Meeting Abstract

P1.46  Thursday, Jan. 3  The Ontogeny of Color Pattern in Thorichthys meeki, the Firemouth Cichlid PIKE, R.E.*; BEECHING, S.C.; Slippery Rock University rep7877@sru.edu

This study documents the ontogeny of color pattern elements in the cichlid fish Thorichthys meeki, from wriggler stage (day 4) to day 205, using digital photo-microscopy. The ontogeny of melanistic (i.e., based on melanin containing cells or melanophores) color pattern elements was partially described in the 1950s, and the present study complements that earlier work by expanding the description of color development in this species. The early embryos and juveniles of many teleost fishes, including T. meeki, are translucent, permitting detailed examination of color pattern elements using direct and transmitted light. In this study, a minimum of two fry were photographed bilaterally on 56 sampling days between ages 4 and 205 days. Subjects were photographed alive and immediately returned to their brood. Age, standard and total length (mm), and the presence of color pattern elements (stripes, bars, spots, ocelli, etc.) were recorded, and these data were used to construct a color pattern ontogeny. Analysis reveals T. meeki color pattern ontogeny to be characterized by the appearance of (1) melanophores on the yolk sac, (2) two midlateral melanophore-based stripes, (3) diffuse melanophores on the head, dorsal region, and caudal fin (4) color elements on the yolk sac, (5) dorsal melanophore patches, (6) xanthophores on the dorsal and head region, (7) melanophores in the dorsal and anal fins (8) a melanophore-based caudal spot (9) a midlateral spot ventral to the third bar (10) an iridophore-based midlateral stripe (11) color elements around the midlateral spot (12) the disappearance of distinct bars and (13) the appearance of an opercular spot.