Identification of Leptocephalus acuticeps Regan as the Larva of the Eel Genus Auocettina:

REGAN (1916: 140, pI. 7, fig. 5) based the description of a distinctive new eel larva, Leptocephalus acuticeps, on a single 47-mm specimen from the South Atlantic. He did not attempt to allocate this larva within the eel classification, but D'Ancona (1928 :109) and Bertin (1936 :7) assigned it to the Congridae. Although no additional specimens of 1. acuticeps appear to have been reported since the brief original description, Bertin re-examined the original larva and gave important supplementary information on it, and an additional illustration. Recent accessions of eel larvae from the eastern tropical Pacific.in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography fish collection include two specimens that closely match the major known characters of Lepto cephalus acuticeps. The present paper describes these larvae and assigns them to 1. acuticeps. Comparative study indicates that 1. acuticeps belongs to the A vocettina section of the family Nemichthyidae, and suggests that it is best interpreted as the general kind of larva that characterizes all of the avocettinas as a group. " DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPECIMENS