RICHARDS: ELOPIFORMES 



61 



rv' ve- \vN\v V V -^ 



z^-^^^.. 



Fig. 28. Elopiform leptocephali. Top to bottom: Elops sp., 33.8 mm SL, Luanda, Angola (redrawn from Richards, 1 969); Megalops allanticus. 

 22.8 mm SL. Luanda, Angola (redrawn from Richards, 1969): Plerolhnssus belloci. 123.9 mm SL, off Angola (redrawn from Richards, 1969); 

 and Albula vulpes, 64.2 mm (redrawn from Alexander, 1961). 



ards (1969); of Elops by Hildebrand (1963a), Eldred and Lyons 

 (1966), Gomez Caspar (1981), Richards (1969); and of Albula 

 by Eldred ( 1 967a), Poll (1953), Gomez Gaspar ( 1 98 1 ) and Hil- 

 debrand (1963b). The Albula leptocephali heads illustrated by 

 Meyer-Rochow (1974) may be incorrect. 



The characters used for distinguishing the families and genera 

 (following Smith, 1979) are as follows: Albula and Pterothhssus 

 leptocephali have the origin of the anal fin well behind the dorsal 

 fin by a distance exceeding the length of the anal fin base whereas 

 Elops and Megalops have the origin under the dorsal fin or close 



Table 7. Meristic Characters for Selected Elopiform Leptoc ephali. 



