Macolor macularis Fowler, 1931

Leis, J. M., 2007, Larval Development in the Lutjanid Subfamily Lutjaninae (Pisces): the Genus Macolor, Records of the Australian Museum 59, pp. 1-8 : 7

Macolor macularis Fowler

Table 2

Three recently settled individuals, 16.8–20.3 mm: IORD 82–299A, 82–299B, 85–316, Iriomote Isl, Ryukyu Isls.

Body deep (37–43% at P 1 base: 32–36% at anus), with large head (39–40%): body fully scaled. There are c. 47–65 gill rakers, increasing in number with size.

The longest head spine, a strong spine at the angle of the preopercle, is c. 4–5%. On outer preopercle border, two moderate-size spines located immediately adjacent to the angle spine, one above and one anterior to it. Other spines on the preopercle outer border are small: 12–17 serrations on upper limb, and 4–7 serrations on lower limb. No spination remains on inner preopercle border. Opercle has a single spine. The 16.8 mm specimen has a single, small spine on each of the subopercle and interopercle, whereas the larger specimens lack spination on either bone. The supraorbital ridge is overgrown and no longer visible. A small spine present on dorsal postcleithrum.A single supracleithral spine and 3–5 posttemporal spines present.

Fin spines smooth and robust, with some internal structure. Both Dsp 2 and 3 long (38% and 23–30%, respectively). P 2 sp long (30–33%) and P 2 ray 1 very long (60–67%).

Remarks. At settlement, M. macularis seems to be a few mm smaller than M. niger , with a slightly deeper body and much longer elements in the spiny dorsal and pelvic fins. Head spination is similar in the two species, as is general morphology with the exceptions noted above. Pigment in recently settled M. macularis is similar to that of M. niger , but differs in detail ( Kishimoto et al., 1987).

Based on comparison of recently settled individuals, it is reasonable to expect that pelagic larvae of M. macularis will be similar to those of M. niger , but possibly somewhat deeper-bodied, and with longer elements in the spiny dorsal and pelvic fins. Probably, M. macularis larvae have weak serrations on fin spines similar to those of M. niger .

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The staff at NSMT made it possible and pleasant for me to study the important larval-fish collections in their care, and I am particularly grateful to K. Matsuura, G. Shinohara, K. Hoshino and K. Shibukawa. My visit to NSMT in July 2004 was funded by a Short-term Fellowship from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. P.J. Doherty and V. Bates (Australian Institute of Marine Science) provided settlement-stage M. niger larvae from the Great Barrier Reef. C. Hair provided a settlementstage M. niger larva from the Solomon Islands. H. Kishimoto (IORD) loaned recently-settled Macolor individuals from the Ryukyu Islands. B.M. Carson-Ewart and K.J. Wright made counts and measurements on some of the specimens. S. Bullock inked my camera-lucida sketches ( Fig. 1) and provided editorial assistance. M. McGrouther scanned the drawings. M. Lockett took the photo in Fig. 2. W. Watson provided constructive criticism of the manuscript. My thanks to all.