Browsing by Author "Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-"
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Item Aspects of oral brooding in the cardinalfish Cheilodipterus affinis Poey (Apogonidae). American Museum novitates ; no. 2456(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1971) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Atz, Ethel Hafter.; Tyler, James C., 1935-"Two specimens of Cheilodipterus affinis Poey from the Bahamas have darkly pigmented, fleshy, protuberant chin flaps. One of these was sectioned and compared histologically with the tip of the mandible from a specimen without the flap. The flap seems to be the result of an increased amount of loose, collagenous connective tissue and histologically bears a strong resemblance to the pharyngeal pads of the mouthbrooding cichlid, Geophagus jurupari. Ten additional specimens with chin flaps have been found in trawl collections made off the coast of Venezuela. This cardinalfish is an oral brooder: eggs have been found in the mouths of seven males and three females. Two of the females and all of the males with eggs in their mouths had chin flaps, but one female without a flap was carrying eggs"--P. 10.Item Behavioral ecology of the sailfin blenny, Emblemaria pandionis (Pisces, Chaenopsidae), in the Caribbean off Belize. American Museum novitates ; no. 3232(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 1998) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Tyler, James C.; Andreyko, Helena.; Tyler, Diane M."The sailfin blenny, Emblemaria pandionis, is a shallow-water, colony-dwelling shore fish that ranges from Florida to South America. Both sexes occupy holes in coral rubble fragments. Females have no fixed homes, but breeding males guard shelter cavities in which eggs are deposited by one or more females. This species is sexually dimorphic; females are cryptically colored and have low dorsal fins, whereas males have much higher spinous dorsal fins and paddle-shaped pelvic fins and are very dark in color when guarding shelters. During daylight hours, males periodically emerge from their shelter cavities and raise and lower their large dorsal fins several times in quick succession. A male may complete more than 1100 such flagging episodes in a single day. Flagging is most intense early in the morning and late in the afternoon and often is highly synchronized among several males, but the signals do not appear to be answered directly by a particular nearby male. However, the likelihood that flagging by a particular male will be followed by flagging by a specific other male is statistically significant. During presentation experiments, males showed a strong flagging response to females but only weak or no responses to other species. Courtship signals, triggered by the approach of a female, differ markedly from routine crepuscular flagging in that they are a series of unevenly spaced fin lifts while the male remains close to the bottom. Males also perform an aggressive display, and males placed close to each other may engage in combat. Our objective was to determine the biological significance of the flagging behavior of the sailfin blenny. We postulate that flagging episodes are signals that attract conspecifics of both sexes, whereas aggressive displays and combat maintain the distances between males. The benefits of colonial aggregations include a ready supply of mates and possible attraction of recruits to a suitable habitat. Cyclical flagging, as distinct from courtship signaling, has not been reported for other chaenopsids"--P. 2-3.Item Documentation of the Hudson River fish fauna. American Museum novitates ; ; no. 2981.(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1990) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Lake, Thomas R.Item Menephorus Poey, a serranid genus based on two hybrids of Cephalopholis fulva and Paranthias furcifer, with comments on the systematic placement of Paranthias. American Museum novitates ; no. 2276(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1966) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-Item The patterns of sexuality and the classification of serranid fishes. American Museum novitates ; no. 2207(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1965) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-"Serranid fishes exhibit several types of hermaphroditism. 2. Members of the genus Serranus, and its relatives Hypoplectrus, Diplectrum, and perhaps others, are synchronous hermaphrodites, with the gonad divided into separate male and female zones. There are separate ducts for the eggs and sperm. 3. Members of the genera Epinephelus, Mycteroperca, Alphestes, CephalophoIis, and Petrometopon are protogynous hermaphrodites in which the presumptive testicular tissue is scattered as crypts throughout the epithelial layer of the ovarian lamellae. Precocious sperm are formed in some crypts during the juvenile and female phases. Transformation to the male phase is accomplished by proliferation of these crypts, accompanied by the development of sperm sinuses in the gonad wall. The ovarian lumen remains in the male phase, but there is a separate sperm duct. 4. The genus Rypticus has a type of sexuality intermediate between that of Epinephelus and that of Serranus. Rypticus is a protogynous hermaphrodite, with male tissue confined to narrow bands on each side of the oviduct. Male and female elements are intermingled in this region. 5. Although the sexual pattern of Rypticus is intermediate between that of Serranus and that of Epinephelus, it is unlikely that it gave rise to Epinephelus. Rather, Rypticus must be regarded as a specialized derivative of an intermediate ancestor. 