POTTHOFF: DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE OF FINS IN CORYPHAENA 



Figure 12. — Left lateral view of four anteriormost dorsal fin pterygiophores with secondarily and serially associated 

 rays from a 230 mm SL Coryphaena equlselis. Symbols: R, dorsal fin ray; P, proximal radial; D, distal radial. 



The proximal and distal radials (except the 

 anteriormost three or four) of Coryphaena spp. 

 were similar along the entire fin and were located 

 between the bifurcate bases of the fin rays. Middle 

 radials were absent in the posterior portion of the 

 fin. In most other perciform fishes, distal radials 

 differ between the first and second dorsal fins. The 

 first dorsal fin distal radials are anterior to the 



bases of the fin spines, and the second dorsal fin 

 distal radials are between the bifurcate bases 

 of the fin rays, and middle radials are pres- 

 ent posteriorly. Anatomically different distal 

 radials for the first and second dorsal fins and 

 the presence of middle radials posteriorly have 

 been reported in the Carangidae (Berry 1969), 

 Scombridae (Kramer 1960; Potthoff 1974, 1975), 



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