JOHNSON: PERCOIDEI 



485 



Table 120. Continued. Extended. 



5/3/0-1/2 



+ - 



Ct 



fully coalesced by hatching. Most members of the three primary 

 freshwater families. Centrarchidae, Percichthyidae and Percidae 

 have demersal eggs as do some members of the Ambassidae 

 and Teraponidae, however only six families of exclusively ma- 

 rine percoids are known to possess non-buoyant eggs. The Acan- 

 thoclinidae. Congrogadidae, Plesiopidae and Pseudochromidae 

 have specialized demersal eggs with adhesive threads that bind 

 them together in attached, sheet-like (Plesiopidae) or free, spher- 

 ical (Acanthoclinidae and Pseudochromidae) masses that are 

 guarded by the male. These eggs also have numerous small oil 

 globules that gradually coalesce with a single, much larger glob- 

 ule. The possibility that these four families are closely related 

 has remained unresolved (Bohlke, 1960a; Springer et al., 1977), 

 but the similar egg morphology and parental care shared by 

 them may represent synapomorphies not heretofore considered. 

 The other two marine families with adhesive demersal eggs, 

 Apogonidae and Opistognathidae are oral brooders, and oral 

 brooding has also been reported for the plesiopid Assessor (Allen 

 and Kuiter, 1976). 



Larvae 



Diversity of general body form and morphological special- 

 ization among the larvae of percoid fishes is extensive, and. as 

 with the adults, no single feature shared by larval percoids char- 

 acterizes the suborder. Representative postflexion larvae of 62 

 percoid groups are illustrated in Figs. 254-262. Larval serranids 

 and carangids were excluded from these figures because they are 

 illustrated elsewhere in this volume. I was unable to obtain 

 specimens or illustrations of larvae of the remaining 30 groups 

 and most are probably unknown, or at least undescribed. Of 

 these, 19 are monotypic. 



Larval body form ranges from elongate to deep-bodied, by 

 the criteria of Leis and Rennis (1983), and frequently, but not 

 always, reflects adult body form. Thus, some of the most deep- 

 bodied percoid larvae are found among the Chaetodontidae, 

 Pomacanthidae, Menidae, Bramidae, and Caristiidae, whereas 

 the elongate Congrogadidae and Cepolidae have elongate larvae. 

 On the other hand, the moderately elongate larvae of groups 

 like the Girellidae or the Cirrhitidae are not particularly reflec- 

 tive of the adult body form, nor are the deeper-bodied larvae 

 of the Emmelichthyidae. 



In Table 121, selected aspects of known larvae of percoid 

 families and mcertae sedis genera are given. This table should 

 prove a useful guide to identification of postflexion larval per- 

 coids at the family level, particularly when used in conjunction 

 with the meristic data in Table 1 20 and the illustrations in Figs. 

 254-262. Features included in Table 121 are discussed below. 



scales just described, suggests that cycloid scales in most per- 

 coids have been secondanly acquired. 



Development 



Eggs 



Most percoids have buoyant, spherical eggs about 1mm in 

 diameter, with a single oil globule. The total size range is about 

 .5 to 4.6 mm, but eggs larger than 2 mm are found only in a 

 few freshwater-associated groups, Centrarchidae, Moronidae. 

 Percichthyidae, Percidae, Siniperca and Teraponidae, and in 

 the marine Echeneididae (Table 121). Multiple oil globules oc- 

 cur in some centrarchids, percichthyids and sciaenids, and in 

 Hapalogenys. moronids and Polyprion, but they are generally 



Fin development. — Formation of median fin rays occurs at very 

 small sizes in most percoids. Flexion may begin as early as 2.5- 

 3 mm and is complete in most groups by 4-5 mm, at which 

 time the full complement of principal caudal rays is present. 

 Dorsal and anal fin rays begin to form during or shortly after 

 flexion and are usually complete, including spinous rays, by 5- 

 8 mm. Size at flexion and completion of full median fin ray 

 complements is relatively consistent within families, the range 

 usually not varying more than 2 mm. Groups characterized by 

 notably later flexion (6-18 mm) include the Caristiidae, Cen- 

 tracanthidae, Centrarchidae, Cheilodactylidae, Girellidae, La- 

 tcolabrax, Moronc. Percichthyidae, Percidae, Polyprion. Scor- 

 pididae, Sillaginidae, and Siniperca. These groups also exhibit 

 somewhat delayed dorsal and anal fin ray completion (7-18 

 mm). Among marine percoids, the most extreme delay in com- 



