DEVELOPMENT AND LIFE HISTORY OF SOME TELEOSTS 
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at the chin; and two dorsal fins, composed of soft rays only, the first one short, the 
second one long, and similar to the anal. 
The ventral fins are described in current works as consisting of three slender rays, 
closely joined, and appearing as a bifid filament. In the young three separate rays 
are plainly evident, and sometimes a fourth one may be discernible. Upon removing 
the skin, it was found that two articulated rays are enclosed in each filament of the 
adult and a short “remanent” of a fifth ray (unarticulated) is present at the inner 
side of the base of the fin. These hakes, therefore, actually have four-rayed, or five- 
rayed ventral fins if the unarticulated remanent is counted. 
The distinguishing characters of the adults of the species herein discussed are 
most readily shown in a key. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
a. Chin barbel very short, not exceeding the pupil of the eye in length. 
b. Head depressed, notably broader than deep; eye large, equal to or wider than interorbital; scales 
small, 104 to 112 or more oblique series above the lateral line; first dorsal with a long filamentous 
ray; dorsal rays 9 to 11 — 56 to 61; anal rays 52 to 56; lateral line not in a black streak and with- 
out white spots; no white on first dorsal chuss. 
bb. Head scarcely depressed, deeper, its depth about equal to its width; eye smaller, not as wide 
as interorbital; scales larger, 89 to 97 oblique series above lateral line; first dorsal without a 
produced ray; dorsal rays 8 or 9 — 46 to 51; anal rays 43 to 49; lateral line in a black streak, 
interrupted by pale spots; first dorsal largely black, margined with white regius. 
aa. Chin barbel notably longer, always longer than the pupil, frequently nearly or fully as long as 
eye. 
c. Scales moderately small, 110 to 130 oblique series above lateral line; dorsal rays 12 or 13 — 54 to 
59; anal rays 40 to 49; color bluish or brownish above, silvery below; lateral line in a black 
streak, interrupted by pale spots; vertical fins mostly pale brownish, often with dusky margins, 
the first dorsal largely black, not margined with white floridanus. 
cc. Scales very small, 153 to 175 oblique series above lateral line; dorsal rays 8 or 9 — 54 to 63; anal 
rays 50 to 56; color dark brown to nearly black, sometimes with pale blotches; lateral line not 
in a black streak and without pale spots; the vertical fins frequently nearly black, no white 
on first dorsal earlli. 
SPAWNING 
The eggs of Uropliycis, as already stated, were not secured at Beaufort. Neither 
were ripe adult fish seen by us. However, the capture of spawning fish by the Albatross 
on the coast of the Carolinas in December, 1919 is reported in the field notes by the 
late W. W. Welsh. Small larvae, that is, young under 5.0 mm in length, were taken 
only a few times, as follows: One, 3.0 mm long, November 12, 1927, 13 miles west 
southwest of Cape Lookout; 13, ranging in length from 2.75 to 4.5 mm, December 6, 
1927, at the same station; and 1, 3.0 mm long, December 6, 1927, 6 miles west south- 
west of Cape Lookout. These larvae, as stated elsewhere, apparently represent about 
equally regius and floridanus. Larger young were taken frequently and sometimes in 
abundance, during December and the following several months, as shown by tables 
1 and 3. 
The very small larvae taken are very probably only several days old, which seems 
to show that both regius and floridanus spawn in the general latitude of Beaufort at 
least during November and December. The small size of some of the young, though 
beyond the larval stage, taken during the several succeeding months suggests, however, 
that the spawning season extends over a longer period of time. A few specimens of 
floridanus and several of regius, 30 to 40 mm long, were collected as late as March, 
and a few of regius 38 and 39 mm long as late as April 15 (1931). Judging from the 
