476 



Development of larval and 

 early juvenile penpoInt gunnel 

 iApodichthys flavidus) (family: Pholldae) 



Lisa G. De Forest' 

 Morgan S. Busby^ 



' University of Hawaii 

 Department of Oceanograpfiy 

 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 



2 National Marine Fisfieries Service 

 National Oceanic and Atmosptienc Administration 

 Alaska Fisheries Science Center 

 7600 Sand Point Way NE 

 Seattle, Wasfiington 98115-6349 

 E-mail address (for M S Busby, contact author) morgan. busbyid'noaa. gov 



The penpoint gunnel iApodichthys 

 flavidus) is a member of the perci- 

 form family Pholidae. Pholids, com- 

 monlj' referred to as gunnels, are 

 eel-like fishes that inhabit the rocky 

 intertidal and subtidal regions of 

 the northern oceans and are often 

 associated with macroalgae, such as 

 Fuciis spp. or kelp (Watson, 1996). 

 Gunnels are ecologically important 

 forage fishes that form part of the diet 

 of birds and commercially important 

 groundfish species (Hobson and Sealy, 

 1985; NMFS'; Golet et al., 2000). The 

 diet of A. flavidus and other pholids 

 comprises primarily harpactacoid 

 copepods, gammarid amphipods, iso- 

 pods, and other crustaceans (Cross, 

 1981). Apodichthys flavidus ranges 

 along the west coast of North America 

 from southern California to the Gulf 

 of Alaska (Mecklenburg et al., 2002). 

 Adult A. flavidus are distinguished 

 from other pholids by their total ver- 

 tebral counts, the presence of a thick 



NMFS (National Marine Fisheries 

 Service). 1998. Final environmen- 

 tal assessment and regulatory impact 

 review for Amendment 36 to the Fishery 

 Management Plan for the groundfish 

 fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

 Islands Area and Amendment 39 to the 

 Fishery Management Plan for ground- 

 fish of the Gulf of Alaska to create and 

 manage a forage fish species category, 

 76 p. NOAA/NMFS Alaska Regional 

 Office PO Box 21668 Juneau, Alaska 

 99802-1668. 



and grooved first anal spine, a pre- 

 anal length that is approximately 

 60% standard length (SL), and a dark 

 green to light olive coloration (Yatsu, 

 1981). It is one of the largest phol- 

 ids (up to 46 cm) and is important in 

 the live fish trade for both home and 

 public aquaria (Froese and Pauly'-). 



In late winter to early spring 

 months (January-April), adult A. 

 flavidus spawn in nearshore waters. 

 A single female lays clusters of de- 

 mersal, adhesive eggs onto substrate 

 that a male will guard until hatching 

 (Clemens and Wilby, 1961; Wilkie, 

 1966; Marliave, 1975). The eggs are 

 3 mm in diameter and the incubation 

 period is approximately 2.5 months 

 (Wilkie, 1966; Marliave, 1975). Lar- 

 vae are about 12-13 mm total length 

 (TL) at the time of hatching, well de- 

 veloped, and have pigmented eyes, 

 an elongated body, and very little to 

 no yolk sac (Wilkie, 1966; Marliave, 

 1975). After about 50 days, the larvae 

 settle as juveniles and are approxi- 

 mately 25 mm SL (Marliave, 1975). 

 Although A. flavidus reproduction 

 has been well-studied, there has not 

 been a complete description of lar- 

 val development. Wang-^ provided a 

 summary of life history information 



and pencil illustrations of early flex- 

 ion, postflexion, and juvenile stages. 

 Matarese et al. (1989) published an 

 illustration of a 15.0-mm flexion lar- 

 va and some characters distinguish- 

 ing A. flavidus from Pholis spp. 



In the present study we describe 

 development of A. flavidus from re- 

 cently hatched larvae to newly set- 

 tled juveniles, including some general 

 aspects of osteological development. 

 Larval A. flavidus are compared with 

 larvae of other pholid species includ- 

 ed in the genus Apodichthys by Yatsu 

 (1981, 1985): Xererpes fucorum and 

 Ulvicola sanctaerosae. This classifi- 

 cation was not followed by Matarese 

 et al. (1989) or Watson (1996) and 

 is not followed in the present study. 

 This work will aid in the accurate 

 identification of A. flavidus larvae 

 in samples taken during nearshore 

 ichthyoplankton surveys and in eco- 

 logical studies and will contribute 

 to a better understanding of pholid 

 systematics. 



Materials and methods 



We examined 58 larval and juvenile 

 A. flavidus (11.9-42.3 mm) collected 

 in dip-net surveys by scientists of 

 the Alaska Fisheries Science Center 

 (AFSC; Busby et al., 2000) and the 

 University of Washington (LTW) from 

 four sites; Clam Bay (47=34. 5'N, 

 122°32.5'W), Sequim Bay (48°2.3'N, 

 123°2.0'W), Iceberg Point (48°42.4'N 

 122°53.3'W), and Friday Harbor 

 (48°54.5'N, 1230.7°W), all located in 



2 Froese, R., and D. Pauly (eds.). 2004. 

 Fishbase. World wide web electronic 

 publication http://www.fishbase.org 

 [accessed November 20041. 



■' Wang, J. C. S. 1986. Fishes of the 

 Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary and 

 adjacent waters, California: a guide to 

 the early life histories, 602 p. Technical 

 Report 9 of the Interagency ecological 

 study program for the Sacramento-San 

 Joaquin Estuary. [Available from Eco- 

 logical Analysts, Inc. 2150 John Glen 

 Drive, Conco'rd, CA 94520.1 



Manuscript submitted 22 June 2005 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved 24 October 2005 

 by the Scientific Editor 



Fish. Bull. 104:476-481 (2006). 



