FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 87. NO. 3. 1989 



of 17-20 pectoral rays appears at transforma- 

 tion. Pelvic rays begin to calcify late in post- 

 flexion and all are calcifying at transformation. 

 Initial vertebral ossification occurs early in the 

 flexion stage and the full complement of 25 

 vertebrae is present at the end of flexion. Calcifi- 

 cation of branchiostegal rays begins late in pre- 

 flexion and the full complement of 7 pairs is pre- 

 sent in some midflexion specimens. 



Pigmentation 



The earliest yolk-sac larvae in our collections 

 have extensive dorsal and ventral midhne pig- 

 ment. The dorsal midline has an irregular row of 

 30^0 melanophores between the notochord tip 

 and the midgut region. More than 40 mela- 

 nophores form an irregular series along the 

 entire ventral margin of the tail, extending some 

 distance forward above the gut. Melanophores in 

 these rows coalesce to ca. 30 in each, before the 

 eyes become pigmented. At initial eye pigmenta- 

 tion there are ca. 20 larger, regularly arranged 

 melanophores in each row with a gap separating 

 a line of 5-7 smaller melanophores that outline 

 the dorsal and ventral margins of the notochord 

 tip. Melanophores also appear at the dorsal sur- 

 face of the gut, at the gular region, and on the 

 snout. 



At the end of the yolk-sac stage the mela- 

 nophores in the dorsal and ventral rows co- 

 alesce to as few as 18 in the dorsal row and to 16 

 in the ventral row. A melanophore forms at the 

 nape and, in some specimens, is continuous with 

 the dorsal midline series. The zone of mela- 

 nophores covering the dorsal surface of the gut 

 extends forward into the head below the otic 

 region. Embedded melanophores form in the 

 snout region below the forebrain and some ap- 

 pear above the midbrain. The ventral gut mela- 

 nophores move internally anterior to the gut 

 mass. A melanophore is present at the tip of the 

 lower jaw. 



The midline melanophores coalesce further 

 during early preflexion (15-18 dorsally and 12-15 

 ventrally). The short rows at the notochord tip 

 are also reduced (2-3 dorsally and 1-3 ventrally). 

 Melanophores are added above the brain and 

 cover the optic lobes. Snout and otic pigment 

 increase to give the appearance of a band 

 through the eye, similar to that formed in G. 

 nigricans and H. azurea (Fig. ID, 4C). The 

 dorsal gut melanophores increase to form a 

 shield which extends laterally over the gut; the 

 ventral surface of the gut remains unpigmented. 



Midlateral melanophores begin to form pos- 

 teriorly on the tail in preflexion larvae as small 

 as 3.8 mm. The series consists of 1-2 (up to 4) 

 melanophores during most of the preflexion 

 period. During this period the dorsal midline 

 series recedes posteriad to above the hindgut 

 and a gap develops in the ventral series posterior 

 to the large melanophore embedded above the 

 anus. In late preflexion and flexion larvae the 

 ventral series is restricted to the posterior half 

 of the tail and contains 6-10 melanophores. Mela- 

 nophores are added to the lateral series during 

 flexion and a short bar is formed when these, 

 together with the midline melanophores above 

 and below, are expanded. By the end of flexion it 

 is difficult to distinguish individual melanophores 

 in any of the midline series. The melanistic shield 

 on the gut covers all but the ventral midhne. The 

 dorsal surface of the head is fully pigmented and a 

 patch of melanophores forms on the opercle. The 

 notochord tip usually has 1-2 small melanophores 

 dorsally and ventrally in flexion larvae, 0-2 in 

 postflexion specimens, and 0-2 in some pelagic 

 juveniles up to 14.5 mm in length. 



The dorsal and ventral midline pigment series 

 extend forward in postflexion larvae, the ventral 

 series reaching the anus at ca. 9.5 mm and the 

 dorsal series reaching the head at ca. 10.5 mm. 

 The lateral midline series reaches the anal fin 

 origin at ca. 9.0 mm and extends to above the 

 midgut in transforming larvae. A covering of 

 superficial melanophores develops on the tail and 

 advances anteriad with the midhne series. The 

 entire body, except for the anterior trunk 

 region, is pigmented by the end of postflexion 

 and only a small portion of the upper trunk lacks 

 melanophores in transforming specimens. Mela- 

 nophores are added to the opercular and pre- 

 opercular regions, the lower jaw, gular region, 

 and isthmus. The entire head and gut are pig- 

 mented by the beginning of transformation. 



The distinctive fin pigmentation of pelagic 

 juveniles begins to form in late postflexion 

 larvae when the membrane between the poste- 

 rior dorsal soft rays becomes pigmented (Fig. 

 4E, 4F). By the end of transformation the mem- 

 brane between the dorsal spines also becomes 

 pigmented, leaving an unpigmented zone in the 

 middle of the fin. Also, at this stage a melanistic 

 zone develops posteriorly on the anal fin (Fig. 

 5A). A patch develops over the anal spines and 

 basally on each pelvic fin in 14.0 mm pelagic 

 juveniles; juveniles up to about 40 mm are char- 

 acterized by this interrupted pattern on the 

 median fins (Fig. 5C). In 40-50 mm juveniles the 



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