464 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



is complete (tlie principal ray nearest the second- 

 aries on each lobe does not branch). By 19.2 mm., 

 the two secondary rays adjacent to the principal 

 rays, in both dorsal and ventral lobes, are seg- 

 mented. A 28.4-mm. specimen had 10 + 9 second- 

 ary raj's. 



QUI rakers. — Entire first arcli, 22 to 31; upper 

 Ihnb, 5 to 9; lower limb, 17 to 23; ceratobrancliial 

 bone, 13 to 15 (tables 10 and 11). The counts in- 

 dicate a steady slow increase in number of gill 

 rakers from 10 to 50 mm. with no increase beyond 

 50 mm. 



Since this increase occurs in both Hmbs, the 

 increase for the entire arch is more pronounced. 

 The ceratobranchial-bone count, while showing 

 the same trend, shows the least change; the change 

 is probably the result of migration of tlie last 

 raker, as in K. sectatrix. 



Scales. — Row above lateral line, 63 to 73; 

 straight hne, 54 to 62 (table 7). By 8.5 mm., tlie 

 sides are covered with scales from the pectoral 

 base to the caudal peduncle and from just above 

 the lateral line to the ventral edge of the pectoral 

 base, with the same proportionate width back to the 

 peduncle. 



From 10 to 252 mm., the development of scales 

 parallels that of K. sectatrix. 



Teeth.— DeniiWon of the 10.0-, 15.8-, and 28.4- 

 mm. specimens was determined by clearing and 

 staining. 



On a 10.0-mm. specimen, only premaxillary and 

 dentary teeth were present; there were about 10 

 caniniform teeth in a row on each premaxillary 

 and four on each dentary, all in various stages of 

 development. 



On a 15.8-mm. specimen, each premaxillary had 

 11 or 12 uneven caniniform teeth in a row, and 

 each dentarv had 4 or 5. 



Table 10. — Number of gill rakers on upper and lower limbs 

 of first arch on 63 specimens of Kyphosus incisor larger 

 than 16 mm. 



Number of 

 lower-limb gill rakers 





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

 the percentages of specimens having respective combinations of num- 

 bers of gill rakers. 



On a 28.4-mm. specimen, each premaxillarj' had 

 10 or 12 teeth in a row, half were caniniform and 

 half were incisiform; and each dentary had 11 or 

 12 caniniform teeth in a row, with other teeth 

 behind these rows on each jaw. The vomer had 

 about 12 villiform teeth, each of 2 parallel patches 

 on the posterior surface of the tongue had 6 villi- 

 form teeth, and the pterygoid had 2 villiform 

 teeth in a tiny patch on the posterior surface. 



From about 100 mm., the teeth resembled those 

 of adult K. sectatrix. 



Pigmentation. — By 8.5 mm., the smallest speci- 

 men examined, there are blotches of brownish-gray 

 pigment with large blackish spots in the back- 

 ground and small black spots on the scales (fig. 6). 

 The brownish-gray pigment extends over most of 

 the spines and parts of the soft-dorsal and anal 

 fins, but not over the area around the fu-st three 

 soft-rays of each fin. It also extends to the middle 

 of the pelvic fins, with a few small black spots on 

 these fins. On speciniens about the same size, 

 but preserved more than five years, the dark spots 

 are distinct with no gray-brown pigment covering. 

 The pectorals have some dark spots and stripes 



Table II. — Variation in number of gill rakers on first arch of Kyphosus incisor 



[Specimens grouped by size] 



