Evseenko and Bolshakova: Late and transformation stages of larvae of the Diaphus ostenfel/di in the South Pacific Gyre 323 
Diaphus larvae described earlier by others (Sparta, 1952; 
Moser and Ahlstrom, 1974, 1996; Pertseva-Ostroumova, 
1975; Tsokur, 1975; Olivar, 1987; Olivar and Beckley, 1995; 
Sassa et al., 2003), photophores are formed by a size of 
about 11-15 mm SL. This length may correlate with the 
size of adults. The Diaphus ostenfeldi attains a length of 
about 120 mm SL (Hulley, 1981), but the sizes of other spe- 
cies whose early stages are known do not exceed 90 mm 
SL (Hulley, 1981; Bekker, 1983). 
Distribution 
In the southwestern Pacific Ocean between 35°S and 57°S, 
adults of this species were encountered at the 18 stations 
sampled during the 34th expedition of the RV Dmitry 
Mendeleev in different water masses, from the central 
masses in the north of the study area across the subtrop- 
ical frontal zone and the notal zone of the South Pacific 
Ocean to the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone in the south 
of the study area (Bekker and Evseenko, 1986). Larvae of 
D. ostenfeldi were found at 4 stations in a narrow range of 
latitudes between 35°S and 39°S in the subtropical frontal 
zone. This area was located on the western periphery of 
the vast anticyclonic South Pacific Gyre. 
Acknowledgments 
This work was supported by the state assignment of 
Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oceanology 
no. 0149-2019-0009 and by the Russian Science Founda- 
tion (no. 19-14-00026). S. Evseenko submitted and revised 
this article prior to his death on 15 October 2020. 
Literature cited 
Bekker, V. E. 
1983. Myctophid fishes of the World Ocean, 248 p. Moscow, 
Russia. [In Russian.] 
Bekker, V. E., and S. A. Evseenko. 
1986. Distribution of mesopelagic fishes and biogeographic 
boundaries in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean in 
January—February 1985. J. Ichthyol. 26:890-901. [In 
Russian.] 
Fricke, R., W. N. Eschmeyer, and R. Van Der Laan (eds.). 
2020. Eschmeyer's catalog of fishes: genera, species, refer- 
ences. [Available from website, accessed April 2020.] 
Hulley, P. A. 
1972. A report on the mesopelagic fishes collected during the 
deep-sea cruises of R.S. ‘Africana II’, 1961-1966. Ann. S. 
Afr. Mus. 60:197—236. 
1981. Results of the research cruises of FRV ‘Walther Herwig’ 
to South America: 58. Family Myctophidae (Osteichthyes, 
Myctophiformes). Archiv. Fischereiwiss. 31(1):1—303. 
Krefft, G. 
1974. Investigations on midwater fish in the Atlantic Ocean. 
Ber. dt. wiss. Kommn Meeresforsch. 23:226—254. 
McGinnis, R. F. 
1982. Biogeography of lanternfishes (Myctophidae) south 
of 30°S. Antarct. Res. Ser. 35, 110 p. Am. Geophys. Union, 
Washington D.C. 
Moser, H. G. 
1996. Introduction. In The early stages of fishes in the Cali- 
fornia Current region (H. G. Moser, ed.), p. 1-72. CalCOFI 
Atlas 33. 
Moser, H. G., and E. H. Ahlstrom. 
1972. Development of the lanternfish, Scopelopsis multipunc- 
tatus Brauer 1906, with a discussion of its phylogenetic 
position in the family Myctophidae and its role in a pro- 
posed mechanism for the evolution of photophore patterns 
in lanternfishes. Fish. Bull. 70:541-564. 
1974. The role of larval stages in systematic investigations 
of marine teleosts: the Myctophidae, a case study. In The 
early life history of fish (J. H. S. Blaxter, ed.), p. 605-607. 
Springer, Berlin, Germany. 
1996. Myctophidae: lanternfishes. In The early stages of 
fishes in the California Current region (H. G. Moser, ed.), 
p. 387-475. CalCOFI Atlas 33. 
Moser, H. G., E. H Ahlstrom, and J. R. Paxton. 
1984. Myctophidae: development. Jn Ontogeny and sys- 
tematics of fishes. Based on an international symposium 
dedicated to the memory of Elbert Halvor Ahlstrom; La 
Jolla, CA, 15-18 August 1983 (H. G. Moser, W. J. Richards, 
D. M. Cohen, M. P. Fahay, A. W. Kendall Jr., and S. L. Rich- 
ardson, eds.), p. 218-239. Am. Soc. Ichthyol. Herpetol., 
Spec. Publ. 1. 
Nafpaktitis, B. G. 
1978. Systematics and distribution of lanternfishes of the gen- 
era Lobianchia and Diaphus (Myctophidae) in the Indian 
Ocean. Bull. Los Ang. Cty. Mus. Nat. Hist. Sci. 30, 92 p. 
Olivar, M. P. 
1987. Larval development and spawning of Diaphus hudsoni 
in the Benguela Current region. Mar. Biol. 94:605-611. 
Olivar, M.-P., and L. E. Beckley. 
1995. Early development of Diaphus spp. (Pisces: Myctophi- 
dae) of the Agulhas Current. S. Afr. J. Mar. Sci. 16:129-139. 
Parin, N. V., A. P. Andriashey, O. D. Borodulina, and V. M. Tchuvasov. 
1974. Midwater fishes of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. 
Tr. Inst. Okeanol. Akad. Nauk SSSR 98:76-140. [In 
Russian.] 
Pertseva-Ostroumova, T. A. 
1975. Larvae of lanternfish Diaphus agassizii. J. Ichthyol. 
15:677-681. [In Russian.] 
Sassa, C., K. Kawaguchi, and V. J. Loeb. 
2003. Early development of Diaphus garmani (Myctophi- 
dae) in the transition region of the western North Pacific. 
Ichthyol. Res. 50:94-97. 
Sparta, A. 
1952. Contributo alla conoscenza dello sviluppo larvale di 
Myctophum metopoclampum Cocco. Boll. Pesca Idriobiol. 
7:5-10. [In Italian.] 
Trunoy, I. A. 
1968. New data on the distribution of Electrona rissoi (Cocco) 
and Diaphus ostenfeldi (Taning) (Myctophidae). J. Ichthyol. 
4:745-748. [In Russian.] 
Tsokur, A. G. 
1975. Materials on the development of the Malayan head- 
lightfish Diaphus malayanus Weber, 1913 (Myctophidae, 
Pisces). J. Ichthyol. 15:682-694. [In Russian.] 
