FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 1 



Table 1.— Distribution of adults of Cithariehthys and Etropus species known from the western North Atlantic 



and status of knowledge of their larvae. 1 



Species 



Geographic range of adults 



Depth range 

 of adults (m) 



Larval descriptions 



C. arctifrons 



E. microstomas 



C. cornutus 



C. gymnorhinus 



C. spilopterus 



E. crossotus 



C. macrops 



E. rimosus 



C. abbotti 



C. amblybregmatus 



C. arenaceus 



C. dinoceros 



C. uhleri 2 



E. intermedws 3 



ons compiled from Goode and Bean 1896; Gutherz 1967, Dawson 1969; Gutherzand Blackman 1970; Toppand Hoff 

 1977; Wenner et al. 1979; and original data for C. spilopterus. E. crossotus, and C macrops (i.e., 1 m depths). 

 nar.eus Dawson 1969 



'Distribut 

 1972; Leslie . 

 2 cf C. arenaceus, Dawson 1969 

 3 cf. E. crossotus, Gutherz 1967 



Figure 1.— Occurrence of Citharichtkys cornutus and C. gym- 

 norhinus larvae off the southeastern United States. Numbers 

 are the sums of bongo and neuston tows made per 1° quadran- 

 gle during four RV Dolphin fall, winter, and spring cruises in 

 1973 and 1974. Symbols indicate positive tows. 



cornutus at transformation is about 18 mm. Lar- 

 vae may appear in collections year-round. 



Pigmentation 



Pigmentation of C. cornutus larvae is rela- 

 tively heavy. Gas bladder, gut, and lateral tail 



40 



pigment are the most striking. By 2.2 mm NL 

 and throughout larval development, the dorsal 

 one-third of the left side of the gas bladder is 

 fairly heavily pigmented. This pigment may be 

 diffuse or in the form of stellate or punctate 

 melanophores. With growth, the number of mel- 

 anophores increases. The maximum number in a 

 preflexion specimen was five (4.8 mm). The right 

 side of the gas bladder is usually unpigment- 

 ed. 



During preflexion (2.2 mm, see Fig. 4A), two 

 or three melanophores are present on both the 

 dorsal and the ventral body margins about half- 

 way between the anus and the notochord tip. 

 Another one or two melanophores are present 

 between these two clusters near the lateral mid- 

 line. Later in development, pigment in this area 

 forms a band. One or two small melanophores 

 may be present on the ventral finfold just poste- 

 rior to the hindgut. Three or four melanophores 

 are on the caudal finfold near the ventral body 

 margin just anterior to the notochord tip. Two 

 melanophores are on the ventral surface of the 

 gut loop; additional melanophores appear there 

 during development. A small melanophore ap- 

 pears along the posterodorsal surface of the mid- 

 gut at about 3 mm. Melanophores begin appear- 

 ing on the ventral body margin anterior to the 

 cleithrum at about 3 mm. At about 4.7 mm, one 

 or two melanophores appear along the posterior 

 margin of the articular. 



Flexion larvae (see Fig. 4B) usually have four 

 or five melanophores on the dorsal one-third of 

 the left side of the gas bladder. Midlateral caudal 

 pigmentation consists of up to six dashlike mel- 

 anophores. Additional, dashlike clusters of pig- 

 ment appear along the dorsal and ventral body 



