Osteological development of wild-captured larvae and a juvenile Sebastes koreanus (Pisces, Scorpaenoidei) from the Yellow Sea

The osteological development in Sebastes koreanus is described and illustrated on the basis of 32 larvae [6.11–11.10 mm body length (BL)] and a single juvenile (18.60 mm BL) collected from the Yellow Sea. The first-ossified skeletal elements, which are related to feeding, swimming, and respiration, appear in larvae of 6.27 mm BL; these include the jaw bones, palatine, opercular, hyoid arch, and pectoral girdle. All skeletal elements are fully ossified in the juvenile observed in the study. Ossification of the neurocranium started in the frontal, pterotic, and parietal regions at 6.27 mm BL, and then in the parasphenoid and basioccipital regions at 8.17 mm BL. The vertebrae had started to ossify at ~7.17 mm BL, and their ossification was nearly complete at 11.10 mm BL. In the juvenile, although ossification of the pectoral girdle was fully complete, the fusion of the scapula and uppermost radial had not yet occurred. Thus, the scapula and uppermost radial fuse during or after the juvenile stage. The five hypurals in the caudal skeleton were also fused to form three hypural elements. The osteological results are discussed from a functional viewpoint and in terms of the comparative osteological development in related species.