a maximum of 28% of the body length in the trans- 

 forming specimen. The full complement of I, 5 pelvic 

 rays is present in the 6.7-mm larva. 



The dorsal and anal fins are beginning to develop in 

 the 4.'2-mm larva and the full complements of XII, 10(9) 

 dorsal rays and III, 6(5) anal rays are present in the 6.7- 

 mm larva. In the 23.0-mm larva the third dorsal spine is 

 2.5% of the body length. 



The hypural anlagen and the principal caudal rays 

 have begun to develop in the 3.8-mm larva. The full com- 

 plements of 3 -(- 2 hypurals and 8 -(- 7 caudal rays are visi- 

 ble in the 5.5-mm larva. The procurrent rays are begin- 

 ning to form at 5.5 mm, however, the full complement of 

 5-6 + 6-7 rays is not present until late in the larval 

 period. 



In the smallest larvae, melanistic pigment is present 

 on the dorsal surface of the developing gas bladder, along 

 the ventral surface of the gut, and on the pectoral fins. 

 The series of melanophores along the ventral midline of 

 the tail contains 11 to 14 pigment spots which disappear 

 before the beginning of notochord flexion. The ventral 

 gut pigment is lost before the larvae reach 4.0 mm and 

 that above the gas bladder becomes obscured by trunk 

 musculature. In the smallest larvae, the pectoral fin 

 membrane is covered solidly with small melanophores. 

 When the larvae reach 5.5 mm, there is an unpigmented 

 region at the base of each fin and, with continued develop- 

 ment, the melanistic zone becomes more distally located. 

 In the 23.0-mm larva, the distal half of the fin is pigment- 

 ed and in the transforming specimen the distal third of 

 each fin is pigmented. In the latter specimen, the fine 

 melanophores that will eventually cover the entire body 

 are beginning to appear on the head and upper trunk. 



Distribution. — According to Eschmeyer and Collette 

 (1966) and Eschmeyer and Randall (1975), E. imus is 

 known from the eastern and western Atlantic, the 

 southeastern Pacific off the Galapagos Islands, and Peru, 

 Hawaii, and Japan. Specimens in this study were taken 

 from about lat. 2° to 6°N off the coast of Colombia and 

 Ecuador, at the equator between long. 100° and 127°W, 

 and at the Hawaiian Islands (Fig. 40). Larvae of £. imus 

 are extremely rare in plankton collections. Of the 15 

 specimens available to us, 8 came from EASTROPAC 1- 

 m plankton hauls, 6 were taken by midwater trawls, and 

 the transitional specimen came from an Alepisaurus 

 stomach. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Figure 40. — Collections of larvae of Ectreposebastes imiu from 

 EASTROPAC expeditions, Scripps Tuna Oceanopaphy cruises, 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography fish collection, and the Univer- 

 sity of Hawaii. 



ferring specimens to our laboratory. We thank John 

 Fitch (California Department of Fish and Game, Long 

 Beach) and Carl L. Hubbs and Richard Rosenblatt (SIO) 

 for sharing with us their extensive knowledge of scor- 

 paenid fishes. We are especially indebted to Lo-chai 

 Chen (San Diego State University), William Eschmeyer 

 (California Academy of Sciences), and Jurgen Westr- 

 heim (Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Nanaimo) 

 for reviewing the manuscript and offering valuable sug- 

 gestions for improving it. Eschmeyer's comments were 

 particularly extensive on Trachyscorpia and North At- 

 lantic Sebastes and were essential to the writing of these 

 sections. From the Southwest Fisheries Center, NMFS, 

 La Jolla, Amelia Gomes and Betsy Stevens provided 

 technical help during the course of the study; George 

 Mattson prepared the illustrations in Figures la-c, 2c, 3, 

 4b, 5, 7, and 24 through 29; and Ken Raymond and Henry 

 Orr drafted Figures 18, 19, 30, 36, and 38. Special thanks 

 goes to John LaGrange and Richard Pleasant for supply- 

 ing live rockfish larvae and to David Kramer (NMFS, 

 LaJolla) for aiding in the culturing of these larvae. Pam- 

 ela Moser generously gave her time in typing parts of the 

 manuscript. 



This paper is dedicated to the memory of Don Dockins 

 who, as a worker in the fish collection of Scripps In- 

 stitution, untiring colleague on countless collecting trips, 

 and friend of the senior author, aided greatly in the com- 

 pletion of the paper. 



This study was facilitated by the generous efforts of 

 many people. For the loan of valuable specimens we are 

 indebted to Robert Lavenberg, Los Angeles County 

 Museum; Richard Rosenblatt, SIO; Erik Bertelsen, 

 University Museum, Copenhagen; George Kelley, 

 Thomas McKenney, and Ruth Stoddard, Northeast 

 Fisheries Center, NMFS; Thomas Clark, University of 

 Hawaii; and C. R. Hitz, Northwest Fisheries Center, 

 NMFS, Seattle. Jerry Newmann, LACM, and Joseph 

 Copp, SIO, provided valuable help in locating and trans- 



LITERATURE CITED 



AHLSTROM, E. H. 



1961. Distribution and relative abundance of rockfish (Sebastodes 

 spp.) larvae off California and Baja California. Rapp. P.-V. 

 Reun. Cons. Perm. Int. Explor. Mer 150:169-176. 



1965. Kinds and abundance of fishes in the California Current re- 

 gion based on egg and larval surveys. Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. 

 Invest. Rep. 10:31-52. 



1971. Kinds and abundance of fish larvae in the eastern tropical 

 Pacific, based on collections made on EASTROPAC I. Fish. 

 Bull., U.S. 69:3-77. 



69 



