458 
Fishery Bulletin 113(4) 
Table 1 
Data from stations where larvae of Acanthistius patachonicus were caught in the Argentine Sea during ichthyoplankton tows 
conducted by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET) as part of the CONCACEN (CONICET- 
CADIC [Centro Austral de Investigaciones Cientificas] -CENPAT [Centro Nacional Patagonico]) research cruise in 2009, 
during a survey that we conducted in the San Jose Gulf (SJG), 2011-2013, and during 2 surveys (CC-01/08 and EH-05/11) 
conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo Pesquero in 2008 and 2011. Three types of tows were used: 
horizontal subsurface tow (HSS), horizontal deep tow (HD), or oblique tow (O). For stratified stations, indicated with a plus 
sign ( + ), mean temperatures above and below the thermocline are provided in parentheses. w/d=missing data. 
Mean Maximum 
Research 
cruise 
Station 
Tow 
type 
Date 
Local 
hour 
Lat. S 
Long. W 
water 
temperature 
(°C) 
Bottom 
depth 
(m) 
depth 
sampled 
(m) 
Number 
of 
larvae 
Abundance 
(larvae 
/1000 m 3 ) 
CC-01/08 
20 
HD 
17 Dec 2008 
1120 
42°28' 
63°17' 
10.5 
62 
52 
10 
56.98 
CONCACEN 
7 
HSS 
16 Nov 2009 
0106 
40°45' 
60°49' 
12.7 
54 
8 
1 
5.37 
7 
O 
16 Nov 2009 
0135 
40°45' 
60°50' 
12.7 
55 
20 
3 
25.52 
8 
HSS 
16 Nov 2009 
1234 
41°1T 
62°25' 
13.9 
52 
w/d 
1 
2.85 
8 
O 
16 Nov 2009 
1308 
41°10' 
62°27' 
14.1 
23 
5 
1 
2.16 
9 
O 
16 Nov 2009 
1900 
41°20' 
63°00' 
13.3 
33 
17 
12 
25.12 
10 
HSS 
17 Nov 2009 
0014 
41°25' 
63°19' 
13.0 
33 
4 
1 
4.93 
17 
O 
20 Nov 2009 
1120 
41°38' 
63°40' 
12.7 
50 
26 
2 
5.35 
EH-05/11 
583 
0 
26 Nov 2011 
1849 
40°51' 
61°48' 
17.0 
35 
28 
111 
750.62 
591 
0 
28 Nov 2011 
0935 
40°31' 
61°04' 
14.3 
44 
41 
19 
174.82 
SJG survey 
11 
0 
30 Nov 2011 
1550 
42°17' 
64°21' 
14.5 
72 
w/d 
2 
16.88 
15 
HD 
19 Dec 2011 
1657 
42°15' 
64°15' 
16.0 
31 
w/d 
1 
15.44 
5 
O 
20 Dec 2011 
1707 
42°17' 
64°27' 
16.0 
34 
w/d 
1 
Present 
1 
HD 
12 Mar 2012 
1326 
42°19' 
64°33' 
16.7 
19 
13 
1 
9.26 
23 + 
O 
14 Mar 2012 
1124 
42°21' 
64°09' 
(17.1-16.2) 
58 
50 
1 
4.80 
21 + 
O 
14 Mar 2012 
1244 
42°17' 
64°09' 
(17.0-16.6) 
55 
44 
1 
5.39 
20 
HD 
23 Dec 2012 
1243 
42°15' 
64°15' 
14.0 
24 
w/d 
2 
16.53 
17 + 
O 
14 Feb 2013 
1453 
42°19' 
64°15' 
(15.9-15.4) 
65 
43 
1 
32.46 
Description of early stages 
In all, 170 eggs, 48 yolk-sac larvae 1. 1-2.9 mm in body 
length (BL), 31 preflexion larvae (2.2-6. 1 mm BL), 16 
flexion larvae (4. 9-7. 6 mm BL), 4 postflexion larvae 
(7. 2-8. 4 mm BL), and 1 posttransition juvenile (13.1 
mm BL), were used to describe morphometries, meris- 
tics, pigmentation (melanophores), and head spination 
according to the series method of Neira et al. (1998). 
Description of eggs was based on the typical identi- 
fication characters: egg shape and size, presence and 
number of oil globules, perivitelline space width, and 
distinctive features of the yolk and oil droplet. The 
measurements of larvae, categories for body propor- 
tions, and the terminology for morphometries followed 
Neira et al. (1998): body length (BL), distance from the 
tip of the snout to the notochord tip (in preflexion and 
flexion larvae), and to the posterior margin of the hy- 
pural bones (postflexion larvae and posttransition ju- 
venile); eye diameter (ED), longest diameter of the eye; 
snout length (SnL), distance from the tip of the snout 
to the anterior margin of the eye; head length, distance 
from the tip of the snout to the posterior margin of the 
opercle; body depth, vertical distance on pectoral fin 
base; preanal length, distance from the tip of the snout 
to the anus. 
In the following descriptions, larval length always 
refers to BL, and morphometric measurement was cal- 
culated as a proportion of BL, with the exception of ED 
and SnL, which were calculated as a proportion of head 
length. Specimens were measured to the nearest 0.1 
mm from digital images that were taken with a Cyber- 
shot DSC-W200 camera (Sony Corp., Tokyo) coupled to 
a Wild M3 stereomicroscope (Leica Geosystems AG, St. 
Gallen, Switzerland) and processed with the AxioVision 
LE software, vers. 4.1 (Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany). 
Possible shrinkage effects were not considered in the 
measurements. Whenever possible, the number of myo- 
meres, spines, and rays of dorsal, anal, caudal, pecto- 
ral, and pelvic fins were recorded. All measures and 
meristic counts were made on the left side of the body. 
To describe head spination and the sequence of opercu- 
lar development, as well as other osteological features, 
21 preflexion, 11 flexion, and 3 postflexion larvae and 
