Figure 2. — Pelagic larvae of Gobiesox 

 rhessodon . 



6 . 9 mm 



7.5 nun 



Figure 3— Late pelagic larva (upper) 

 and benthic juvenile (lower) of Gobiesox 

 rhessodon . 



&,^X 





J2.0 mm 



The larval stages of G. maeandricus have recently 

 been described by Marliave ( 1976). Based on Mar- 

 liave's description and data from Richardson,^ G. 

 maeandricus larvae differ from G. rhessodon 

 mainly in that G. maeandricus lack lateral 

 melanophores and possess more myomeres (31-33). 

 In addition, adults of G. maeandricus are rare 

 south of Point Conception, Calif. (Miller and Lea 

 1972). Gobiesox papillifer and G. eugrammus are 

 also rare in southern California. Gobiesox papil- 

 lifer has been reported only once in southern 

 California, and G. eugrammus only ranges as far 

 north as San Diego County (Miller and Lea 1972). 

 The larvae of these two species of Gobiesox have 



^Sally L. Richardson, School of Oceanography, Oregon State 

 University. Corvallis, OR 97331. Pers. commun. May 1978. 



not been described, however, it is unlikely that 

 any of these forms were among the specimens 

 examined considering the distributions of the 

 adults. 



The Atlantic species of Gobiesox, G. strumosus, 

 studied by Runyan (1961) and Dovel (1963) was 

 similar in appearance to G. rhessodon , but does 

 differ in that the Atlantic species had 10-15 saddle 

 melanophores (as opposed to lateral) and dis- 

 played no ventral midline pigment in the early 

 stages (<3.9 mm). Later larvae of G. strumosus 

 also appeared to be more heavily pigmented on the 

 trunk portion of the body (4.73-8.78 mm). 



The presence or absence of head pigmentation 

 has been used by some investigators to separate 

 Gobiesox larvae collected in southern California 

 into two types. This character is variable in G. 



Figure 4. — Yolk stage larva ofRinncola mus- 

 carum . 



4 . mm 



303 



