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L. J. BUCKLEY 



Northeast Fifihcries Center Narragansett Laboratory 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 

 ft «. 7A.Box522A 

 Narragansett. RI 02H82 



EGGS AND EARLY LARVAE OF SMALLMOUTH 

 FLOUNDER, lilROPi'S MICROSTOMUS 



Smallmouth flounder, Etrnpus microstomas (Gilll, 

 ranging from early postlarvae to adult were de- 

 .scribed and illustrated in detail by Richardson and 

 Joseph (1973). Eggs and larvae through yolk-sac 

 absorption had yet to be identified. 



During a 197.5-76 ichthyoplankton survey of 

 Block Island Sound conducted by Marine Re- 

 search, Inc. small unidentified planktonic fish 

 eggs were taken. Through subsequent rearing of a 

 number of these eggs and completion of a length 

 series with larger, known larvae, we identified the 

 specimens as E. microstomiis eggs. Our descrip- 

 tions of eggs and yolk-sac larvae together with the 

 work of Richardson and Joseph (1973) provide a 

 complete developmental series for identification of 

 this species. 



Methods 



Sampling was conducted in Block Island Sound 

 at five stations along each of three transects run- 

 ning from Charlestown and East Beach, R.I., to 

 Block Island, a distance of approximately 14.8 km. 

 Collections were made with 60 cm, 0.505 mm 

 mesh, bongo nets. All tows were made obliquely, 

 bottom to surface at approximately 2.5 kn for 

 about 5 min. Digital flowmeters provided volume 

 estimates and quantitative density estimates. 

 Periodically, a 30 cm, 0.505 mm mesh, plankton 

 net was fixed above the bongo net to collect sam- 

 ples of live eggs. These were returned to the 

 laboratory in aerated 4 1 thermos jugs and incu- 

 bated at 20°-21° C. Etropus microstomas eggs and 

 larvae were stored in 3-5'X buffered Formalin' 

 solutions before examination. 



Descriptions of the Egg 



Etropas microstomas eggs (Figure 1, Table 1) 

 are small, 0.561-0.740 mm in diameter (.f = 0.64) 

 with a single small oil globule, 0.051-0.165 mm (.r 

 = 0.12). The egg is spherical with a transparent, 

 unsculptured chorion. The oil globule is also 

 spherical. Occasonally two oil globules were noted 

 or a single one with several surrounding oil parti- 

 cles were found. This condition has commonly 

 been noted for other species (Ahlstrom and Ball 



■Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



708 



nSHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 77. NO. 3, 1980. 



