Larval development of the Patagonian brotula Cataetyx messieri (Pisces, Bythitidae) from fjords of southern Chile |
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| Authors: | M F Landaeta † F Balbontin ‡ G A Herrera § |
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| Institution: | CIEN Austral, Universidad Austral de Chile, campus Puerto Montt, Av. Los Pinos s/n, Balneario Pelluco, Casilla 1327, Puerto Montt, Región de Los Lagos, Chile; , Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Valparaíso. P.O. Box 5080, Reñaca, Viña del Mar, Chile; and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Section of Vertebrates (Ichthyology), 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Larvae of Cataetyx messieri (Bythitidae) are described from 14 individuals (12·3–27·9 mm body length) collected in deep fjords and channels of the inland sea of southern Chile (41–55° S), between 137 and 604 m depth. The larvae are elongate, with a large, flattened mouth and a coiled gut. They are lightly pigmented and show three distinctive features: a band of melanophores from the snout to the opercle, melanophores spread over the dorsolateral surface of the stomach and the intestine and a band of melanophores on both dorsal and ventral margins of the tip of the tail and adjacent finfold. |
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| Keywords: | Bythitidae Cataetyx ichthyoplankton southern Chile |
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