Morfologia externa dels juvenils de Xyrichthys novacula (Linnaeus, 1758) (Pisces, Labridae) del litoral de Palamós (Mediterrània nord-occidental)

Abstract

External morphology of the juveniles of Xyrichthys novacula (Linnaeus, 1758) (Pisces, Labridae) from the littoral of Palamós (NW Mediterranean)
In the coast of Palamós (Costa Brava, NE Spain), the cleaver wrasse Xyrichrhys novucula (Linnaeus, 1758) appears only in summer and early autumn in some particular sandy bottoms. During two scuba diving carried out on 21, 25 IX 88 in Es Monestrí beach (Bay of Palamós), three young specimens of X. novacula were caught at a depth of 10 m. Later, two adults -male and female- were fished there with a boulter. Their biometric and meristic characters are given. As stated by Buen (1932) and Tortonese (1975), there is a conspicuous dimorphism between juveniles and adults of this species, concerning especially body height/lotal length proportion. Also, the two first dorsal finrays are highly developed in young forms, which agree with Tortonese (1975).