FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 87, NO. 4, 1989 



men which disappears in juveniles (Fig. 4E). A 

 fifth, reduced, hypural element (HY5) forms 

 ventral to the tip of the notochord by 5.3 mm and 

 remains discrete from the upper hypural plate 

 (HY3_4)in juveniles (Fig. 4B, E). Two distinct 

 foramina are visible in the lower hypural plate 

 (HYi_2) by 5.3 mm. The distal foramen results 

 from the fusion between HYj and HY2 elements, 

 whereas the proximal foramen is probably the 

 result of the fusion between the lower plate 

 (HYi_2) and the parhypural element. Only the 

 proximal foramen remains in juveniles (Fig. 4E). 

 One principal caudal fin ray (PCFR) is attached 

 to the uppermost hypural element (HY5), six to 

 the upper hypural plate (HY:i_4), and seven to the 

 lower hypural plate (HYi_2) by 6.8 mm. Both the 

 HYi_2 and HY^^ plates ossify by 9.0 mm and 

 remain discrete from each other and from the 

 ural centrum (UC) in juveniles (Fig. 4E). 



Three epural elements (EPj, EP2, EP3) ap- 

 pear dorsal to the urostyle (UR) at about 5.3 

 mm, with a single procurrent ray attached to the 

 EP3 (Fig. 4B). Ventral procurrent rays appear 

 by 7.5 mm and the number increases to seven 

 dorsal and six ventral procurrent rays by 16.8 

 mm (Table 2). A uroneural (UN) starts to form 

 dorsal to the ural centrum by 9.0 mm, and it is 

 completely formed by 14.0 mm (Fig. 4D, E). 

 Nonossified neural (NS) and haemal (HS) spines 

 form simultaneously shortly after flexion is com- 

 menced and all are ossified by 9.0 mm. The 

 neural spine on the first preural centrum (PCi) is 

 reduced (Fig. 4, C, E). 



DISCUSSION 



Comparisons to Subfamilies of 

 the Scorpaenidae 



The larval development of G. niannoratus fol- 

 lows a similar pattern to that observed in other 

 scorpaenid species (Washington et al. 1984a). 

 The sequence of fin formation in larval G. 

 marrnoratus parallels that of larvae of the sub- 

 families Sebastinae and Scorpaeninae, except 

 that the pelvic fins in G. marrnoratus are com- 

 pletely formed following, rather than prior to, 

 the formation of the anal and dorsal fins. 

 Notochord flexion in larval G. marrnoratus 

 (4.8-6.0 mm) occurs at similar sizes to that ob- 

 served in scorpaenine larvae (4.0-6.0 mm) but 

 earlier than in sebastine (6.0-12.0 mm) and se- 

 bastolobine (6.0-7.3 mm) larvae (Washington et 

 al. 1984a). In addition, transformation of G. 

 marrnoratus larvae occurs much earlier (6.8- 



10.9 mm) than in the larvae of the other three 

 subfamilies (10.0-20.0 mm) (Washington et al. 

 1984a). 



The majority of the head spines of G. yyiar- 

 moratus develop before the postflexion stage, as 

 is the case in other scorpaenid larvae. The 

 parietal spines are not as prominent as in sebas- 

 tine and scorpaenine larvae and lack the serra- 

 tions usually found in the parietal spines of the 

 larvae of these subfamilies (Washington et al. 

 1984a). The small nuchal spines, which disappear 

 in juveniles, are excluded from the parietal 

 ridges and never exceed in length those of the 

 parietal spines, as has been observed in other 

 scorpaenine larvae. In addition, all anterior pre- 

 opercular spines except the APOi spine disap- 

 pear in larval G. marrnoratus after flexion has 

 been completed; the same spines disappear in 

 sebastine larvae (Washington et al. 1984a). The 

 prominent suborbital stay of larval G. mar- 

 rnoratus (LIO2 spine), which starts to develop 

 after flexion, is venomous in adult specimens 

 (Hutchins and Thompson 1983; Last et al. 1983). 

 In contrast to larval G. marrnoratus, this sub- 

 orbital spine is absent or incomplete in sebas- 

 tine, scorpaenine, and sebastolobine larvae. The 

 absence of a suborbital spine has been suggested 

 as a plesiomorphic condition in Scorpaeniformes 

 (Washington et al. 1984b). 



The presence of well-fused hypurals 1 and 2 

 (lower hypural plate) and hypurals 3 and 4 (up- 

 per hypural plate) in the caudal complex of larval 

 G. mannoratus represent a derived character in 

 scorpaeniform fish according to Washington et 

 al. (1984b). By contrast, the presence of both a 

 reduced fifth hypural element (HY5) and a 

 parhypural element represents a plesiomorphic 

 condition, which in turn suggests that this mono- 

 specific genus still retains characters that corre- 

 spond to a more generalized type of scorpaenid. 

 More information is needed, however, on related 

 genera of the Scorpaenidae to provide a more 

 detailed comparison of these characters in larval 

 G. marmoratus and to suggest relationships 

 within the suborder Scorpaenoidei. 



Distinguishing Larval Characters 



Larval G. ))iar))wratus can be distinguished 

 from other scorpaenid larvae that occur within 

 its geogi'aphical range by the possession of 29 

 myomeres, the dorsal fin count of XIII, 9, and 

 their large and distinctively pigmented fan- 

 shaped pectoral fins which form early in develop- 

 ment. Larvae of Scorpaena are distinguished 



896 



