FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 78, NO. 2 



Coryphaena spp. are more advanced or specialized 

 due to either a loss or fusion of the middle radial. 

 The loss of the "stay" for the posteriormost dorsal 

 and anal pterygiophore also represents an ad- 

 vance. Therefore, based on the dorsal and anal 

 fin and supports, placement of Coryphaena spp. 

 should be phylogenetically higher than that given 

 by Greenwood et al. (1966). 



The vertebral number is higher for C. equiselis 

 than for C. hippurus (Jordan and Evermann 1896; 

 Collette et al. 1969), yet C. equiselis has fewer 

 dorsal fin rays than C. hippurus. Coryphaena 

 equiselis also tends to have fewer anal fin rays 

 than C. hippurus. Therefore, since fin ray num- 

 ber is approximately equal to the pterygiophore 

 number, C. equiselis has fewer dorsal pterygio- 

 phores arranged in more interneural spaces, and 

 C. hippurus has more dorsal pterygiophores ar- 

 ranged in fewer interneural spaces. The situation 

 is similar for the anal fin. It is noteworthy that the 

 same number of vertebrae is found in both species 

 posteriorly to the end of the dorsal and anal 

 fins (Figure 3). The evolutionary significance of 

 the relationship between vertebral numbers and 

 pterygiophore numbers is not understood (Lind- 

 sey 1955), but may be phylogenetically important. 



During development, except for the presence of 

 two rather than three epurals, Coryphaena spp. 

 have the basic (unreduced) perciform caudal skel- 

 eton (Gosline 1961a; Monod 1968; Patterson 1968; 

 Fraser 1972). Adults of Coryphaena spp., how- 

 ever, have a more advanced caudal skeleton. The 

 presence of a single epural and uroneural, as well 

 as a dorsal and ventral hypural plate, shows 

 advance over the basic type, although the fused 

 parts remain autogenous. In the modified and 

 advanced caudal complex of most Scombridae 

 these parts may be fused to the centra. For 

 example, the epural may be fused to the special- 

 ized neural arch, the uroneurals and hypural 

 plates may be fused to the urostyle, the parhypural 

 and the hypural plate may be fused to the urostyle, 

 and two haemal spines may be fused to preural 

 centra 2 and 3. 



The pectoral skeletons of Coryphaena spp. are of 

 the basic perciform type. The pectoral supports fit 

 the description of Greenwood et al. (1966) for the 

 Acanthopterygii. The presence of supratemporal- 

 intertemporal bones and two postcleithra in Cory- 

 phaena spp. characterize them as a basic per- 

 ciform pectoral support system. Some fishes 

 may lose some or all supratemporal-intertemporal 

 bones (Scombridae) and some also may lose 



a postcleithrum (Gymnapogon, Apogonidae, 

 Fraser 1972; Xiphias gladius, author's personal 

 observation). 



The pelvic fin and supports are of the acantho- 

 pterygian (perciform) type, one bone supporting 

 an unbranched and five branched rays in a thorac- 

 ic position. The development and structure of 

 the pelvic basipterygium is similar to that of a 

 pterygiophore. The central part and wings of the 

 basipterygium closely resemble proximal radials 

 with sagittal and lateral keels. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



I wish to thank William J. Richards, Francis 

 Williams, and Gilbert L. Voss for critical com- 

 ments on the manuscript. Special thanks are due 

 to Edward D. Houde for help with statistics and for 

 a most thorough review of the manuscript. I thank 

 Elbert H. Ahlstrom for reading the manuscript 

 and for his comments, especially for those on the 

 caudal complex. 



I thank the persons that supplied me with 

 specimens: Elbert H. Ahlstrom, Bruce B. Collette, 

 Edward D. Houde, William J. Richards, C. Richard 

 Robins, Frederick H. Berry, and George C. Miller. 



For tjqjing numerous drafts of the manuscript, 

 I am grateful to Phyllis Fisher, and for proofread- 

 ing numerous drafts I thank Teresa Ratajczak and 

 Kelly Clark. I also thank Grady Reinert, Annalee 

 Green, and Joaquin Javech for inking the caudal 

 complex drawings and for labeling all the draw- 

 ings in the manuscript; Andrew J. Ramsay, Jr. for 

 the photographic work; Mai M. Brassfield and 

 Scott Quaas with the clearing and staining of the 

 study specimens; and Bruce B. Collette and Frank 

 J. Mather III for providing some original data 

 on Coryphaena spp. 



LITERATURE CITED 



AHLSTROM, E. H., AND O. P BALL. 



1954. Description of eggs and larvae of jack mackerel 

 iTrachurus symmetricus) and distribution and abun- 

 dance of larvae in 1950 and 1951. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv, 

 Fish. Bull. 56:209-245. 



Ahlstrom, E. H., J. L. Butler, and B. Y. Sumida. 



1976. Pelagic stromateoid fishes (Pisces, Perciformes) of 

 the eastern Pacific: kinds, distributions, and early life 

 histories and observations on five of these from the north- 

 west Atlantic. Bull. Mar. Sci. 26:285-402. 

 BEARDSLEY, G. L., Jr. 



1967. Age, growth, and reproduction of the dolphin. Cory- 

 phaena hippurus, in the Straits of Florida. Copeia 1967: 

 441-451. 



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