456 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



specimen. (The secondary rays were examined in 

 cleared and stained material only.) 



Gill rakers. — Entire first arch, 21 to 27; upper 

 hmb, 5 to 8; lower limb, 16 to 19; ceratobranchial 

 bone, 11 to 14 (tables 5 and 6). The data indicate 

 a very slight increase in number of gill rakers with 

 increase in size from 10 to 260 mm. The number of 

 rakers on the ceratobranchial bone increases 

 slightly with growth, probably the result of 

 migration of the first rakers from on, or by, 

 the upper end of the basibranchial bone. In 

 many specimens one raker is located virtually 

 at the space between the two bones, and often 

 the last one or two rakers on the ends of the upper 

 or lower limbs are tubercles. 



Scales. — Row above lateral line, 60 to 73; 

 straight fine, 47 to 64 (table 7). By 10.5 mm., the 

 sides of the body and peduncle have scales, but the 

 head, belly, and dorsal and anal fin bases are bare. 

 By 15.4 mm., parts of the head have scales, the 

 scales extend from the dorsal ends of the opercular 

 flaps, forward to a perpendicular from the anterior 

 edge of the pupil; there are patches of scales 

 ventral and posteroventral to the orbit and on 

 the upper part of the operculum; scales extend 

 onto the bases of the middle principal rays of the 

 caudal fin, and a small area forward of the pectorals 

 and another small area under the proximal part 

 of the pelvics are naked. By 26.4 mm., scales 

 cover the bases of all fins and the head, except for 

 the area around and anterior to the nostrils, the 

 lips, the edge of the orbit, and the preopercular 

 and opercular margins. Scales extend for about 

 two-thirds of the length of the soft dorsal and anal 

 fin rays by 52 mm., but extend out only about 

 one-third on the pectoral and caudal and one-half 

 on the separate rays of the pelvics. At 215.0 

 mm., the distal third of the pectoral is naked. All 



Table 5. — Number of gill rakers on upper and lower limbs 

 of first arch on 103 specimens of Kyphosus sectatrix 

 larger than 16 mm. 



Number of lower-limb gill rakers 



16 17 18 19 



11 



2:7 



Note. — Open figures denote numbers, and figures in parentheses denote 

 percentages of specimens having respective combinations of numbers of gill 

 rakers. 



the fins have scales by 260.0 mm., except the 

 dorsal and anal spines which have scales only at 

 the bases and the pelvics which have scales only 

 along the rays. 



Teeth. — Dentition of the 10. 5-, 15.4-, and the 

 36.2-mm. specimens was determined by clearing 

 and staining. 



A 10.5-mm. specimen had 10 uneven caniniform 

 teeth in a row on each premaxillary, with a few 

 villiform teeth behind this row, and six uneven 

 caniniform teeth in a row on each dentary, all in 

 various degrees of development. 



On a 15.4-mm. specimen, there were 15 uneven 

 caniniform teeth in a row on each premaxillary, 

 five to nine uneven caniniform teeth on each 

 dentary, with a few villiform teeth behind these 

 on each jaw, and about two villiform teeth on 

 each half of the vomer. 



A 36.2-mm. specimen had 13 teeth in a row 

 on each premaxillary, of which half were canini- 

 form and half were incisor, and 12 teeth in a row 

 on each dentary, also half of which were caniniform 

 and half incisor. Other teeth were present behind 

 the rows on the premaxillaries. The vomer and 



Table 6. — Variation in number of gill rakers on first arch of Kyphosus sectatrix 



[Specimens grouped by size] 



