FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 78, NO. 2 



k 



0.5 mm 



^ 



Figure 13. — Anteriormost dorsal fin pterygiophore with secondarily associated vestigial ray from a 230 mm SL Coryphaena equiselis. 

 Left: anterodorsal view, right: left lateral view. Symbols: P, proximal radial; R, vestigial ray. 



Sparidae (Houde and Potthoff 1976), Centro- 

 pomidae, Kyphosidae, Lutjanidae, Percichthy- 

 idae, and Scorpidae (Johnson 1978), and Gem- 

 pylidae and Scombrolabracidae (Potthoff et al. 

 1980). 



Anal Fin 



The fully developed anal fin of Coryphaena 

 hippurus has 25-31 rays (N = 147, x = 28, SE = 

 0.01, 16-172 mm SL) and that of C. equiselis 23-29 

 (N - 118, X - 26, SE = 0.01, 16-230 mm SL). The 

 anal fin ray counts, in contrast to the dorsal fin ray 

 counts, differ only slightly from those reported by 

 Gibbs and Collette (1959), Rothschild (1964), and 

 Shcherbachev (1973). Both species have adult anal 

 fin ray counts at smaller sizes than dorsal fin ray 

 counts (C. hippurus at 8-11 mm SL, C. equiselis 

 at 8-9 mm SL). 



Anal fin rays v^^ere first seen in some C. hip- 

 purus at 6 mm NL, just before the onset of dorsal 



290 



fin ray development and all C. hippurus had anal 

 rays at 7 mm NL (Figure 15). The smallest 

 available (6.5 mm NL) C. equiselis had 14 anal 

 rays. Development of the anal fin of both species 

 began in the finfold at the approximate center of 

 the fin, below the 22d or 23d myomere. Addition of 

 rays was in an anterior and posterior direction for 

 both species (Figure 2). As in the dorsal fin, the 

 posterior portion of the anal fin was completed 

 first and the anteriormost rays developed last. 

 From 6 mm NL to 9 mm SL, C. hippurus had fewer 

 anal fin rays than C. equiselis; at 10 and 11 mm SL, 

 both species had about equal numbers of rays; at 

 12 mm SL and longer, C. hippurus tended to have 

 more anal rays than C equiselis (Figure 15). 



Appearance and additional sequence of anal fin 

 rays in Coryphaena spp. are similar to Scomber 

 Japonicus iPneumatophorus diego) (Kramer 1960), 

 Thunnus atlanticus (Potthoff 1975), Haemulon 

 plumieri (Saksena and Richards 1975), and Archo- 

 sargus rhomboidalis (Houde and Potthoff 1976). 



