Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 27 



Amphioxides valdiviae Goldschmidt, 1905 

 Figure 3 F 



Study Material. One specimen, 9 mm. long, with 33 gill clefts, from the Maldive 

 Islands." 



Distinctive Characters. Amphioxides larvae of the valdiviae type are separated 

 from those of the pelagicus-stenurus type by the following features: their dorsal fin-ray 

 chambers extend forward well past the first myotome, and the dorsal fin originates about 

 opposite the 32nd or 33rd myotome (in pelagicus about opposite the 2ist to 25th myo- 

 tome). Differences in the shape of the tail that have been given specific weight appear not 

 to be constant. 



Additional Description.^" Caudal sector of fin paddle shaped with blunted tip and 

 rather definitely marked off from more anterior portion (dorsal and ventral) by a con- 

 striction, about opposite anus j notochord blunt-tipped posteriorly; dorsal finfold originates 

 opposite 32nd to 33rd myotome, the ventral finfold about opposite 43rd myotome; dorsal 

 fin-ray chambers extend forward beyond first myotome; about 5 dorsal fin-ray chambers 

 per myotome; gill clefts 25 to 35 in specimens of 5.7 to 8 mm., 33 to 35 in those of 8 to 9.25 

 mm.; myotomes SS to 58 anterior to anus, 11 to 15 posterior to it, with recorded totals 

 of 67 to 70. 



Color. No information available. 



Size. The maximum recorded length is 9.25 mm. 



Parentage. If Amphioxides of this type are the neotenic larvae of species of Epi- 

 gonichthys, as seems probable," the parentage of valdiviae of the Atlantic presents an 

 interesting question, because Epigonichthys is not yet known to occur there. 



Habits. Nothing is known of the thermal or bathymetric occurrence of valdiviae to 

 separate it from pelagicus (p. 25), 



Range. Tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans. While valdiviae has not yet been re- 

 ported from the western Atlantic, it is to be expected in this section of the tropical belt, 

 many specimens having been taken at the surface off tropical West Africa (Portuguese 

 Senegal), some of them showing the beginnings of metamorphosis.'" It has been reported 

 also off the African Coast, south of Tenerife, and at a number of localities in the tropical 

 Indian Ocean, including the vicinity of Sumatra, Bay of Bengal, Maldive Islands, near the 

 Chagos Archipelago, southeast of the Seychelles, and in the vicinity of Farquhar Islands. 



59. This is the specimen described and pictured by Parker (Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 46, 1904: 40, pi. 1, fig. i, 

 2). The gonads credited to it in the original account prove actually to have been the gill bars. 



60. Based on descriptions by Goldschmidt (Wiss. Ergebn. 'Valdivia,' 12, 1905: 47, pi. i, fig. 1), Gibson (Trans. 

 Linn. Soc. Lond., Zool., [2] /j, 1910: 217), and on the specimen listed above. 



61. Gibson (Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., Zool., [2] /j, 1910: 241) suggests this parentage for Amfhioxides valdiviae 

 of the Indian Ocean. 



62. Goldschmidt, Dtsch. Sud-polar Exped., 11, Zool. 3, 1909: tab. p. 11. 



