Guide to the Early Stages of Marine Fishes occurring in the Western North Atlantic Ocean, Cape Hatteras to the Southern Scotian Shelf

Source - Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, Volume 4: 3-423
ISSN-0250-7408

Fahay, M.P. 1983. Guide to the Early Stages of Marine Fishes occurring in the Western North Atlantic Ocean, Cape Hatteras to the Southern Scotian Shelf. J. Northw. Atl. Fish. Sci. 4: 3-423 https://doi.org/10.2960/J.v4.a1

This guide presents egg and larval descriptions of 290 species of fishes (contained within 92 families, 28 suborders and 13 orders) likely to be collected in plankton and neuston sampling operations in continental shelf and oceanic waters of the western North Atlantic. Coverage is designed to emphasize species occurring between Cape Hatteras (latitude 35°N) and the southern Scotian Shelf (about 43°N) and includes oceanic mesopelagic andbathypelagic forms. Coverage is also designed to provide (a) as wide a phylogenetic survey of larval characters as today's published record allows, and (b) direct comparisons of confusing species pairs. The latter two considerations result in the inclusion of a few estuarine species or species occurring south of Cape Hatteras.

Throughout the taxonomic section of the guide, illustrations are placed on the right-hand page and the corresponding descriptions are placed on the left. Consistency in the descriptions is largely dependent on descriptive information available in the published literature. Certain meristic and morphometric characteristics of adults are included to aid in the identification of larger larvae and juveniles. Special introductory pages, which summarize and compare characters for a number of species, are provided for the families Gonostomalidae (including Sternoptychidae), Myctophidae, Paralepididae, Carangidae, Sciaenidae, Scombridae and the (sub)orders Anguilliformes, Gadiformes, Ceratioidei, Stromateoidei and Pleuronectiformes.

Many published illustrations have been redrawn, primarily to correct inconsistencies and errors in the original descriptions, but also to provide uniformity throughout the guide. Introductory material includes explanation pages, a glossary of terms widely used in ichthyoplankton work, a table of larval characters for the 13 orders, and a table of meristic characters (including presence or absence of adipose fin), arranged according to range of myomeres or vertebrae, to assist in the identification of problem larvae.

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Language - English Publisher - Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), Dartmouth, N.S., Canada
Publication Date - July 1983
Publication Type - Journal Article
Descriptors - Cape Hatteras, egg, ichthyoplankton, larvae, Scotian Shelf

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