Ideatification.—A number of small and damaged specimens 
could not be identified. Except for the distinctive Sudis hyalina, 1 
did not identify the other specimens below genus because of the 
difficulty involved. Many specimens were identifiable to the 
species level, but a large proportion were not; thus the generic 
level was used. I followed Rofen (1966b) in the identification, 
with the exception of Pontosudis which Rofen did not describe. 
However, the adults have characteristic long dorsal fins, which 
were a distinctive character on the larvae I tentatively attribute to 
this genus. 
Lestidium spp. (44 occurrences, 79 larvae).—This was the most 
abundant genus of barracudinas (Table 9), and larvae were widely 
distributed throughout the area. In the winter cruise, larvae were 
absent from the Straits of Florida and north of the Caribbean 
(Fig. 4). 
Lestidiops spp. (18 occurrences, 25 larvae).—These larvae were 
found in limited numbers throughout the area. 
Sudis hyalina (25 occurrences, 35 larvae).—This species was 
more abundant and widely distributed on the winter, than on the 
summer, cruise. 
Stemonosudis spp. (8 occurrences, 8 larvae).—Representatives 
of this genus were rare in these collections. 
Pontosudis spp. (6 occurrences, 6 larvae).—This tentatively 
identified taxon was rarely taken and only outside of the Carib- 
bean. 
Lestrolepis spp. (12 occurrences, 15 larvae).—These rare larvae 
were taken more often in the summer than in the winter. 
16. Alepisauridae 
(2 occurrences, 2 larvae) 
The two larvae were taken in the middle of the Caribbean south 
of Hispaniola during the winter cruise. 
Identification.—Two species of Alepisaurus occurred in this area, 
but their specific identification has not been determined. I follow- 
ed the description of Rofen (1966c) for A/episaurus sp. 
17. Myctophidae 
(109 occurrences, 2,674 larvae) 
Larvae of this family were the most abundant of any family 
and occurred at every station. It was the most speciose family as 
represented by the kinds of larvae found, and many taxa were 
identified as summarized in Table 10. A number of specimens 
were not identified, not because they were unknown, but because 
they were too damaged to identify to the generic level with any 
reliability. These larvae are listed as Myctophidae spp. The re- 
maining larvae are discussed by genus or species. In the western 
Indian Ocean and in the eastern tropical Pacific, this family also 
dominated (Ahlstrom 1971, 1972; Nellen 1973). In the eastern 
Gulf of Mexico, they were the fourth most frequently observed 
family, even though most stations were in water (50 m deep, 
because of their dominance at the deeper stations (Houde et al. 
footnote 4). Most of the same genera of larvae are found in the 
areas I have compared with the Caribbean, but they differ strik- 
ingly in many instances as I discuss at the end of the family ac- 
count. 
11 
Diaphus spp. (101 occurrences, 1,233 larvae and transformed 
juveniles).—Larvae of this genus occurred at nearly every station 
and were most abundant at the generic level (Fig. 5). Nine species 
were identified but these were transformed individuals. Diaphus 
has 23 species occurring in the North Atlantic Ocean of which 20 
have been reported from this survey area (Nafpaktitis et al. 1977). 
Their absence from four stations on each cruise is not indicative 
of their distribution, but rather of their low abundance at those 
locations. These larvae are oceanic and generally quite abundant, 
with 13 stations having >100 larvae under 10 m? of sea surface. 
The two stations on cruise 7343 off the coast of Venezuela had 
» 300 larvae under 10 m?, and the other two stations on that 
cruise had between 100 and 200 larvae under 10 m?. The nine sta- 
tions on cruise 7239 with >100 larvae under 10 m? ranged from 
101 to 192 larvae. In the eastern tropical Pacific, Ahlstrom (1972) 
found Diaphus to rank third in abundance, exceeded only by 
Diogenichthys and Lampanyctus. In this study, Diogenichthys 
was not abundant and Lampanyctus ranked fifth. In the eastern 
Gulf of Mexico Diaphus was most common (Houde et al. foot- 
note 4), and in the western Indian Ocean Diaphus ranked second, 
exceeded only by Benthosema (Nellen 1973). 
Identification.—The nine species identified by B. G. Nafpaktitis 
et al. (1977) were transformed specimens. Larvae were identified 
following the criteria of Moser and Ahlstrom (1972, 1974). Only 
limited attempts were made to identify larvae to species. Several 
metamorphosing specimens were identified as D. dumerilii, which 
appears to have been one of the most common species. However, 
the complexity of this group precluded me from attempting to 
work out identification at the species level at this time. Pigmenta- 
tion, body shape, and photophore development characters will be 
useful in identifying these species. 
Notolychnus valdivae (26 occurrences, 44 larvae).—This 
species ranked seventh in abundance among the myctophid 
genera and was scattered throughout the area on both cruises. 
This species showed some seasonal variation, with twice as many 
present during the summer cruise as the winter cruise. Adults of 
this species are widely distributed and abundant in tropical and 
subtropical waters (Nafpaktitis et al. 1977). Ahlstrom (1972) 
found it in rather narrow geographical limits on the eastern 
tropical Pacific; Houde et al. (footnote 4) found it throughout the 
eastern Gulf of Mexico at stations deeper than 100 m; Nellen 
(1973) found 178 larvae in the western Indian Ocean. 
Identification.—I followed Moser and Ahlstrom (1974) in identi- 
fying these larvae. Larvae of this species acquire photophores at 
small size (10 mm), and the distinctive arrangement of 
photophores makes these specimens easy to identify. Before the 
acquisition of photophores, the distinct shape of the eye and body 
and characteristic pigment at the base of the tail aid in identifica- 
tion. 
Lampadena spp. (27 occurrences, 46 larvae).—Larvae of this 
genus were more abundant during the summer than the winter 
and ranked sixth in abundance. This genus was not well 
represented in the eastern tropical Pacific (Ahlstrom 1971, 1972); 
Nafpaktitis et al. (1977) indicated that only one species (L. 
luminosa) is abundant in this area and one species (L. anomala) is 
rare; Houde et al. (1979) caught 42 larvae attributed to L. 
luminosa in the eastern Gulf of Mexico; Nellen (1973) reported on 
86 larvae from the western Indian Ocean. 
