DEVELOPMENT AND LIFE HISTORY OF SOME TELEOSTS 
589 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE YOUNG 
The fry were taken in to wings in outside waters 39 times and in inside waters 28 
times. No definite record of the number of hauls made was kept. It is probable, 
however, that nearly an equal number of towings was made in the inside and outside 
waters. Therefore, the indications are that the fry are somewhat more common 
off Beaufort Inlet than in Beaufort Harbor and adjacent sounds and estuaries. 
The fry were taken in surface towings 48 times and in bottom ones only 16 times. 
Although a considerably larger number of surface than bottom hauls was made, the 
discrepancy in the number of hauls certainly is not great enough to account entirely 
for the difference. Furthermore in 1927 and 1928 the number of surface and bottom 
hauls made was about equal and during those years the fry appeared 21 times in the 
surface nets, and only 1 1 times in the bottom ones. Since the bottom nets were not 
closed while they were lifted, it is entirely possible that some of the fry occurring in these 
nets were not actually taken on the bottom. The larger larvae, 5.0 to about 10 mm 
in length (after which they seldom appeared in the tow), occurred in the surface nets 
quite as frequently as the smaller ones. It may be concluded, therefore, that the 
young of this species, until they reach a length of at least 10 mm, occur in the open 
waters and are chiefly surface dwelling. 
The size at which the young cease to be chiefly pelagic and begin to occupy the 
habitat of their parents (mainly shallow “grassy” areas) is not definitely known, as 
no specimens ranging from about 13 to 24 mm in length were taken. Fish 24 mm 
in length are “young adults” and may be taken with collecting seines in shallow 
water in the usual summer habitat of the adult, while the fish of the smaller size 
(13 mm) are still pelagic. 
GROWTH 
Insufficient specimens were taken to determine the rate of growth. Specimens 
5.0 to 6.0 mm in length first occurred in towings early in June and several specimens 
10 mm and one 12 mm long were taken in July. Therefore, the indications are 
that the larval stages are passed rather quickly, or within 2 or 3 months, and the 
earliest young of the season probably become “young adults” during their first 
summer. Specimens ranging from about 13 to 24 mm in length are lacking in the 
collection. 
HYPLEUROCHILUS GEMINATUS (WOOD). BLENNY 
The genus Hypleurochilus contains a single species, which is common at Beaufort, 
N. C., and from there it ranges southward to the coast of Texas. This blenny, in 
general, is recognized by its rather deep, compressed, naked body; short, blunt head; 
low horizontal mouth, with a strong canine tooth on the posterior part of each jaw; 
broad pectoral, with 14 rays; long, low, continuous dorsal fin, with 11 to 13 spines and 
14 or 15 soft rays; and by a tentacle over the eye; which is much larger in the male 
than in the female. Adult males differ from the females, furthermore, in having fleshy 
bulbs, covered with folded or creased skin, on the two anal spines, and an eliptical 
membranous hood in advance of the anal fin and in the presence of folds of skin around 
the vent. Females have a very distinct genital papilla, at least during the breeding 
season, which is not evident in the other sex (fig. 90). 
Males reach a larger size than the females, for the largest fish in the numerous 
catches invariably were males. Furthermore, the largest male seen was 72 mm long 
and many others nearly as large were present in the collections, whereas the largest 
female was only 58 mm in length. 
