Identification of Four Northern Blennioid Fish Larvae in the Canadian Atlantic Ocean (Stichaeidae, Lumpenidae)

Four similar northern blennioid fish larvae from the Gulf of St. Lawrence can be identified on the basis of morphological features. The two larvae of the family Stichaeidae, Ulvaria subbifurcata and Stichaeus punctatus, can be distinguished from the two larvae of the family Lumpenidae, Leptoclinus m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
Main Author: Faber, Daniel J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1976
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f76-229
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f76-229
Description
Summary:Four similar northern blennioid fish larvae from the Gulf of St. Lawrence can be identified on the basis of morphological features. The two larvae of the family Stichaeidae, Ulvaria subbifurcata and Stichaeus punctatus, can be distinguished from the two larvae of the family Lumpenidae, Leptoclinus maculatus and Lumpenus lampretaeformis, by total myomere counts, the position of intestinal myomeres, presence or absence of head melanophores, and presence or absence of internal melanophores along the abdominal part of the notochord. The identification of individual species is based mainly on myomere counts and ventromedial melanophore counts.