SUMIDA ET AL . EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF SEVEN FLATFISHES 



jCr 





3— J^ 





■^ ^ — -■'- ^■" o'Xi-Vv ^V'." ■'"■"-" ^"'' ^ -i ^"' C^'--^ '*■■■'' ' ' ' 



"^-iili/i:^.{i!iij:i::,, ;v ,^; ;% 



Figure I'i.—Pleuronichthvs ocellatus larva, 7.0 mm. 



Table 12. — Meristics of larvae and juveniles of Pleuronichthys ocellatus. 



'Sym, - symmetrical, 

 'Juv, - juvenile 



Distribution. — This species is restricted to the 

 northern half of the Gulf of California (Norman 

 1934; Fitch 1963). Larvae were collected at two 

 stations in the upper Gulf 



Pleuronichthys ritteri Starks and 



Morris (spotted turbot) 



Figures 15-17 



Literature. — The egg of P. ritteri was described by 

 Orton and Limbaugh (1953) and illustrated by 

 White ( 1977). Larvae of this species have not been 

 described previously. 



Distinguishing characters . — Larval stages of this 



species may be confused with P. vcrticalis and H. 

 guttulata. Characters of preflexion and flexion 

 larvae which separate it from P. verticalis include 

 the lack of triangular clusters of pigment on the 

 finfold, less pigment on the tail with 8 or 9 unpig- 

 mented myomeres compared with 3-5 in P. ver- 

 ticalis, and a more robust body. Postflexion larvae 

 are more heavily pigmented, particularly on the 

 dorsal and anal fin pterygiophores, and are small- 

 er than comparable stages of P. verticalis. Distin- 

 guishing characters for newly transformed and 

 early juvenile stages have been discussed earlier 

 under P. verticalis. 



Characters for distinguishing yolk-sac larvae of 

 P. ritteri from H. guttulata include the presence of 



127 



