GORDON ET AL.: OPHIDIIFORMES 



309 



Fig. 158. Larvae of Bythitoidei. (A) Larva of Brosmophyas marginala. 12.5 mm NL. NMFS-SWFC. CalCOFI 7207 .A.x Sta. 63.52. (B) 

 Unidentified bythitid larva, 21.9 mm SL, HML H 4086, 40°34'N, 66''00'W. (C) Exterilium larva tentatively assigned to Neobythitinae, 29.5 mm 

 SL, MCZ-WHOl, Oceanus 22, JEC 771 1, 0°00'N, 37''40'W. 



Eggs and embryos— Ophidiiform eggs are poorly known. The 

 pelagic eggs of Gcnypterus capensis (Ophidiidae) are moderately 

 large, spherical and contain a single oil globule (Brownell, 1 979). 

 The few known carapid eggs are pelagic, ellipsoidal, and possess 

 a single oil globule. Early developmental stages may be con- 

 tained in a mucilaginous raft. Eggs have been described for 

 Carapus acus {Emtry, 1880; Padoa, 1956j). Echtodon dentatus 



(Sparta, 1926), E. c/n/wwow^/ (Kennedy and Champ, 1971), E. 

 rendahli (Robertson, 1975b), and unidentified carapid species 

 from the North Atlantic (Ryder. 1884) and South Africa (Brow- 

 nell, 1979). 



Aphyonid larvae have not been reported from plankton tows 

 but late embryos taken from ovarian tissue were illustrated by 

 Nielsen (1969). 



