Hawaiian Stomatopods — Townsley 
401 
previously assigned generic and trivial names 
of the larvae, thus making it difficult to as- 
certain the relationship of these species to 
those collected in Hawaii. Most of the larvae 
belonging to a particular genus resemble one 
another so closely that it is virtually impossi- 
ble to place them in their proper specific 
category without rearing them to maturity. 
Because of these difficulties, I have not tried 
to relate the Hawaiian larval forms with those 
of the previously described species, but where 
it has been possible I have attempted to cor- 
relate them with their proper adult species. 
The specific identification of the larvae was 
made in the manner used by Claus (1872) 
and Brooks (1886) in which three methods 
were employed: (1) a comparison of larval 
stages with postlarval forms which show char- 
acteristics of both the larvae and adults, in 
this manner working from the adult back 
through the larval series to the earliest iden- 
tifiable stage; this is by far the most accurate 
means of identification, except, of course, 
where rearing of the larvae to the adult has 
been accomplished; (2) a comparison of the 
distribution of larval forms and known adults 
in which it is possible to make specific diag- 
noses with some accuracy in those cases where 
only one or two adult species are known to 
occur, but cases may arise in which the adult 
specimen is unknown; (3) the relative abund- 
ance of larval and adult species, although this 
is the least accurate method used, has proved 
to be useful when one species is known to be 
more numerous than others and it is assumed 
that the larval forms also retain the same 
relative numerical relationship. 
Almost all authors who have worked with 
larval stomatopods have noted that invariably 
there are forms present which in no respects 
bear any resemblance to the adults recorded 
for the region. This is also true of the material 
at hand from Hawaii. This would seem to 
indicate that there are numerous species 
throughout the world, probably from greater 
depths, which are known only in their larval 
stages. 
The present study was undertaken because 
recent investigations on the feeding habits of 
pelagic fishes have shown that the larval stages 
of the Stomatopoda rank* second in impor- 
tance as food for certain species of tuna in 
the Hawaiian area, and that they are signifi- 
cant in the diet of several other pelagic fishes. 
Inasmuch as the adult stages of the pelagic 
larvae involved are found on the reefs and 
shores of the Islands, it is apparent that the 
general economy of the neritic waters in the 
vicinity is influenced to some extent by the 
productivity of the reef and shore fauna. These 
two points suggest a third, namely, that pe- 
lagic fishes may be influenced to venture close 
to shore because of the increased food supply 
there. 
In order to assess objectively the impor- 
tance of these larval stages in the general 
economy of the neritic realm, it is necessary 
to be able to identify the species involved, 
so that a rapid qualitative and quantitative 
analysis of both the plankton and the stomach 
contents of pelagic fishes may be made. The 
present problem was designed to accomplish 
these ends for the Stomatopoda, and it is 
hoped that the results obtained will prove of 
use to workers in other fields. 
Acknowledgments 
I wish to express my thanks to Dr. C. H. 
Edmondson for permitting me to examine the 
specimens in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 
to Mr. Vernon Brock for making available 
specimens collected by the Territorial Divi- 
sion of Fish and Game, and to the staff of the 
Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations for pro- 
viding specimens collected by them. I am 
indebted to Dr. A. H. Banner for his constant 
help and criticism on the collection of mate- 
rial and preparation of the manuscript, and 
to Dr. R. W. Hiatt for suggesting the problem 
and for criticism of the manuscript. In addi- 
tion I would like to extend my thanks to Mr. 
Kenji Ego, Mr. Daniel Yamashita, and Miss 
Winifred Tseu for their help in collecting 
specimens. 
