Anguillid Leptocephali from the Western North Pacific East of Luzon, in 1988

A total of eight specimens of the anguillid leptocephali were collected by TV Keiten Maru, Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University, in the waters east of Luzon in June and July 1988. They were identified as seven Anguilla japonica Temminck et Schlegel, and one A. marmorata Quoy et Gaimard or A. celebesensis Kaup based on the segmental characters. The present A. japonica leptocephali were 24.0-31.8 (mean 27.4) mm TL, and were smaller than those of the previous collections. The location and month of the capture extended spatially and temporally the distribution of the Japanese eel leptocephali in the western North Pacific. The smallest specimen in the present A. japonica leptocephali, the youngest larva hitherto known from the field, was collected at a station east of Luzon (15'46.1'N 138'42.4'E).