RICHARDS AND LEIS: LABROIDEI 



543 



Fig. 292. Larva of (upper) Cichlasoma oclofascialum. 5.4 mm SL, laboratory .reared, 4 days after hatching, drawn by B. Vinter and (lower) 

 5.9 mm SL, laboratory reared, 10 days after hatching, drawn by B. Vinter. 



squarish, or nairow and have choroid tissue associated with it. 

 Larvae of temperate species tend to have heavy melanistic pig- 

 ment while tropical forms have few melanophores although 

 erythrophores may be abundant. Meristic characters are very 



useful for identifying these larvae. Development is direct, with 

 only the non-round eyes (some with choroid tissue) and elongate 

 fin rays of some species, and perhaps the reduced melanistic 

 pigment of tropical taxa representing lai-val specializations. Most 



Fig. 293. Lar\'a of Microspathodon chrysurus 3.7 mm SL from specimen reared in the laboratory. From MS by Potthoffet al., drawn by J. 

 C. Javech. 



