so for sarrukh and mind flayer, for example, there is a LA+8 but the racial HD might be less? and the effective level is 8+actual racial hit dice?
mind flayers start in the monster manual at level 8, and they have a la of +7, so their effective character level is 8+7=15?
sarrukh, on the other hand, have a racial hd of 14, and a LA of +8: so their effective character level is 14+8=22?
what I don't understand is, at the end their starting level is the ECL or the Racial HD?
for player races, on the other hand, who have LA but no racial HD, their starting level is considered the LA?