FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 78, NO. 1 



the dorsal branches of the expanded melanophore. 

 A melanophore is present in the dorsal midline 

 dorsal to the melanophore at the anal fin termina- 

 tion in most specimens 2.9-6.2 mm. 



Head and visceral mass pigment is also useful in 

 identifying larval S. lanceolatus. A large melano- 

 phore is present on the anterior surface of the 

 visceral mass, between the cleithra, throughout 

 development. A similar melanophore appears on 

 the posterior surface of the visceral mass at ^4.1 

 mm; this melanophore becomes extensively 

 branched at >6.9 mm, and additional expanded 

 melanophores appear dorsal and ventral to this 

 one at 2^10.2 mm. In the ventral midline of the 

 visceral mass a melanophore is present midway 

 from cleithral symphysis to anus at 2.9-6.2 mm 

 (between pelvic fin bases when present), and a 

 second melanophore occurs on the anteroventral 

 surface of the anus at 2.9-5.8 mm. In small larvae 

 (^3.8 mm), pigment is present in the dorsal mid- 

 line and internally, on both sides of the notochord, 

 above the visceral mass. A characteristic pigment 

 area at the dorsal end of the operculum, which 

 appears to roof a cavity in this area, is present at 

 &7.4 mm. Pigment occurs at the angle of the lower 

 jaw at <6.2 mm and anterior to the cleithral sym- 

 physis throughout the development. 



Further pigment develops in late larvae (>10.2 

 mm). On the body surface, this includes a scatter- 

 ing of melanophores between the spinous dorsal 

 and the visceral mass, four clusters of small 

 melanophores in the dorsal midline along the dor- 

 sal fin base, and a few internal melanophores in 

 the midlateral line above the anal base. Small 

 melanophores appear in the spinous dorsal mem- 

 brane and at the tip of the caudal fin at 13.1 mm, 

 and in the soft dorsal membrane at 15. 1 mm. Even 

 in late larvae, pigmentation is not particularly 

 heavy. 



Identification of the series. The series was iden- 

 tified as S. lanceolatus by fin ray counts, pigmen- 

 tation, caudal fin shape, and similarity to a pub- 

 lished description of late larvae and juveniles. Fin 

 ray counts of late larvae in this series (dorsal 

 21-23, anal 8) could be those of 5. chrysoura, M. 

 americanus, M. saxatilis, or S. lanceolatus (Table 

 1). Lack of heavy extensive body pigment indi- 

 cates that the series is not Menticirrhus . The late 

 larvae of the series have a lanceolate caudal fin, 

 characteristic of S. lanceolatus but not of B. 

 chrysoura (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928; 

 Dalhlberg 1975). Late larvae (s=9 mm) and early 



juveniles of S. lanceolatus described by Hilde- 

 brand and Cable (1934) represent a coherent 

 series leading to a correctly identified young adult; 

 late larvae of the series described here are similar 

 to the late larvae of Hildebrand and Cable (1934), 

 notably in the presence of an area of pigment at 

 the upper end of the operculum, which appears to 

 roof a cavity in this area. 



Spawning season and area. Larval S. lanceo- 

 latus occurred in two South Carolina estuary sam- 

 ples in June and in one in July 1974; all three 

 samples came from bottom rather than surface 

 tows. Tidal pass sampling yielded five samples 

 containing larvae in June and five with larvae in 

 July; no larvae were taken from February to May. 

 No S. lanceolatus larvae were taken in continental 

 shelf tows. Thus, spawning appears to occur in 

 estuarine and coastal waters, and not in shelf wa- 

 ters. Spawning occurs in early summer and may 

 continue later into the year. 



DISCUSSION 



Comparisons with earlier descriptions 



Bairdiella chrysoura 



My material is in agreement with the descrip- 

 tion of Kuntz (1915), except that fin development 

 occurs at larger sizes in Kuntz's description than 

 in my material, and some pigment details are dif- 

 ferent. Kuntz's 5 mm specimen had a flexing noto- 

 chord, 13 caudal rays, a developing dorsal fin base, 

 and no anal base; these characters are found in my 

 larvae of 4.3-4.4 mm. His 7.5 mm specimen is 

 equivalent to my specimens of about 5.0 mm, hav- 

 ing about 25 dorsal fin elements, 11 anal elements, 

 no pelvic fin buds, and the full complement of 

 caudal rays. Kuntz's larvae of ^7.5 mm had a 

 melanophore in the dorsal midline above the large 

 melanophore of the ventral midline, present in 

 only a few specimens «3.5 mm SL in my series, 

 and a melanophore anterior to the dorsal fin ori- 

 gin, present in none of my specimens. These dis- 

 crepancies may be due to Kuntz's use of fresh 

 material while I used formaldehyde-preserved 

 material. Shrinkage of formaldehyde-preserved 

 larvae could account for the developmental differ- 

 ences, and melanophores may be contracted dur- 

 ing preservation or degraded with storage in 

 formaldehyde. Kuntz probably used total lengths 

 rather than standard lengths which might par- 



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