And Phycis (Artedi) Larvae and Pelagic Juveniles in the Middle Atlantic Bight
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1987 Identification and Distribution of Urophycis (Gill) and Phycis (Artedi) Larvae and Pelagic Juveniles in the Middle Atlantic Bight Bruce Henry Comyns College of William and Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, and the Oceanography Commons Recommended Citation Comyns, Bruce Henry, "Identification and Distribution of Urophycis (Gill) and Phycis (Artedi) Larvae and Pelagic Juveniles in the Middle Atlantic Bight" (1987). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539617573. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-qgj5-7r45 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IDENTIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF UROPHYCIS (Gill) AND PHYCIS (Artedi) LARVAE AND PELAGIC JUVENILES IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC BIGHT A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Marine Science The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts By Bruce H. Comyns 1987 LIBRARY \ of the This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts f / ' Bruce H. Cornyns Approved, Ma.y 1987 George C^Grant, Ph.D. Committee Chairman/Advisor c. Johr Olney, M.A. ick, PhrD. Herbert^. Austin, Ph.D. John )V. Merriner, PTk JJ. noaV n m f s Southeast Fisheries Center Beaufort, N.C. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply indebted to the chairman of my committee, Dr. George C. Grant, and to the following committee members: Mr. John E. Olney, Dr. John A. Musick, Dr. Herbert M. Austin, Dr. Robert J. Byrne and Dr. John V. Merriner. Special thanks are due to Mr. John E. Olney who introduced me to the study of larval fishes and provided a wealth of helpful criticisms during the writing of this manuscript. I would also like to express my appreciation to Dr. John V. Merriner for his thorough review of this thesis. I thank Dr. John A. Musick and Dr. D.M. Cohen for providing adult meristic data. The specimens for this study were provided by Dr. George C. Grant and Mr. John E. Olney. I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Joanne Shultz who leads the ichthyoplankton program at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, of which I am now a part. Dr. J. Shultz has been extremely understanding of my lingering academic responsibilities. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the late Dr. John M. Zeigler who was instru mental in my being accepted to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Finally, but certainly not least, I thank my wife Becky without whose help this thesis would not have been possible. This type of statement is politely used in many acknowledgments, but in this case r it is to be taken literally. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................... i i i LIST OF TABLES................................. vi LIST OF TABLES: APPENDIX............................. viii LIST OF FIGURES................................. x ABSTRACT.............................................. xv INTRODUCTION................................... 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS..................... 6 RESULTS........ 17 I. Morphology............................ 17 Meristics........................................ 17 Pterygiophore interdigitation................. 44 Morphometries. ............................... 51 Pigmentation.......... .......................... 56 Discussion (morphology)........................ 57 II. Distribution and Abundance ........... 68 Urophycis chuss................................. 68 Urophycis regia................ 76 Urophyc is tenui s.............................. 84 Urophycis f 1 oridana , U . cirrata................. 90 i v TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued). Page Phycis Chesteri................................. 92 Discussion (distribution and abundance)....... 96 SUMMARY.................................................. 106 APPENDIX TABLES........................... 114 LITERATURE CITED...................................... 126 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Summary of hydrographic data for cruises BLM 01W-08W........................................ 12 2 Sources of material, collection data and lengths of hakes used in radiographic analysis of meristics and pterygiophore interdi gitat ion.................................... 14 3 Ranges of meristic characters in adults of Phvcis Chesteri and six species of Urophycis ........................................... 16 4 Percent frequency of the number of gill rakers on the epibranchial bone of the left gill arch in Phvcis chesteri and six species of Urophycis.............................. 