6. Hermaphroditic serranids have the acinus type of testes. Gonochoristic Serranidae of the genus Roccus have testes of the radial type. The spermatogonia line connective tissue tubules which radiate from the sperm duct. Their relationship to the marine Serranidae, on the basis of this evidence, does not seem to be particularly close"--P. 17-18.Item Population ecology of a Bahamian suprabenthic shore fish assemblage. American Museum novitates ; no. 2528(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1973) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Tyler, James C., 1935-"The fishes living within 6 meters of the bottom around natural and artificial reefs on the outer shelf of the Great Bahama Bank were censused repeatedly during six observation periods of three to seven days each between March, 1970, and June, 1971. Counts were made through a closed-circuit television (UTV) with the camera permanently mounted on the sea floor in water 17 meters deep. The television caused no disturbance to the fishes that hover in the water column and are too wary to be approached by divers. Sixty-six species were observed in a cylinder of water approximately 20 meters in diameter and 6 meters high. Thirty-three of the observed species were truly suprabenthic nomadic species; the rest were either benthic forms that used the lower part of the water column or midwater species that ocasionally fed near the bottom. The suprabenthic species are classified according to feeding specializations and an attempt is made to examine the interactions and flow of energy and information within the comunity. Some mechanisms for maintaining the homeostasis of the community are postulated"--P. [1].Item Redescription of the gobiid fish Coryphopterus lipernes Böhlke and Robins : with notes on its habits and relationships. American Museum novitates ; no. 2616(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1977) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Tyler, James C., 1935-The bluenose goby, Coryphopterus lipernes Böhlke and Robins, was described in 1962 from three specimens collected in the Florida Keys; it has remained poorly known since that time. Recent collections and observations indicate that this species is widespread in the caribbean and Bahamas but at low population densities wherever it occurs. It is also one of the few species of western Atlantic reef fishes that lives in relatively continuous close physical contact with live corals. All the individuals, observed at night and during the day, spent most of the time resting on live corals, with only a few brief forays onto nearby algal mats, or off the coral to feed. In this respect the bluenose goby is an ecological counterpart of the Indo-Pacific clownfishes (Amphiprion). The mechanism by which the bluenose goby avoids being stung by the nematocysts of the coelenterates may not be the same as that of the clownfishes because clownfishes become acclimated to individual anemones, whereas the bluenose goby can move freely back and forth among coral colonies of both the same and different species. Other species of fishes associated with live corals in the West Indies share with the bluenose goby certain features that we interpret to be specializations for this way of life. Within the genus Coryphopterus, two divergent lineages show progressive specialization toward coral-dwelling, on the one hand, and toward sand-dwelling, on the other.Item Report on fish collections from Rapa, French Polynesia. American Museum novitates ; ; no. 2966.(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1990) Randall, John E., 1924-; Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Feinberg, M. Norma.Item A revision of the American groupers : Epinephelus and allied genera. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 146, article 2(New York : [American Museum of Natural History], 1971) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-"The American species of groupers constitute a block of serranid fishes which have been studied as a unit. Field investigation of their biology and life colors has supplemented laboratory studies on morphology, variation, and geographic distribution as indicated by existing museum specimens and literature records. Keys to the genera and species are given and previous literature is summarized in a synonymy for each species. 2. The groupers are moderate-sized to large-sized serranid fishes of warm seas. Most are solitary, reef-dwelling carnivores. In some areas they are the object of intensive, but local, commercial fisheries. Spawning takes place in the winter to late spring, depending on the latitude, but the manner of spawning is not known. The eggs are small, buoyant, and numerous. All of the species so far studied are protogynous. There is a pelagic larval stage during which the groupers can traverse great distances, but the adults are rather sedentary and probably rarely stray far from coral or rock reefs. 3. Groupers undergo considerable color variation of three types: 'instantaneous,' under nervous control; bathymetric, correlated with the environment, some species having strikingly different deep-water and shallow-water color phases; and xanthic, a yellow color phase under genetic control that characterizes small parts of the populations in a few species. A juvenile color phase different from that of the adult is present in some, but not all, species. 4. Osteological characters are useful in grouper classification and the osteology of Epinephelus guttatus is described in detail as a basis of comparison. 5. Subfamily names are not used in this report because present knowledge does not permit compartmentalization at that level. 6. The genus Paranthias is considered monotypic, with allopatric western Atlantic and eastern Pacific populations. 7. Twenty-one American species of Epinephelus are recognized. Seven distinct lines seem to be present. The nominal genera Cephalopholis, Petrometopon, Alphestes, Dermatolepis, Promicrops and Garrupa are placed in the synonymy of Epinephelus. Epinephelus niphobles is a synonym of E. niveatus, which thus has Atlantic and Pacific populations. Other species that occur on both sides of the Isthmus of Panama are Epinephelus nigritus, itajara, and probably mystacinus although the only Pacific record seems to be a small specimen from the Galápagos and this could be a locality error. 8. Two American species of the subgenus Dermatolepis are well differentiated, one on each side of the Central American Isthmus. 9. The eastern Pacific species previously known as Cephalopholis acanthistia is clearly a member of the E. niveatus species-group. 