DESCRIPTION OF LARVAL AND EARLY JUVENILE 

 VERMILION SNAPPER, RHOMBOPLITES AURORUBENS 1 



Wayne A. Laroche 2 



ABSTRACT 



Larval and early juvenile development of vermilion snapper, Rhomboplites aurorubens, family Lut- 

 janidae, is described and illustrated. Identification and description are based upon morphology, pig- 

 mentation, and meristics of 27 larval and 11 early juvenile specimens ranging from 4.0 to 14.2 mm 

 standard length. All specimens were collected 65 km east of Sapelo Island, Ga., lat. 31°30'N, long. 

 80°30'W on 10 August 1972. 



Larval and early juvenile vermilion snapper, 

 Rhomboplites aurorubens (Cuvier), family Lut- 

 janidae, are described from 27 larval and 11 small 

 juvenile specimens collected at a station located 

 approximately 65 km east of Sapelo Island, Ga., 

 lat. 31°30'N, long. 80°30'W on 10 August 1972 

 (depth 22 m, surface temperature 26.7°C). 



The genus Rhomboplites is monotypic and oc- 

 curs only in the western Atlantic, from North 

 Carolina and Bermuda to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 

 including the Gulf of Mexico (Jordan and Ever- 

 mann 1898; Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928; Hil- 

 debrand 1941; Anderson 1967; Bohlke and Chap- 

 lin 1968). Walker (1950) and Munro et al. (1973) 

 reported R. aurorubens with mature ovaries dur- 

 ing the cooler months, but Munro et al. (1973) 

 suggested that some lutjanids may spawn 

 throughout the year. I was unable to find any 

 descriptions of lutjanid larvae. Small juveniles of 

 the genera Lutjanus (Starck 1971; Heemstra 

 1974; Fahay 1975) and Symphysanodon (Four- 

 manoir 1973) have been illustrated. 



METHODS 



All specimens were collected by personnel 

 aboard the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice RV Delaware II. Ichthyoplankton was col- 

 lected with a 60-cm diameter, 0.505-mm mesh, 

 bongo net towed obliquely at 1.1 km/h (0.6 knot) 

 from 20 m to the surface. 



'Contribution No. 77 from the Ira C. Darling Center, Univer- 

 sity of Maine, Walpole, ME 04573. Supported in part by National 

 Marine Fisheries Service Contract No. 03-3-043-12 to the Ira C. 

 Darling Center of the University of Maine, Orono. 



2 School of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 

 OR 97331. 



The specimens were stored in 3-5% buffered 

 Formalin 3 after being removed from the sample 

 (fixed in 10% buffered Formalin). Specimens were 

 lightly stained with alizarin to facilitate measur- 

 ing and counting body parts. One specimen (10.8 

 mm) was cleared and stained using the technique 

 of Taylor (1967). 



Illustrations were prepared using a camera 

 lucida. Measurements were taken on the left side 

 with an ocular micrometer. Measurements in- 

 clude: 



Standard length (SL) — distance from tip of snout 

 to posterior tip of notochord (before hypural 

 formation) and tip of snout to posterior margin 

 of hypurals (after hypural formation posterior 

 to notochord tip). 



Head length — distance (horizontal) from tip of 

 snout to cleithrum. 



Snout to anus — distance from tip of snout to pos- 

 terior margin of anal opening. 



Body depth — vertical distance between dorsal and 

 ventral surfaces, to the ventral tip of the clei- 

 thrum. 



Eye diameter — maximum diameter of eye. 



Spine and fin ray lengths — distance from point of 

 entry of spine or ray into flesh to distal tip. 



IDENTIFICATION 



Identification of the series was based on counts 

 of small juvenile specimens which had 24 myo- 

 meres; 7 branchiostegal rays; XII, 11 dorsal fin 



3 Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



Manuscript accepted January 1977. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75, NO. 3, 1977. 



547 



