Diagnostic characters: moderately pigmented pectorals and pelvics; lack of body pigment; long, deeply serrate parietal spine and posterior preoprcular spine; little ventral postanal midline pigment; development of dorsal midline pigment (>10 mm SL); large head (>40% SL), deep body (>30% SL)
Pigment: extrusion larvae: posterior gut, along ventral midline, and on head; larvae >7.4 mm SL: a few melanophores along ventral midline, head, and dorsal gut; postflexion larvae >12.7 mm SL: along dorsal midline and fin base, on caudal peduncle.
Sequence of fin development: caudal and pectorals, pelvics, dorsal and anal. |