be explained by the fusion of three or four 

 terminal vertebral centra in adults as pointed 

 out by Hollister (1936). 



The presumed leptocephali of A. nemoptera 

 are identical to those of A. vulpes in general 

 appearance. The juveniles, however, are readily 

 distinguished from those of A. vulpes by the 

 much larger mouth. The smallest juvenile A. 

 nemoptera (Caledonia Bay, Panama, LACM 

 20468) was 36 mm. standard length. Four 

 other juveniles from the same general locality 

 (LACM 20467) were 42 to 49 mm. 



Alexander (1961) stated that variation in 

 total myomere counts (65 to 72) might indicate 

 subspeciation or even separate species; some 

 of her larvae with 69 or more myomeres may 

 be A. nemoptera. 



ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS 



Frizzell (1965) discussed the ecology and 

 distribution of recent and fossil albulids and 

 suggested that competition between A. vulpes 

 and A. nemoptera drove the latter to deeper 

 water. This conclusion was based on the study 

 of fossils. 



In agreement with the above suggestion all 

 adults (about 200 mm. standard length or 

 larger) of A. nemoptera for which capture 

 data are available, were collected in relatively 

 deep water. The 21 Oregon specimens (234 to 

 341 mm.) were collected in trawls in depths of 

 27 to 110 m. The three Jamaican specimens 

 (197 to 265 mm.) were taken with handline in 

 about 37 m. The Pacific specimens reported by 

 Kumada and Hiyama (1937) were taken by a 

 trawl but no exact depth of capture was given. 

 Of the 19 Pacific specimens reported by Beebe 

 (1942: 44), 5 (220 to 365 mm.) were taken 

 with handline from the ship (Zaca) at unde- 

 termined depths; the other 14 (80 to 200 mm.) 

 were collected with a seine presumably in shal- 

 low water close to the beach. 



The senior author has been watching for A. 

 nemoptera since 1938. and he has examined 

 hundreds of bonefish in museums and especially 

 in the field throughout southern Florida, the 

 Bahamas, and the Caribbean area. All adult 

 A. vulpes came from depths less than 2 m. 

 except one (231 mm., UMIM 5918) taken with 

 three A. nemoptera from Jamaica. No speci- 



mens of A. vulpes were taken with the Oregon 

 collections of A. nemoptera. 



The available evidence suggests that there 

 could be a bathic segregation of adult popula- 

 tions of A. vulpes and A. nemoptera where the 

 latter occupies the deeper stratum. Overlap in 

 their depth ranges is also suggested, but the 

 depth and width of the overlap zone cannot be 

 determined now. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The curators of several institutions loaned 

 specimens. David K. Caldwell, Curator of 

 Fishes, Los Angeles County Museum, Calif., 

 and Frederick H. Berry, now at the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries Tropical Atlantic Bio- 

 logical Laboratory, Miami, Fla., helped speed 

 the loan of materials. Paul Moore and his 

 assistant Gail Gullette, Singing River Hospital. 

 Pascagoula, Miss., and Charles E. Dawson, 

 Curator of Fishes, Gulf Coast Research Lab- 

 oratory, Ocean Springs, Miss., made the radio- 

 graphs. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Alexander, Elizabeth C. 



1961. A contribution to the life history, biology 

 and geographical distribution of the bonefish, 

 Albida x'xipes (Linnaeus). Dana-Rep. 53, 51 pp. 

 Beebe, William. 



1942. Eastern Pacific expeditions of the New 

 York Zoological Society. XXX. Atlantic and 

 Pacific fishes of the genus Dixonina. Zoologia 

 27(1): 43-48. 

 Berry, Frederick H. 



1964. Review and emendation of: family Clupei- 

 dae, pp. 257-454. Copeia 1964(4): 720-730. 

 Caldwell, David K., and Melba C. Caldwell. 



1964. Fishes from the southern Caribbean col- 

 lected by Velero III in 1939. Allan Hancock 

 Atl. Exped. Rep. 10, 61 pp. 



Fowler, Henry W. 



1911. A new albuloid fish from Santo Domingo. 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 62: 651-654. 

 Frizzell, Don L. 



1965. Otolith-based genera and linages of fossil 

 bonefishes (Clupeiforms, Albulidae). Weiler- 

 Festschrift, pp. 85-110, 2 text figs., pi. 4. 



Hilderbrand, Samuel F. 



1963. Family Albulidae. In Yngve H. Olsen (edi- 

 tor) , Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. 

 Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res. 1(3): 132-147. 



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