The oegopsid squids Abraliopsis and Pterygioteuthis are abundant and diverse genera with taxonomic and distributional problems. Identification and distribution of species in the Mexican Pacific has been somewhat controversial. Here are provided a large series of new records for Abraliopsis affinis, Abraliopsis falco, Pterygioteuthis gemmata, Pterygioteuthis giardi and Pterygioteuthis hoylei fro...

When fish larvae recruit back to a reef, chemical cues are often used to find suitable habitat or to find juvenile or adult conspecifics. We tested if the chemical information used by larvae was intentionally produced by juvenile and adult conspecifics already on the reef (communication process) or whether the cues used result from normal biochemical processes with no active involvement by cons...

Many nocturnal and crepuscular fish use vision to feed and function under low light levels. However, little is known about their ability to accommodate or their visual acuity under these light levels. We used Infrared Photoretinoscopy to track the refractive state of the eye during prey capture under low light in Apogon annularis, a nocturnal reef fish. Anatomical measurements of the eyes allow...

The buccal morphology was compared between the sexes of the cardinalfish Apogon doederleini, in which males provide mouthbrooding. The brood size increased proportionally with male buccal space, which increased with the fourth power of the standard length. In the breeding season, males had a larger buccal space than females, whereas there was no sexual difference in the non-breeding season, sug...

Bioluminescence in the midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus from the Santa Barbara coastal region, was quantified from onset through the first two years of life. Maximum light emission was 2.5 x 109 photons s-1 upon leaving the nest and reached 2.0 x 1010 photons s-1 within the first year. These intensities may be sufficient for counterillumination in moon or starlight over most of the depth ran...

Biochemical research on luminescent enzyme-substrate ("luciferin-luciferase") systems has resulted thus far in the isolation and crystallization of the luciferin from only two types of luminescent organisms, namely, the firefly1 and the small ostracod crustacean, Cypridina.2 Synthesis of the former luciferin has very recently been achieved,3 and a tentative structure proposed for the latter luc...