312 ONTOGENY AND SYSTEMATICS OF FISHES- AHLSTROM SYMPOSIUM 



Table 85. Meristic Variation in Western North Atlantic Species of Cusk-Eels. Sample size is indicated in parentheses below the range. 



tine genus Benthocometes {Pteridum) were illustrated by Padoa 

 (1956i). Exterilium larvae (Fraser and Smith, 1974;Moser, 1981) 

 may be larvae of deep-dwelling neobythitine species (Figure 

 158C). 



Larvae of six ophidiine genera are known. Padoa (19561) 

 described the larvae of Parophidion vassali and Ophidian bar- 

 baturn from the Mediterranean Sea. Aboussouan (1972a) de- 

 scribed the larvae of Ophidian barbatum from the eastern At- 

 lantic. Brownell (1979) reared early stages of the larvae oi Gen- 

 ypterus capensis. Larval stages of Ophidian marginatum were 

 illustrated in Scotten et al. (1973) and were reproduced in 

 Fritzsche (1978). Figure 178b in Fntzsche (1978) is probably a 

 stichaeid and not an ophidioid species. Larval stages of Oto- 

 phidium omostigmum (Fig. 1 59A), Ophidion selenops (Fig. 1 59E), 

 Lepophidium jeannae (Fig. 160B) and Lepophidium staurophor 

 (Fig. 160C) from the Gulf of Mexico were described by Gordon 

 (1982). Larvae of Chilara taylari and Ophidian scrippsae were 



described by Ambrose et al. ( 1 983). Larvae of Ophidion nocomis 

 (Fig. 159D) and Lepophidium negropinna (Fig. 160A) are illus- 

 trated in this study. 



Carapid larvae have been described (or illustrated) for six 

 genera and 12 species: Carapus acus (Psidoa. I956j); C. imberbis 

 (Aboussouan, 1972a); C. berniudensis {Dawson, 1971b; Olney 

 and Markle, 1979); Echiodon dentatus (Emery, 1880; Sparta, 

 1926; Padoa. 1947; Maul. 1976); E. drummondi (\ihrtinha\im, 

 1905-1909; Kennedy and Champ, 1971); Echiodon rendahli 

 (Robertson, 1975b); E. dawsoni (Olney and Markle, 1979); E. 

 c.xsilium (Trott, 1970; Olney and Markle, 1979); Encheliophis 

 jordani (Tron, 1970); Onuxodon margaritiferae (Gowoni et al., 

 1984); Snyderidia canina (Strasburg, 1965; Markle and Olney, 

 1980); and Pyramodon wnlralis (Markle and Olney, 1980). In 

 some cases, larval identifications are unsubstantiated and cau- 

 tion should be employed, especially in the older literature. For 

 example, Padoa ( 1 956j) confuses larval E. dentatus (plate XLIV, 