10. The transverse skull crests of Petrometopon are not sufficient grounds for recognizing it at either the generic or subgeneric levels. It is combined with Cephalopholis as a subgenus of Epinephelus. 11. Epinephelus afer occurs in the Pacific Ocean as well as in the Atlantic; E. multiguttatus is confined to the eastern Pacific. Apparently the subgenus Alphestes has twice invaded the eastern Pacific from the western Atlantic. 12. Thirteen species of Mycteroperca are recognized. These fall into two species-groups. 13. Some proportional measurements are relatively constant among most species of groupers. Others provide good generic and species-group characters and a few furnish useful species characters. Tables of measurements are given for each species except Mycteroperca prionura and M. cidi. 14. Barriers to dispersal and methods of transport of groupers are discussed. Three centers of distribution seem apparent: the eastern Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and the West Indies. There is a sharp faunal break across the Straits of Florida and the Gulf Stream seems to be an effective, although incomplete, barrier. There appear to be several levels of differentiation between species in these regions. These may be due in part to different rates of evolution, but are more probably a reflection of different periods of isolation. The last closure of the Middle America gap was late Pliocene and four species remain unchanged since that time. 15. A phylogeny of the American groupers is proposed that is based on the information available at this time"--P. 226-227.Item Small rotenone stations : a tool for studying coral reef fish communities. American Museum novitates ; no. 2512(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1973) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-"Fish populations of 10 shallow-water stations were sampled repeatedly using small quantities of emulsified rotenone. Taking small samples is not unduly destructive and a complete kill is never obtained. Sampling errors appear to be random. Analysis of the collections indicates that approximately 75 percent of the species present are taken in a single sampling. Repopulation begins immediately and the effects of the sampling disappear four to nine months later. Repeated samplings can be used for Leslie-Davis population estimates. Resemblance indexes for samples from the same and different stations show that each area has a specific array of resident species. Transient species are less consistent in their occurrence. Sampling errors make it difficult to distinguish between transient and low-density resident species"--P. [1].Item Succession and stability in fish communities of dome-shaped patch reefs in the West Indies. American Museum novitates ; no. 2572(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1975) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Tyler, James C., 1935-"The scleractinian coral Montastrea annularis often forms dome-shaped heads that may reach a diameter of 5m. Eventually these heads become too large to support their own weight and they collapse, leaving a base on which other corals can grow and ultimately form complex patch reefs. We have studied the fishes associated with reefs in the solid colony stage, small, middle-sized, and large domes, and partially collapsed domes. One reef was censused in 1970 and again in 1973. Between visits part of the reef had collapsed, reducing the amount the amount of large shelters available for cardinalfishes (Apogonidae), squirrelfishes (Holocentridae), and grunts (Pomadasyidae). Concomitantly there was a dramatic increase in the population of gobies (Gobiidae) and blennies (Clinidae). Nevertheless, there was little change in the total number of species and individuals inhabiting the reef. An analysis of the sizes of the infaunal residents can provide a measure of the niche utilization and equilibrium. A model is presented to show how size of the individual fish functions in the regulation of species composition and population structure within reef fish communities"--P. [1].Item The summer fish communities of Brier Creek, Marshall County, Oklahoma. American Museum novitates ; no. 2458(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1971) Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-; Powell, Charlie Roy, 1933-"Seven stations in a small stream in southern Oklahoma were studied weekly during June and July, 1969. Thirty-three species were collected and these fall into three assemblages. An upstream ephemeral assemblage, a midstream pool and riffle assemblage, and a downstream base-level assemblage. These communities are distinguishable on the basis of faunal lists, relative numbers, relative biomass, and consistency of occurrence as measured ny percentage of the samples in which the psecies are present. Multivariate analysis permits the degree of resemblance between the stations to be expressed objectively and also provides a convenient means of assessing the relative roles of the component species. Faunal lists provide the least amount of information; calculations based on relative numbers and relative biomass give more meaningful results. Diversity indices are commonly used expressions of relative abundance. These were calcuated for each sample and their trends and fluctuations during the sample period are examined for each station. These indices are useful tools but have the drawback of ignoring the identity of the component species. Resource-sharing patterns in the three communities are discussed briefly"--P. 29.Item Systematic significance of the burrow form of seven species of garden eels (Congridae, Heterocongrinae). American Museum novitates ; no. 3037(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1992) Tyler, James C., 1935-; Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-Item Two new species and a new genus of cardinalfishes (Perciformes, Aponigidae) from Rapa, South Pacific Ocean. American Museum novitates ; ; no. 2926.(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1988) Randall, John E., 1924-; Smith, C. Lavett, 1927-