DEVELOPMENT AND LIFE HISTORY OF SOME TELEOSTS 
521 
The general color is pale. On the median ventral line are three dark spots, one 
near the isthmus, another on the chest, and a third one just in advance of the vent. 
A row of black dots occurs along the ventral outline from the origin of the anal to the 
base of the caudal. A dark area, apparently internal, is visible on the side above and 
slightly posterior to the vent (fig. 12). 
Specimens 6.0 to 7.0 mm long .-— The advancement over the 5.0-mm fish, already 
described, is not great. The body apparently has become slightly more elongate, the 
depth in three specimens measured is contained 3.8 to 4.0 times in the length to the 
base of the caudal fin. The concavities in the dorsal outline (in advance of the eyes 
and at the nape) remain, but are less pronounced. No change, worthy of note, has 
taken place in the shape of the head, snout, eyes, or mouth. The principal advance- 
ment is the development of more definite soft rays in the dorsal and anal fins, of which 
about 12 can be counted in each fin. The spines, however, are not yet well differen- 
tiated. The caudal fin is quite long and round. The pectoral fins are long and reach 
to the vent, but the ventral fins are scarcely differentiated. 
The black dots, present in the smaller fish described, persist and are more definite. 
In addition a few to several black dots now are present on the base of the caudal, two 
or more on the upper surface of the caudal peduncle, one at the nape, and generally 
an elongate blackish one above the base of the pectoral (fig. 13). 
Figure 13 .— Lagodon rhomboides. From a specimen 7 mm long. 
Specimens 8.0 to 10 mm long . — Development has progressed rather slowly. 
The body has become somewhat more slender, but it remains about equally com- 
pressed, the depth now being contained 4.3 to 4.6 times in the length to the base of 
the caudal. The dorsal outline remains as in the smaller fish, except that depressions 
in advance of the eyes and at the nape have disappeared, but the brain remains visible. 
The head now is contained 3.5 to 3.6 in head; eye 2.9 to 3.1 in head; and the snout 
3.0 to 3.3. The mouth remains oblique, with the maxillary reaching nearly opposite 
anterior margin of pupil. Jaw teeth now are evident, but contrary to most spiny 
