142 
Fishery Bulletin 1 14(2) 
will be apparent in field-collected S. constellatus. By 
the late postflexion stage, field-collected specimens of 
both S. constellatus and S. ensifer are nearly identical 
in pigmentation and morphological features but can be 
distinguished by gill raker counts (34-40 on the first 
arch in S. ensifer versus 25-30 in S. constellatus), pos- 
sibly by small differences in head spination, and by the 
longer dorsal- and anal-fin rays of S. ensifer (Rocha- 
Olivares et al., 2000). 
Larval S. ensifer and S. helvomaculatus also are pig- 
mented similarly, but S. ensifer apparently retains ven- 
tral pigment on the tail longer than ventral pigment 
on S. helvomaculatus (>1 melanophore on the caudal 
peduncle to at least 8.4 mm versus none by 7.7 mm, 
respectively). The pectoral fin base apparently is more 
heavily pigmented in S. helvomaculatus-. Richardson 
and Laroche (1979) reported (but did not show in their 
illustrations) that both the inner and outer surfaces of 
the fin base are pigmented by 7.7 mm in S. helvomacu- 
latus. In contrast, S. ensifer has pigment only on the 
inner surface of the fin base through at least 8.4 mm. 
Larval S. ensifer may be slightly more slender than S. 
helvomaculatus (mean: 33% BL, range: 32-34% BL for 
S. ensifer 7. 7-8. 4 mm versus mean: 35% BL, range: 33- 
40% BL for S. helvomaculatus 7. 7-8. 8 mm), and have 
a slightly longer preopercular spine PP03 (28-36% HL 
versus 27-31% HL for larvae within the size range of 
7. 7-8. 8 mm). 
Larval Sebastes of the subgenus Sebastomus are 
more or less readily identifiable as a group on the basis 
of traditional morphological and pigmentation charac- 
ters, but the species within that group are not, perhaps 
reflecting the relatively recent origin and rapid radia- 
tion of this subgenus (Hyde and Vetter, 2007). Molecu- 
lar techniques do allow for species identification and, 
coupled with visual pre-sorting to subgenus, do provide 
an efficient method for obtaining quantitative, species- 
specific data for these otherwise unidentifiable larvae. 
Development of microarrays and microbeads that allow 
automated reading of a fluorescent label after species- 
specific enzyme ligation may provide collection of real- 
time, species-specific abundance data aboard a ship 
during a survey. 
Acknowledgments 
We wish to thank the scientific and ship’s crews of the 
NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan and Scripps Institu- 
tion of Oceanography RV New Horizon. Our apprecia- 
tion goes to A. Hays, D. Griffith, and R. Charter, who 
especially assisted in obtaining samples; L. Dunn for 
sorting the fish larvae from the plankton samples; H. 
Timms and A. Brooks for their assistance in the labo- 
ratory; and H. Moser, who contributed pertinent in- 
formation during review. For his tutelage and review 
of this article, S. Charter is especially grateful to J. 
Hyde. We also thank the Oceanids Foundation and the 
Frieda Daum Urey scholarship committee for their en- 
dowment to CATL. 
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