NEIRA: LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIAN DEVILFISH 



Table 1 . — Morphometric measurements for larval, transforming, and juvenile Gymnapistes mar- 

 moratus. Body intervals are expressed as a percentage of body length: n = number of individuals. 

 Means and standard deviations (in parentheses) are given when n > 1 . Blanks indicate character is 

 absent. Individuals indicated with ' and " correspond to a transformed larva and juveniles respec- 

 tively. Individuals between dashed lines were undergoing notochord flexion. 



head has one melanophore at the angle of the 

 lower jaw, one ventral melanophore at the gular 

 area, and a gi'oup of internal melanophores at 

 the base of the hindbrain. All of these mela- 

 nophores are retained (Figs. 1, 2). Melanophores 

 appear on the midbrain by 4.9 mm and develop 

 over the snout, opercular, and gular areas by 6.0 

 mm. 



The dorsal surface of the swimbladder and 

 ventral surface of the gut are pigmented in pre- 

 flexion larvae. A single row of melanophores oc- 

 curring along the ventral surface of the gut in 

 small larvae persists throughout development 

 (Figs. 1, 2). Melanophores appear externally on 

 the lateral surface of the trunk by 6.2 mm and 

 expand over the gut area by 9.5 mm (Fig. 2A, 

 B). A single row of 16-22 melanophores is pres- 

 ent on the ventral surface of the tail in preflexion 

 larvae, each melanophore spaced about one per 



myomere. This single row of melanophores be- 

 comes double along the anal fin base in post- 

 flexion larvae. Pigment appears on the dorsal 

 surface of the body by 5.5 mm and, shortly after, 

 on the lateral surface of the body. Transition 

 from larval to juvenile pigmentation begins by 

 6.8 mm. Juveniles develop blotches of pigment 

 on the head, trunk, and dorsal and anal fin mem- 

 branes (Fig. 2B). 



Melanophores appear on the pectoral fins by 

 3.3 mm (Fig. lA), extend distally on each pec- 

 toral ray by 4.6 mm, and remain along the edges 

 of the distal portion of the rays throughout de- 

 velopment (Fig. 2A). In larvae over 10 mm, 

 patches of pigment form on the pectoral fin bases 

 and on the fin membranes (Fig. 2B). Melano- 

 phores appear on the dorsal and anal fin mem- 

 branes by 6.0 mm, and patches of pigment form 

 on the membranes of these fins by 10 mm. The 



891 



