FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75, NO. 4 



PREMAXILLARY TEETH 



B 



D 



.0 



DENTARY TEETH 



FIGURE 22. — Dentition of right premaxilla and dentary in juveniles of six species of sciaenids: A. Larimus fasciatus; B. Cynoscion 

 regalis; C. Bairdiella chrysoura D. Micropogonias undulatus; E. Menticirrhus saxatilis; F. Leiostomus xanthurus. Posterior end toward 

 the middle of the figure. 



from abrasion by ingested materials and may also 

 be adapted to particular food and feeding habits. 

 In sciaenids, the gill rakers reflect feeding niche 

 by their numbers, size, and shape. They are found 

 on the dorsolateral surface of the branchial arch 

 ( Figure 24 ) and along its inner surface. The lateral 

 gill rakers are well developed only on the first gill 

 arch and the inner (or medial) gill rakers occur 

 only as tubercles on all five gill arches. Only the 



rakers on the first gill arch are discussed here. 



Menticirrhus saxatilis and C. regalis have the 

 fewest gill rakers (Table 6). Bairdiella chrysoura 

 and Micropogonias undulatus have an inter- 

 mediate number and L. xanthurus and Larimus 

 fasciatus have the most gill rakers. Numbers of 

 inner gill rakers (Table 6) follow a similar se- 

 quence. The relative size of the gill rakers and 

 their morphology differ among species ( Figure 24). 



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