Able et al.: Transitions in morphological features, habitat use, and diet of Lophius amenconus 



459 



at which 50% of individuals ex- 

 pressed the juvenile-adult state of 

 the character. The standard error 

 of the median was converted to 

 a 95% confidence interval, which 

 indicates the sizes at which 5% 

 to 95% of individuals express the 

 adult state of the character. 



Size and age at early 

 life history events 



Events during the early life his- 

 tory of goosefish were assessed 

 by examination of sizes of fish at 

 capture and by determination of 

 ages and past events in the life 

 of the fish as reflected in its oto- 

 lith microstructure. Pelagic and 

 benthic specimens (51-128 mm 

 TL) used for daily otolith incre- 

 ment analysis were collected from 

 a variety of sources (Table 1). An 

 additional set of larvae hatched 

 in the laboratory from egg veils 

 collected in coastal waters off 

 Long Beach Island, New Jersey, 

 were examined for evidence of oto- 

 lith microstructure that reflected 

 hatching and the absorption of 

 yolk. Preliminary examination of 

 all three otoliths indicated that 

 the lapilli were the easiest to 

 interpret because of the clarity of 

 increments and the lack of second- 

 ary growth structures. Hislop et 

 al. (2001) came to a similar conclu- 

 sion for L. piscatorius. Before oto- 

 lith removal, individual fish were 

 measured to the nearest 1 mm TL. 

 Lapilli were removed, cleaned in 

 bleach, and dried in 95% ethanol 

 before they were mounted on glass 

 slides by using a thermoplastic 

 adhesive (Crystal Bond, Electron 

 Microscopy Sciences, Hatfield, 

 PA). Lapilli from fish >70 mm TL 

 were ground and polished to the 

 primordia on both surfaces with 

 1500 grit wet-dry sand paper 

 with water as a lubricant, then 

 finely polished with a 0.3-micron 

 micropolish on a Buehler micropo- 

 lishing cloth. Lapilli from fish <70 

 mm TL were polished to the pri- 

 mordia with the same materials 

 but on the surface of the sulcus. 

 Lapilli were cleaned with distilled 

 water before they were immersed 

 in oil for viewing. An analysis of 



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