Description and genetic identification of the early life-stages of Notolabrus fucicola and N. tetricus from Tasmanian waters, Australia, with notes on their newly-settled juveniles

The early life-stages of Notolabrus fucicola and N. tetricus are described and illustrated. Developmental stages examined included eggs and yolk-sac larvae reared in aquaria and post-settlement juveniles collected from artificial habitats in the coastal waters of eastern Tasmania, Australia. Larvae were similar to other labrids previously described. Species-specific characters were only evident after settlement, and with the development of scales at c. 15 mm standard length. A molecular assay, based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), enabled the discrimination of all five of the closely-related wrasses in the genera Notolabrus, Pseudolabrus, Dotalabrus, and Pictilabrus found on the east coast of Tasmania. This study constitutes the first description of the early life-stages of Notolabrus spp. from temperate Australia.