POTTHOFF ET AL.: DEVELOPMENT OF SCOMBROID FISHES 



group. Bond and Uyeno (1981) removed Scombrola- 

 brax from the Scombroidei on the basis of one spe- 

 cialized character. We are of the opinion that Scom- 

 brolabrax should be retained in the Scombroidei 

 until we fully understand the significance of devel- 

 opmental characters. Scombrolabrax shares many 

 characters with other scombroids, in particular the 

 absence of predorsal bones coupled with the ante- 

 rior pterygiophore interneural insertion sequence, 

 the saddle-shaped ossifications of the vertebrae, the 

 sequence of neural and haemal arch and spine devel- 

 opment and the striking resemblance of Scombro- 

 labrax to Thunnini larvae. 



Gempylid and trichiurid relationships await fur- 

 ther study when complete series of larvae of more 

 species become available. We believe that Gempy- 

 lus and Diplospinus are similar and very closely 

 related. We also believe that the gempylids and tri- 

 chiurids are very closely related, the trichiurids 

 representing an advanced gempylid group. 



Johnson (in press) has discovered a specialization 

 (a stay on the 4th pharyngobranchial) unique to the 

 Scombridae, Istiophoridae, and Xiphiidae but absent 

 in other Perciformes. From our study we believe 

 that the billfish (Xiphias and Istiophoridae) do not 

 belong in the Scombroidei because they differ in 

 many developmental and meristic characters from 

 other scombroid members (Tables 1, 2). However, 

 until more developmental studies are done to deter- 

 mine the meaning and significance of developmen- 

 tal characters, it would be premature to suggest 

 rearranging the Scombroidei. 



The full value of early developmental studies for 

 systematic purposes will be realized when similar 

 studies have been completed on a greater variety 

 of fishes. Only then will we be able to interpret the 

 meaning and significance of some developmental 

 characters presented here. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank G. L. Beardsley, B. B. Collette, A. C. 

 Jones, G. D. Johnson, and W. J. Richards for critical- 

 ly reading the manuscript and P. Fisher for typing 

 many drafts of the manuscript. We thank B. B. Col- 

 lette, R. H. Gibbs, M. F. Gomon, G. D. Johnson, W. 

 J. Richards, and J. L. Russo for providing gempy- 

 lid and trichiurid fishes for clearing and staining. 

 The Scomberomorus and Acanthocybium material 

 was loaned to us by M. Leiby and J. Gartner from 

 the SEAMAP collections. M. P. Fahay, G. H. Moser, 

 and B. Sumida MacCall generously provided 

 Scomber and Sarda specimens. 



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