Villanueva Gomila et al.: Early life history of Acanthistius patcichonicus 
465 
benthic lifestyle and changing its coloration by a stan- 
dard length of 9.0 mm. 
Alternatively, another explanation may be avoidance 
of the plankton nets by larger larvae, especially dur- 
ing daylight hours. Hence, other sampling techniques 
(e.g., the use of light traps, trawl nets, or video sta- 
tions; Harasti et al., 2014) and survey designs specific 
to collection of larger fish (e.g., between 8.4 and 13.1 
mm BL) should be used to sample fish and determine 
more precisely the size at settlement. 
The identification of the early stages of A. patachoni- 
cus is a first step toward a better understanding of its 
reproductive behaviour and ecology, connectivity pat- 
terns, and dispersal capabilities, all of which in turn will 
serve as fundamental pieces of knowledge for the proper 
management of its populations in the Argentine Sea. 
Acknowledgments 
We want to thank M. Lopez, P. Fiorda, R. Hernandez 
Moresino, L. Getino, G. Trobbiani, N. Ortiz, D. Remenar, 
I. D’ercole, and the crews of the RV Puerto Deseado, RV 
Capital i Canepa, and RV Eduardo Holmberg for their 
help during surveys. L. Machinandiarena and M. R. 
Marin collaborated on laboratory work and data anal- 
ysis, respectively. J. Dignani designed and calibrated 
depth and temperature sensors. C. Pipitone provided 
useful literature. C. Guerrero helped with revisions of 
figures. A. Gosztonyi and 2 anonymous reviewers made 
useful comments on an earlier version of this article, 
and N. Glembocki helped with the English language. 
CONICET partially funded the research cruise CON- 
CACEN 2009. This study was funded by projects from 
the Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tec- 
nologica (PICT 2010-2461) (granted to L. Venerus) and 
the Conservation, Research and Education Opportuni- 
ties International (granted to the senior author). Field 
work was partially conducted within a World Natural 
Heritage Site and was authorized by the Secretaria de 
Turismo y Areas Protegidas del Chubut. 
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