Scorpaenidae: ABH III A2

Unknown

Egg size in µm	Number of oil globules	Diameter of oil globule in µm	Yolk texture	Perivitelline space	Position of oil globule at hatch	Gut length   at eye- pigment stage	Myomeres
890-940 x 870-920	0	N/A	clear	narrow	N/A	50% of NL	24

Egg: This egg was only once encountered in a gelatinous cluster, and is far less common than ABHIIIA1. The egg is only slightly oval, and as the larva develops, the perivitelline space increases (A). The yolk is rough-surfaced, and the chorion has a green or red tinge. Incubation is about 30 hours.

Larva: Newly hatched larvae have four white/yellow pigment spots, and blotchy black pigment, in the outer finfold (B), and a rough finfold surface (C). At 1 day, the two dorsal yellow pigment clusters move into the dorsal finfold (C). At 6 days the larva has black pigment above the gut and a patch on the notochord midway between anus and notochord tip, whilet the yellow pigment persists, but has paled to white (F). B: newly hatched, C: 1 day, D: 2 days, E: 3 days, F: 6 days.

This egg was not reared. Three hatched larvae sequences, indicate a single species, but no matching adult sequence is currently available (BOLD), and they are curiously remotely positioned in my barcode tree, away from other scorpaenids. They do however sit adjacent to the helmet gurnard Dactyloptena peterseni (LIIIA10).

linked samples	Offshore	Inshore
Eggs	20	3
Hits	13	3

These eggs were rarely seen, with only 31 recorded over 25 years, off Park Rynie (blue graph). They were not seen in the DHM samples. Many more eggs were found offshore in the linked samples (87%), but numbers were too small to draw any conclusions, other than the likelihood that it is a deepwater species. See Section 7.3 and Table 1 of the Introductory Notes, for more information on the linked samples.