KAWAGUCHI AND MOSER: STOMIATOIDEA 



175 



Table 46. Continued. 



elliptical; gut moderately slender, thin-walled; finfold moderate; 

 pigment pattern consists entirely of minute melanophores, in- 

 creasing in number with development, principally in the ex- 

 paxial and hypaxial myosepta; other pigment above brain, paired 

 internal streaks in snout, melanophores in dorsal and ventral 

 finfold, dorsal fin base, and on posterior half of gut. 



Type II (Fig. 90B). — larvae reach at least 26 mm; deep-bodied 

 and laterally compressed in late-stage larvae; head deep; eyes 

 small, slightly elliptical; gut slightly trailing and with larger di- 

 ameter than in Type I; dorsal finfold relatively deep; pigment 

 above brain, along lower jaw and at angular and gular region; 

 blotch at posterior margin of superior hypural complex and one 

 midway out on inferior group of caudal rays; fin ray and ver- 

 tebral counts and photophore counts match Astronesthes gem- 

 mifer. 



Type III. — larvae reach at least 16.2 mm; body slender; head 

 and eyes moderate in size; eyes elliptical; slender gut trails free 

 from body at anal fin origin; finfold moderately developed, ex- 

 cept posterior to dorsal fin the finfold appears as an enlarged 

 adipose fin; pigment restricted to a series of melanophores along 

 lower jaw and between upper and lower hypural complexes; 

 counts match Astronesthes richardsoni. 



Type IV (Fig. 90C).— lai^ae reach 40 mm; morphology similar 

 to Type III, except head relatively longer and eyes almost round; 

 gut with leaf-like appendages on trailing section; pigment re- 

 stricted to postorbital blotch and interorbital band; fin and ver- 

 tebral counts and photophore arrangement match Heterophotus. 



Type V (Fig. 90D). — larvae reach about 20 mm; morphology 

 as in Types III and IV; eyes slightly elliptical; pigment heavy; 

 melanophores on head, lateral to posterior brain region, on 

 snout and lower jaw symphysis; lateral surface of body covered 

 with an irregular pattern of large melanophores; melanophores 

 on trailing gut. Pertseva-Ostroumova and Rass (1973) identified 

 larvae of this type as Borostomias panamense. 



Type VI. — specimen transfoiming at 28 mm; morphology sim- 

 ilar to Types II-V, except trailing gut deflected from body far 

 in advance of anal fin origin; eyes elliptical; dorsal finfold highly 

 developed and ventral finfold anterior to anal fin is rudder-like; 

 pigment lacking; meristics indicate it is in the genus Astro- 

 nesthes. 



Type VII (Fig. 90E). — specimen transforming at 28 mm; mor- 

 phology similar to Type VI; dorsal and anal fins supported on 

 cartilaginous pedestals; a series of 4 melanophores along hori- 

 zontal septum; some melanophores on anterior region of dorsal 

 and anal fin bases and on preanal finfold. Whitley (1941) de- 

 scribed a larva similar to this as Astronesthes lupina. 



Melanostomiatidae (Figs. 91-92). — Larvae have been identified 

 for 10 of the 15 genera (Table 46). Bathophilus was the first to 

 be identified (Sanzo, 1915a). The only comprehensive work on 

 melanostomiatid ontogeny is that of Beebe and Crane (1939) 

 who identified larvae of 8 genera and 5 species by the use of 

 transforming series. Since then, the only other melanostomiatid 

 larvae that have been described are Bathophilus filifer {Pertseva- 

 Ostroumova and Rass, 1973), Bathophilus sp. (de Sylva and 

 Scotten, 1972), and Echiosloma (?) sp. (Belyanina, 1982b). De- 



