510 



ONTOGENY AND SYSTEMATICS OF FISHES -AHLSTROM SYMPOSIUM 



elongate preopercular and interopercular spines, serrate pre- 

 opercular and interopercular spines, stout pelvic and first three 

 dorsal spines, supraoccipital spine, serrate dorsal and pelvic 

 spines, serrate head spines on several bones, and spiny scales 

 developing during the larval stage. 



The other major line of divergence from the serranines is the 

 five tribes of the epinephelines. Johnson (1983) pointed out the 

 adult features that characterize this subfamily and the tribes 

 within it, although he did not provide a detailed analysis of the 

 relationships among the tribes. The larvae (representatives of 

 four tribes are known) all have one or two quite elongate dorsal 

 spines. In the Epinephelini, the elongate dorsal spines are stout 

 and serrate; in the other tribes, they are flexible, thin, and in an 

 elaborately pigmented sheath. Thus it appears from the larvae 

 that the Diplopionini, Liopropomini, and Grammistini may 

 form a monophyletic group within the Epinephelinae. 



Epinephelini larvae are all quite similar but some genera can 

 be separated by larval characters (Gonioplectrus, and Paran- 

 ihias), although larvae are unknown for several genera. Gon- 

 ioplectrus larvae are most similar to anthiine larvae and may 

 represent the most primitive extant epinephelini state. Johnson 

 (1983) suggested that Niphon represented the primitive sister 



group of all other epinephelines and that its unknown larvae 

 may have an elongate third rather than second dorsal spine. 

 There is less variation in size of the second and third dorsal 

 spines in Gonioplectrus, compared to other Epinephelini, which 

 adds credence to the above suggested relationships. 



Few larval representatives of the other epinepheline tribes 

 [grammistine lineage of Kendall (1976)] are known and none 

 of them have been studied in detail. Their elongate, pigmented 

 flexible dorsal spines, lack of corresponding elongate pelvic 

 spines, five subequal preopercular spines, and dearth of body 

 pigment unite the known larvae. Larvae of Diploprion are rather 

 deep-bodied compared to the more tubular bodies of the other 

 known larvae grammistines. The second and third dorsal spines 

 are produced in Diploprion and Liopropoma. but only one spine 

 is produced in members of the Grammistini. In this group of 

 serranids there appear to be larval characters that will be helpful 

 in systematic studies, but larvae of more representatives must 

 be known in more detail before such studies will be meaningful. 



National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest and Alaska 

 Fisheries Center, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, 

 Seattle, Washington 981 12. 



Carangidae: Development 

 W. A. Laroche, W. F. Smith-Vaniz and S. L. Richardson 



THE family Carangidae (jacks, trevallys, and pompano) has 

 traditionally been assigned to the suborder Percoidei, an 

 assemblage of generalized perciform fishes (Lauder and Liem, 

 1983). The family is notably heterogenous, including species 

 which differ widely in structure and appearance. Phylogenetic 

 relationships within the suborder and even the familial limits 

 of the Carangidae are not clearly established (see Smith-Vaniz, 

 this volume). The family is composed of approximately 140 

 species and 30 genera (Table 1 25) many of which remain poorly 

 defined. 



Carangids are found world-wide in tropical and warm tem- 

 perate marine and estuarine waters. Carangids are actively 

 swimming fishes which range from small schooling planktivores 

 to large solitary piscivores (Berry and Smith-Vaniz, 1978). Some 

 species of carangids are known to spawn pelagically offshore, 

 i.e., Seriola lalandi = S. dorsalis (Baxter, 1960) and Trachurus 

 symmetricus (Ahlstrom and Ball, 1954), while others spawn 

 close to shore and near the bottom, i.e., Caranx ignobilis (von 

 Westemhagen, 1974) and Oligoplites saurus (Aprieto, 1974). 

 The greatest amount of information concerning early life stages 

 exists for species of Decaplerus and Trachurus on which research 

 has focused due to their commercial importance. 



Development 



Eggs 



Carangids have spherical, pelagic eggs which have a narrow 



perivitelline space and range in diameter from about 0.7 to 1.3 



mm. One to several oil globules are usually present, and egg 



envelopes are clear, unsculptured, and lack filaments (Ahlstrom 

 and Ball, 1954; Miller and Sumida, 1974; James, 1976a). The 

 eggs of Naucrates ductor have erroneously been reported to be 

 demersal, adhesive, with a fine entangling filament at one pole 

 (Gilchrist, 1918) and attached to sharks and the hulls of ships 

 (Gilchrist, 1918; Shuleikin, 1958). They are actually pelagic, 

 non-adhesive, and without filaments (Barnard, 1926; Sanzo, 

 1931a; Maksimov, 1969). 



Development proceeds in the typical manner of pelagic fish 

 eggs (Ahlstrom and Ball, 1954; Miller and Sumida, 1974). Eggs 

 hatch 24 to 48 hours after spawning at water temperatures be- 

 tween 18 and 30 C° (temperature range within which eggs and 

 larvae are most commonly taken). 



Carangid eggs are similar in size and appearance to those of 

 many other marine fishes. Thus, identification even to family 

 level may be difficult or frequently impossible using presently 

 known characters. 



Larvae 



A/or/)/;o/(7gi'. — Information is available on at least one devel- 

 opmental stage for 58 of the 140 valid species representing 24 

 of 30 genera (Table 125). However, even among those taxa for 

 which descriptive information is available, inconsistent quality 

 in descriptive text and coverage of the developmental period 

 make detailed morphological comparisons and identifications 

 based upon these descriptions difficult in many cases. Laroche 

 et al. (MS) have refined developmental terminology for caran- 

 gids so as to define developmental stages more precisely and 

 thus improve comparability of descriptions between taxa. 



