NOTES ON TELEOSTEAN OVA AND LARVAE. 45 



belonged, as it is the most common wrasse in the locality, which could 

 with any certainty be regarded as the parent fish. The smaller size of 

 the eggs, however, and certain differences exhibited by the hatched-out 

 larvae, led me to conclude that this was not a species identical with 

 that described by Matthews, though certainly a closely related form. 

 Of the other wrasses (having unknown ova and larvae) which are 

 known to occur here — Zabrus mixtus, Crenilahrus mclops, and Cenfro- 

 lahrus exoletus — the first is the form to which every probability points 

 as the parent of these eggs. It is the one other species known to 

 form a nest similar to that of L. inaculatvs (18, Vol. Ill, p. 102), and 

 the size of the eggs is also most in agreement with this parentage. 

 Eipe ova from Crenilabrus melops have been described by Holt (11a, 

 p. 450) as spherical and having a diameter of 0'78 mm. Crenilahrus 

 exoletus, of whose eggs I have no knowledge, is an exceedingly small 

 fish, and is not at all likely to produce ova as large as my specimens. 

 It is moreover a more deep-water form, and is not known to construct 

 a nest between tide-marks. 



"My specimens had a spherical or somewliat ovoid shape and a thick 

 strong capsule. Five which were measured had the following dimen- 

 sions— 0-92, 0-94, 0-94, 0-90 x 0-94 and 1-08 x 0-86 mm. When first ob- 

 served on the 17th June the embryonic body with well-marked myomeres 

 had formed, but no caudal outgrowth had appeared. There was a large 

 Kiipfer's vesicle. No pigment was visible. The yolk was pale buff- 

 coloured and devoid of any oil-globule. Four days later they have reached 

 the final stage of embryonic development (Fig. 4). The yolk is much 

 reduced, its diameter being about four-sevenths that of the egg-capsule, 

 and the caudal extremity has grown around so that its tip in some cases 

 overlies the auditory region. The yolk is ochreous-yellow and shows a 

 number of small vesicles in the mid-ventral part. In the eyes there is 

 black pigment through which shine golden tints. The body is be- 

 strewn with black chromatophores for about two-thirds of its length, 

 and posterior to this there are some along the dorsal and ventral con- 

 tours, but the posterior extremity is unpigmented. Yellow chromato- 

 phores occur on the anterior part of the body. The yolk-sac shows a 

 few round black pigment spots and many yellow ones. The pectoral 

 fins appear as semicircular flaps near the posterior edge of the yolk- 

 sac. Small bean-shaped otocysts occur at a distance behind the eyes 

 about equal to the diameter of the lens. Fig. 8 depicts a slightly 

 earlier stage. 



Two larvae (Fig. 8) measured within a few hours of hatching were 

 3'26 and 3'28 mm. in length, the pre-anal lengtlis being 1"80 and 

 1-7G mm. respectively. The yolk-sac is relatively small, and its con- 



