Smith-Vaniz and Carpenter; Review of the Caronx hippos complex with a description of a new species from West Africa 211 



Figure 3 



Dentition of crevalle jack iCara/ix hippos), UF 69645, 180 

 mm FL, Florida, Gulf of Mexico; premaxilla (abovej, dentary 

 (below); scale bar = 5 mm. 



carangid species reveals an almost complete continuum 

 of dentition types that in some cases does not agree with 

 traditional generic assignments. In all members of the C. 

 hippos complex the upper jaw has an outer row of strong 

 canines (widely spaced in adults) and an inner band of 

 small villiform teeth that is widest anteriorly. The lower 

 jaw has a single row of strong conical teeth that are 

 smaller anteriorly, and one or two pairs of noticeably 

 enlarged inner symphyseal canines. Enlarged symphy- 

 seal dentary canines are absent in the following species 

 of Caranx: C. crysos. C. caballus Giinther, C. melampy- 

 gus Cuvier, C. papuensis. and C. senegallus Cuvier. Gill 

 (1862) proposed the genus Paratractus for Ca?-a?ix pis- 

 quetus Cuvier, a junior synonym of C. crysos, primarily 

 because of the absence of symphyseal canines. 



Some recent authors follow Randall (1996) in assign- 

 ing several common Atlantic carangids to the genus 

 Carangoides Bleeker, but we maintain traditional usage 

 for reasons given by Smith-Vaniz et al. (1999, p. 237). 



Figure 4 



Breast squamation (naked areas shaded) of long- 

 fin crevalle jack iCaranx fischeri), ANSP 158495, 

 154 mm FL, Nigeria. 



Hyperostosis In Caranx species 



Hyperostosis appears to have been an integral part 

 of the evolutionary history of the Caranx hippos com- 

 plex, but the pattern of expression is surprisingly 

 different in each species (Table II. Hyperostosis 

 involves the expansion or swelling of certain bones 

 into globose, gall-like structures characterized by 

 cellular bone foci and bone-resorbing osteoclasts. 

 In most carangids the condition is usually ap- 

 parent only in relatively large individuals (but can be 

 detected histologically in smaller individuals) and the 

 onset in different bone foci is typically sequential rather 

 than simultaneous. A large number and size range of 

 individuals of each species usually must be examined 

 before the ontogenetic pattern can be precisely deter- 

 mined. Although Smith-Vaniz et al. (1995) were unable 

 to determine the functional significance of hyperostosis, 

 they found no histological evidence of hyperostosis as 

 a pathologic condition and concluded that the intraspe- 

 cific predictability and site-specificity of hyperostosis 

 in a taxonomically diverse group of marine fishes was 

 indicative of genetic control. 



A detailed description of hyperostosis in Caranx is 

 beyond the scope of this article, but to appreciate the 

 context of its site-specificity and distribution in the C. 

 hippos complex we briefly discuss its known occurrence 

 in the genus. We found no evidence of hyperostosis in 

 adults of six species: C. heberi, C. ignobilis, C. lugubris 



