior to the caudal bar, pigment 

 above and below the tip of the notochord. By transforma- 

 tion, the third dorsal midline patch and opposing ventral 

 patch expand to form an indistinct bar; other patches of 

 pigment form in myosepta and continue into the dorsal 

 and anal pterygiophores and fin rays. 



Distribution (Figs. 6, 10, 12, 18) 



Lepidopsetta bilineata ranges from the continental shelf 

 north and south of the Islands of Four Mountains in the 

 eastern Aleutian Islands and in the southern Bering Sea 



