POWLES: DESCRIPTIONS OF LARVAL SILVER PERCH, BANDED DRUM, AND STAR DRUM 



and are complete in one specimen at 5.8 mm. The 

 anal fin is first present at 3.6 mm; the complete 

 anal ray complement is present at ^^4.0 mm and 

 anal spines are complete consistently at 4.9 mm. 

 The pelvic fin bud is first present at 3.6 mm, and 

 the complete element complement consistently 

 present at 2=5.8 mm. 



Pigmentation. Characteristic pigment patterns 

 of the brain and pectoral fin are useful for iden- 

 tifying larval L. fasciatus (Figure 3). Melano- 

 phores are present on the anterior surface of the 

 forebrain, the anterior and posterior surfaces of 

 the midbrain, the posterodorsal surface of the 

 hindbrain, and the ventral surface of the brain 

 posterior to the eye, throughout the available 

 series. The midbrain pigment appears to ring the 

 midbrain when viewed from dorsally. The pec- 

 toral fin base and membrane are heavily pig- 

 mented throughout the series. Pigment in the 

 membrane, diffuse in small larvae, is present be- 

 tween the rays when these are developed (2=4.3 

 mm). An expanded melanophore is present on the 

 visceral mass just ventral to the pectoral fin base 

 throughout the series; two or more melanophores 

 may occur here at 2*4.2 mm. 



Other head pigment includes two to four 

 melanophores on the gular isthmus between the 

 lower jaw rami, melanophores on the preoper- 

 culum posterior to the eye, a melanophore at the 

 angle of the lower jaw, and one anterior to the 

 cleithral symphysis. 



In the ventral midline of the visceral mass, early 

 larvae have three melanophores: one posterior to 

 the cleithral symphysis (between pelvic fin bases 

 when present), one midway between cleithral 

 symphysis and anus, and one on the antero ventral 

 surface of the anus. At 2=3.6 mm, the anus 

 melanophore is absent, and at ^4.5 mm, two or 

 three melanophores may occur at the other two 

 ventral midline locations. The anterior, dorsal, 

 and posterior surfaces of the visceral mass are 

 pigmented throughout the series, and at ^5.0 mm, 

 melanophores appear and increase in numbers on 

 the lateral surface of the visceral mass. 



In the ventral midline posterior to the anus, a 

 row of six melanophores is present in the smallest 

 larva (3.0 mm), the fifth of which, midway between 

 the anus and notochord tip, is larger than the 

 others. At ^3.2 mm, two melanophores occur in 

 the ventral midline, one at the position of the large 

 melanophore of the original series (at the posterior 

 end of the anal base when developed) and one 



anterior to this (just posterior to the anterior end 

 of the anal base when developed). 



In the dorsal midline, a melanophore is present 

 anterior to the origin of the finfold or spinous dor- 

 sal at ^ 3 .8 mm; two or three melanophores may be 

 present here at ^4.5 mm. Two melanophores, one 

 on either side of the midline, are present midway 

 along the spinous dorsal base at >4.8 mm, and a 

 similar pair of melanophores is present two-thirds 

 of the distance along the soft dorsal base at >5.9 

 mm. 



On the lateral surface of the body, between the 

 spinous dorsal base and the visceral mass, 

 melanophores appear at 4.4 mm and increase in 

 number with growth. 



Identification of the series. This larval series was 

 identified as L. fasciatus by dorsal and anal fin ray 

 counts, pigmentation, and by correspondence vdth 

 a published description of late larval and early 

 juvenile stages. Fin ray counts (dorsal 26-27, anal 

 6) observed in late larvae of this series could only 

 have been of L. fasciatus or M. americanus (Table 

 1). The absence of heavy, extensive body pigmen- 

 tation characteristic of Menticirrhus larvae indi- 

 cated that the series described here was L. fas- 

 ciatus rather than M. americanus. The pectoral fin 

 pigment of the series here described is similar to 

 that of L. fasciatus late larvae and early juveniles 

 described by Hildebrand and Cable (1934). Al- 

 though descriptions of early larvae in that paper 

 are inadequate, late larvae (2=10.5 mm) and 

 juveniles represent a coherent series apparently 

 correctly identified. 



Spawning season and area. No larval L. fas- 

 ciatus were present in samples from South 

 Carolina estuaries or tidal passes throughout the 

 months sampled, January-July. In MARMAP 

 tows in shelf waters, larvae were taken in April- 

 May 1974, August-September 1974, and Sep- 

 tember 1975; larvae were most frequently taken 

 on the inner two-thirds of the continental shelf 

 and occurred from Cape Canaveral to Cape Fear 

 (Figure 2). Information from plankton collections 

 made by personnel of Northeast Fisheries Center 

 Sandy Hook Laboratory (Figure 4) shows larval L. 

 fasciatus to have been distributed across the width 

 of the continental shelf and as far south as lat. 

 27°43' N. Large collections of larvae (6-18 speci- 

 mens) were common off northern Florida and 

 southern Georgia. Larval L. fasciatus were taken 

 in cruises made during May, July, and October off 



127 



