FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80. NO. 1 



precaudal or caudal centra stain with alizarin at 

 3.7 mm NL. All neural spines and hemal spines, 

 some precaudal centra, and the urostyle stain 

 with alizarin at 5.7 mm NL. All precaudal and 

 caudal centra stain with alizarin at 6.7 mm NL. 

 The smallest specimen in which caudal centra 

 could be counted was 5.7 mm NL (late flexion). 



The second and third dorsal rays are moder- 

 ately elongate and moderately separated at the 

 bases from preflexion (3.7 mm NL) through 

 transformation (about 10 mm SL). No other dor- 

 sal rays were formed at 3.7 mm, but adult counts 

 were present from 5.7 mm NL onward. All dor- 

 sal rays had calcified by postflexion (8.3 mm SL). 



No anal rays were formed at 3.7 mm, but adult 

 counts were present from 5.7 mm onward. All 

 anal rays had calcified by 8.3 mm. 



The second left pelvic ray is formed by 3.7 mm; 

 in larger specimens it is elongate. By 5.7 mm, 

 four left and four right pelvic rays are calcified. 

 All six rays in each fin are calcified by 6.8 mm 

 NL. 



Rayless, fanlike, larval pectoral fins were 

 present in the smallest specimen (3.7 mm). Calci- 

 fication of rays in the left fin begins during post- 

 flexion (9-10 mm SL), and is complete by the end 

 of transformation (9-11 mm SL). 



Cephalic Spination 



Preopercular spines (Table 4) were present 

 from early caudal formation (3.7 mm NL, Fig. 

 8A) through transformation (10.2 mm SL). 

 Maximum numbers may be reached during or 

 before late flexion (31 left, about 36 right); how- 

 ever, counts from early and midflexion larvae 

 are lacking and those from older ones are highly 

 variable. No preopercular spines are evident in 

 juveniles. 



The 3.7 mm NL specimen had one frontal- 

 sphenotic spine on each side. Several postflexion 

 (8-10 mm SL) specimens had one or two rela- 

 tively inconspicuous frontal-sphenotic spines on 

 each side. These spines may be more numerous in 

 larvae smaller than 5.7 mm NL. None are evi- 

 dent in juveniles. 



Larval Teeth (Table 5) 



The early caudal formation (3.7 mm NL, Fig. 

 8A) specimen had two upper and three lower 

 teeth on each side. During late flexion and post- 

 flexion (5.7-10.6 mm BL), larvae usually have 

 four upper and five lower teeth on each side. 



Transforming larvae and early juveniles (9.1- 

 10.7 mm SL) usually have about five upper left 

 (probably about five upper right) and five or six 

 lower left (probably five to eight lower right) 

 teeth. 



Transformation 



Migration of the right eye may begin as early 

 as late flexion (6.8 mm NL) or as late as postflex- 

 ion (10.6 mm SL). The right eye moves from the 

 right side of the head around the dorsal fin origin 

 (Fig. 9 A) as in Citharichthys arctifrons and 

 Etropus microstovnus (Richardson and Joseph 

 1973). The right eye reaches its final position on 

 the left side of the head at about 9-11 mm SL. 



Occurrence 



Larvae were collected from September 

 through December in the Gulf of Mexico off 

 Texas (Daher 6 ) and from October through April 

 in the Cape Fear River estuary, North Carolina 

 (pers. obs.). Temperature and salinity ranges at 

 capture locations in the Cape Fear River were 

 4.1°-26.6°C and 0.0-31.77... 



Etropus crossotus 

 (Figs. 10, 11) 



Identification 



Larvae approaching transformation had com- 

 plete complements of countable characters. 

 Those specimens were identified by comparing 

 the following larval counts with known adult 

 counts. Number of specimens is given in paren- 

 theses. 



Caudal fin formula = 4-5-4-4 (15) 

 Caudal vertebrae = 24(1), 25(19), 26(3) 

 Gill rakers (lower limb, first left) = ~7 (1) 

 Left pelvic rays = 6 (11) 

 Anal rays = 60-66 (13) 

 Dorsal rays = 76-84 (13) 



Of the potential species listed in Table 1, only E. 

 crossotus has counts that agree with these. In 

 addition, most specimens were captured west of 

 the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico, an 



6 M. A. Daher, Graduate Student, Department of Wildlife 

 Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. 

 pers. commun. June 1978. 



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