20 5 Number of caudal fin rays in Phycis chesteri and six species of Urophycis.......... 23 6 Percent frequency distribution of the number of vertebrae supporting the caudal fin in Phycis chesteri and six species of Urophycis....................................... 24 7 Percent frequency distribution of the number of second dorsal fin rays in Phycis chesteri and six species of Urophycis ....... 31 8 Percent frequency distribution of the number of first dorsal fin rays in Phycis chesteri and six species of Urophycis.......... 35 9 Percent frequency of the number of abdominal vertebrae in Phycis chesteri and six species of Urophycis..................... 41 10 Position (as indicated by interneural space number) of the pterygiophore supporting the first ray of the second dorsal fin.............. 50 vi LIST OF TABLES (continued). Table Page 11 Ranges of pelvic fin-base height as percent of mandible length for Phycis chesteri and five species of Urophycis................... 55 12 A summary of key meristic, morphometric and pterygiophore interdigitation characters to delimit Phycis chesteri and six species of Urophycis . ................. 65 vi i LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES Tabl e Page A—1 Meristic characteristics for chuss determined from cleared and stained specimens. Abbreviations used are LCL and UCL = lower and upper 95% confidence limits, N = number of specimens. Size refers to size at which adult complement is attained............................ 115 A-2 Meristic characteristics for U_^ regia determined from cleared and stained specimens. Abbreviations used are LCL and UCL = lower and upper 95% confidence limits, N = number of specimens. Size refers to size at which adult complement is attained.................. 116 A—3 Meristic characteristics for U_. tenuis determined from cleared and stained specimens. Abbreviations used are LCL and UCL = lower and upper 95% confidence limits, N = number of specimens. Size refers to size at which adult complement is attained............................ 117 A—4 Meristic characteristics for U_^ f1oridana determined from x—rayed and cleared and stained specimens. Abbreviations used are LCL and UCL = lower and upper 95% confidence limits, N = number of specimens' 118 A—5 Meristic characteristics for U_^ cirrata determined from x-rayed and cleared and stained specimens. Abbreviations used are LCL and UCL = lower and upper 95% confidence limits, N = number of specimens 119 Meristic characteristics for U_^_ earl 1 i determined from x-rayed specimens. Abbreviations used are LCL and UCL = lower and upper 95% confidence limits, N = number of specimens.......................... 120 vi i i LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES (continued). Tabl e Page A—7 Meristic characteristics for P_^ chesteri determined from x-rayed and cleared and stained specimens. Abbreviations used are LCL and UCL = lower and upper 95%° confidence limits, N = number of specimens.... 121 A—8 Abundance, size and station location of Urophycis and Phycis larvae and neustonic juveniles caught during BLM cruises 01W-08W. Abbreviations used are: n = neuston catches; b = bongo catches; X = mean length (mm); R = length range (mm) and D = density of fish (#/1000 m3)........... 122 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Ichthyoplankton sampling locations off New Jersey and Virginia...... 11 2 Epibranchial gill rakers on first gill arch of U_;_ chuss (12.2 mm)....................... 19 3 Bar graphs showing number of caudal fin rays in Phycis chesteri and six species of Urophycis. White boxes = 1 standard deviation to each side of mean; black boxes = 2 standard errors to each side of mean; horizontal lines = ranges. Asterisk denotes data from juvenile and adult specimens are included. All larvae had attained the adult meristic complement......... 25 4 Scatter plot of the development of adult complement of caudal fin rays in U^ chuss, U . regia and U_^ tenuis............................ 26 5 Caudal fin of U_^ regia (15.3 mm)............... 27 6 Scatter plot of the development of the number of second dorsal fin pterygiophores in U^ chuss and U^ regia......................... 29 7 Scatter plot of the development of adult complement of second dorsal fin rays in U . chuss, U . regia and U . tenuis.............................................. 32 8 Scatter plot of the development of adult complement of first dorsal fin rays in U . chuss, U^ regia and U . tenui s........... 36 9 Anomalous 15th abdominal vertebra, (U_;_ regia, 9.7 mm)..... 42 x LIST OF FIGURES (continued). Figure Page 10 Percent frequency distribution of abdominal vertebrae in P^_ chesteri,