KAWAGUCHI AND MOSER: STOMIATOIDEA 



171 



Table 44. Meristic Counts of Stomiatoid Genera. Most frequent count or range is followed by overall range or infrequent count in parentheses. 

 Data from Gibbs (1964a,b), Gibbs et al. (1983), Morrow (1964a, b, c). Morrow and Gibbs (1964), Bolin (1939a), Imai (1941). onginal counts. 



mm, oil globule diameter of 0.20-0.25 mm, initial yolk diameter 

 of 0.70 mm (original data). Tactosloma macropus eggs have a 

 single membrane, 1.44-1.54 mm in diameter, an oil globule 

 0.30-0.40 mm in diameter and an initial yolk diameter of 0.78- 

 0.80 mm (original data). Eggs of C. macouni and 5. athventer 

 are illustrated in Matarese and Sandknop (this volume). 



Larvae 



Larvae of Stomiatoidea occur in the upper water column, 

 some at the surface. In most groups the larvae are elongate, have 

 a large head, elliptical eyes that protrude slightly from the dorsal 

 head profile, an elongate, straight gut (trailing from the body in 

 some species), a well developed finfold, large paddle-shaped 

 pectoral fins that lack rays until transformation, and late-form- 

 ing pelvic fins. Melanophore patterns provide a useful set of 

 characters and genera usually have a distinct pattern. The larval 

 melanophores are retained in a subcutaneous position in trans- 

 forming specimens and provide a means for identifying larvae. 

 During transformation, photophores form simultaneously and 

 initially are unpigmented. Counts of fin rays, vertebrae, and 

 photophores are summarized in Tables 44 and 45. 



Stomiatidae (Fig. 89). — Larvae of five species are known (Table 



46). Larvae are 3-4 mm at hatching and have an elongate yolk 

 sac. The slender body is round in cross-section, but becomes 

 slightly deeper by late postflexion. The head is relatively small 

 with a slightly flattened snout. The eyes are elliptical. The elon- 

 gate gut extends almost the entire length of the body and has a 

 slightly enlarged terminal section that reaches the anal fin origin. 

 The median finfold is small and best developed posteriorly. The 

 opposing dorsal and anal fins develop far posteriad on the body 

 in early postflexion larvae, but the pelvic fins do not appear 

 until just before transformation. 



Late-stage embryos oi Stomias have melanophores along the 

 dorsum, which migrate ventrad and form a distinct series be- 

 tween the body and gut. This series extends to the tip of the 

 notochord. The series is lost before notochord flexion but, in 

 most species, another sparser series develops along the ventral 

 midline of the gut, from the isthmus to the anus. 5". boa and S. 

 fero.x develop a mid-lateral series of melanophores along the 

 body and S. colubrimis has scattered melanophores along the 

 entire hypaxial body region. These species also develop exten- 

 sive dorsal and lateral head pigment. All species form scattered 

 pigment on the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins. 



A 75-mm specimen (MCZ Cat. No. 59858) with an extremely 

 slender body form (body depth 1.3% of body length) has fin and 



