Carapidae: BK III A1

Unknown.

Egg diameter in µm	Number of oil globules	Diameter of oil globule in µm	Yolk texture	Perivitelline space	Position of oil globule at hatch	Gut length   at eye- pigment stage	Myomeres
960-1000 x 790-820	1	170	clear	narrow	bow	25% of NL	>50

Egg: The bright, wine-red oil globule and oval egg shape, make this species instantly recognisable. The egg shows some size variation. Before hatching, no pigment is visible on the developing embryo.

Larva: The newly hatched larva is elongate, with a short gut, tucked in against the rear of the yolk (B). An edge of white pigment is present dorsally, at the tip of the notochord (B). The 3-day larva develops dense pigment in the head region (C), while retaining the white pigment on the tail (D). The eyes and mouth are not fully developed at three days (D).  B: NH, C & D: 3 days.

Several attempts were made to rear this species, unsuccessfully. Two groups of 3 hatched larvae have been barcoded, indicating 2 species, but neither group has found a match among currently available adult sequences. Onoxodon parvibrachium is the only South African carapid that has been successfully sequenced, but does not group closely with either of the two larval groups in the dendrogram (BOLD reference).

This egg was common in the Park Rynie samples (Introductory notes, Section 7, Table 3), but was not seen in Durban Harbour Mouth samples. The species appears to spawn throughout the year, with a peak in spring and early summer (blue graph).It has been seen in samples more often in recent years (white graph).

linked samples	Offshore	Inshore
Eggs	838	85
Hits	31	20

The eggs were considerably more common in the offshore portion of the Park Rynie linked samples (91%), indicating spawning on or outside the 50m contour. See Section 7.3 and Table 1 of the Introductory Notes, for more information on the linked samples.