Lines or Rows of Melanophores

Rows of melanophores are seen on many baby fish. Three examples, below, show how rows of melanophores appear on baby fish. Other kinds of rows are evident on various other images in the "Illustration Gallery".

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Figure 2. Melanophores in Rows: A lateral (side) and a ventral (belly) view of a 14.1–mm specimen of the daubed shanny, Lumpenus maculatus (Fries), below, show 3 rows of melanophores. A double row of punctate-stellate melanophores lies along the side of the body from just behind the pectoral fin backward to the anus. On a lateral (side) view it looks like a single row of melanophores but a ventral (belly) view clearly shows two rows, one on each side of the body. Also, a single row of punctate melanophores lies backward from the anus to just before the beginning of the caudal fin. This single row of punctate melanophores is, in reality, the precursors of the anal fin rays, so these melanophores can be counted and used to help identify the species of fish.

Figure 3. Melanophores in Rows: A ventral (belly) view of a 10.7–mm specimen of the American sand lance, Ammodytes americanus DeKay, below, shows four rows of punctate melanophores. A single row of punctate melanophores lies backward from the anus to the beginning of the caudal fin. These melanophores are, in reality, the precursors of the anal fin rays, so these melanophores can be counted and used to help identify the species of fish. Then on the belly a double row of punctate melanophores lies backward above the intestine and below the body from the base of the pectoral fin to the anus. Finally, a fourth row of punctate melanophores lies centrally on the belly from the base of the pectoral fins backward about one third of the intestine.