dozen melanophores along the ventral midline of the tail. 

 These soon become embedded and are not visible in lar- 

 vae larger than 4.0 mm. Newly hatched Sebastolobus lar- 

 vae lack this series of melanophores, but have two large 

 melanistic blotches about midway along the tail. Scor- 

 paenodes larvae lack the melanistic shield that covers 

 the dorsolateral surfaces of the gut in larvae of Sebas- 

 tolobus, Scorpaena, and Sebastes. In place of this, small 

 Scorpaenodes larvae have a deeply embedded blotch just 

 dorsal to the axilla. This later enlarges to cover the dor- 

 sal surface of the gas bladder. Head spine and caudal fin 

 formation occur at smaller sizes in Scorpaenodes com- 

 pared with Sebastolobus. In Scorpaenodes, numerous 



head spines are present in larvae less than 3.0 mm long, 

 while Sebastolobus of that size still have their yolk and 

 do not obtain a comparative degree of spine develop- 

 ment until they are twice that size. In Scorpaenodes, 

 notochord flexion occurs within the size range of 4.0 to 

 5.5 mm whereas in Sebastolobus it occurs in the range of 

 6.0 to 7.5 mm. 



Scorpaenodes xyris (Jordan and Gilbert), 

 Figures 27-29 



Literature. — There are no previous descriptions or il- 

 lustrations of Scorpaenodes larvae. 



Fitfure 27.— Larvae ot Scorpaenodes xyris. A. 2.7 mm; B. 3.2 mm; C. 4.0 mm; D. 4.8 mm. 



50 



