REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF SCIAENIDAE 
97 
remains visible. The anal and the soft dorsal are quite fully developed, but the 
spinous dorsal remains rudimentary. The anal consists of 1 1 soft rays, and the soft 
dorsal has 26 rays, formulae prevailing in adults. The pectoral fins, too, are developed , 
and have differentiated rays, but the ventrals are very rudimentary, that is, mere 
tufts of membrane less than half the length of the eye. A black lateral stripe persists, 
although rather less distinct than in smaller fish. A definite black band is present 
on the snout in advance of the eye, and indefinitely on the opercle behind the eye. 
Both lips are black. The black on the ventral outline, described in smaller specimens, 
now is confined almost wholly to the ventral surface of the caudal peduncle. Sub- 
surface dark markings over the abdominal mass remain visible, although less distinct 
than in younger fish. Small dusky spots are scattered over the cranium, and a row 
of more or less definite black spots is present on the back and extends along the base 
of the dorsal fins (fig. 3 7). 8 
Only one specimen of the size described is at hand. This species is more slender 
and more shapely than C. regalis at this size (depth in standard length 3.3 times in 
the former and 2.8 in the latter), and the snout is more pointed. C. regalis is much 
plainer in color, as it has no lateral stripe and no black markings on the head or back, 
and only a few on the ventral outline. The enlarged black spot near the middle of 
the base of the anal is quite distinctive, as no such spot is present in C. nebulosus. 
The enlarged spot on the anal base in C. regalis is present at a length of about 3.5 
millimeters, and it serves as a mark of distinction in specimens ranging from that 
length to 7 millimeters and upward. 
Specimens 10 to 12 millimeters long . — The fish is moderately slender, compressed, 
and shapely. The head is rather low, and pointed, its length is contained 2.7 to 
2.85 times in the standard length, and the greatest depth 3.8 to 4.2 times. The snout 
is rather long, its length to tip of upper jaw being contained 3.5 times in the head, 
and the eye 4.2 to 4.4 times. The mouth is large, moderately oblique; the lower jaw 
projects rather prominently; the gape anteriorly is about on a level with the lower 
margin of the pupil; and the maxillary reaches slightly past middle of eye, its length 
being contained 2.25 to 2.9 times in the head. Small spines are present on the margins 
of the preopercle and interopercle. Two stained and cleared specimens have respec- 
tively 25 and 26 vertebrae. The fins are all developed, but the spinous dorsal remains 
quite low, the longest spines being shorter than the eye, and the ventrals, although 
having rays, also remain short, being equal to or scarcely longer than the eye. The 
* The figure by Pearson (1929, p. 179, fig. 24) based on a specimen 7.8 millimeters long, presumably taken on the coast of Texas 
shows the body as being much more compressed and less shapely than in the Beaufort fish. Furthermore, the mouth is shown as. 
less strongly oblique and the caudal fin as much more broadly rounded. Marked differences in color, also, are evident. If the 
figure is correct, much variation must exist among specimens. The figure certainly does not agree as to the shape of the body with 
a faded specimen from Texas examined by us. 
