| duck-billed shape of head |
| normal (not striking) |
|
| duck-billed shape of head |
| elongated |
| absent |
absent |
| no spines |
no spines |
| no rows |
| more than two dorso-ventral clusters or bands |
| melanophores on head + trunk |
| no rows |
| more than two dorso-ventral clusters or bands |
| melanophores on head + trunk |
| pigmented |
pigmented |
| with row of melanophores |
| normal with few scattered melanophores |
| fin rays only with melanophores |
| In flexion-preflexion larvae, lip pigment absent and caudal pigment extends into finfold; in postflexion larvae to juvenile stage, anus well behind and vertical from the insertion of the dorsal fin, 7-8 peritoneal pigment patches, and eye diameter decreases from 14% to about 10% of head length; nostrils over posterior tip of maxilla by transformation.
Pigmentation:
Preflexion: posterior to angle of lower jaw; on body margins and finfolds near origins of future dorsal fin and anal fin; heavy on end of tail; peritoneal patches increasing from 0 to 4.
Flexion-postflexion: over brain; row along lower jaw; row on preopercle; 5-8 peritoneal patches, infraorbital row by postflexion.
Transformation-juvenile: on fin rays, heavy on caudal and adipose, gradually scattering over dorsum, 7-8 peritoneal patches.
Sequence of fin development: anal, dorsal, caudal, pectorals, pelvics, adipose. |
