SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE 

 GENUS SYMPHYSANODON 



Symphysanodon, which has been variously con- 

 sidered as a serranid or as a lutjanid, superficially 

 resembles the members of the serranid subfamily 

 Anthiinse and is unlike (in at least its super- 

 ficial appearance) the more generalized lutjanids, 

 such as Lutjanus and its allies. Kamohara and 

 Katayama (1959) placed Symphysanodon in the 

 subfamily Anthiinae of the S6rranidae ; Katayama 

 (1960) placed it in the Serranidae, but did not 

 refer it to a subfamily. Gosline and Brock (1960) 

 and Munro (1967) included this genus with the 

 Lutjanidse. 



Gosline (1966) provisionally combined a num- 

 ber of serranid subfamilies (sensu Katayama, 

 1960) along with certain genera (such as Roccus 

 and Percichthys) into the family Percichthyidse, 

 but retained the subfamily Anthiinae (sensu 

 Katayama, 1960) in the Serranidae. He excluded 

 Symphysanodon from the Serranidae, but did not 

 allocate it to a family. Gosline did note, however, 

 that Symphysanodon shows a closer resemblance 

 to lutjanids than to serranids in fin-ray counts 

 and in the possession of parietal crests and well- 

 developed axillary scales associated with the 

 pelvic fins. 



On the basis of a number of osteological char- 

 acters Katayama (1968) stated that Si/mpfe2/san- 

 odon resembles the Percichthyidae (of Gosline, 

 1966) more than the Serranidae (as restricted 

 by Gosline, 1966). Katayama (1968) mentioned 

 that Symphysanodon differs from the Lutjanidae 

 in the myodome not opening to the exterior 

 through a foramen, in the sensory canal of the 

 frontal bone lacking an inner branch connecting 

 with the corresponding one of the opposite side, 

 in having an oblong foramen near the upper 

 margin of the ceratohyal, and in having 25 

 vertebrae. (Most Lutjanidae have 24 vertebrae. 

 According to Gosline (1966), the Percichthyidae 

 have 25 vertebrae — frequently more, members 

 of the Anthiinae tend to have 26, and the other 

 subfamilies of the Serranidae — the Epinephelinse 

 and the Serraninae — have 24.) Katayama (1968) 

 also listed a number of osteological structures of 

 Symphysanodon which are more similar morpho- 

 logically to the corresponding structures of the 

 Lutjanidae than to those of the Percichthyidae. 

 These structures are: jaw bones, suspensorium 



and opercular apparatus, pectoral girdle, and 

 pelvic girdle. In addition, he noted that Sym- 

 physanodon is closer to the Lutjanidae (than to 

 the Percichthyidae) in possessing fronto-parietal 

 crests and axillary scales associated with the 

 pelvic fins. In concluding his paper on Symphy- 

 sanodon, Katayama (1968) remarked that he 

 ". . . would like to place Symphysanodon typus 

 Bleeker under Lutjanidae . . ." and that this 

 genus seems to be closely related to the members 

 of the subfamily Etelinae. 



On the basis of the studies by Gosline (1966) 

 and Katayama (1968) and my own investiga- 

 tions, I assign Symphysanodon to the Lutjanidae 

 (in which its greatest affinities are with the 

 Etelinae). 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF 

 SYMPHYSANODON 



Gill-raker counts are of the total number on 

 the anterior gill arch (including rudiments, when 

 present) ; scale counts are of the number of 

 pored lateral-line scales on the body (excluding 

 those posterior to the caudal base) ; gill-raker 

 and scale counts of individual specimens appear 

 to be correlated (see table 1). 

 A. Depth of body 2.8 to 3.0 times in SL (33.4- 

 36.0 percent SL) . Anal soft rays usually 8 

 (7 in about 10 percent of specimens ex- 

 amined). Gill rakers 39 to 42. Scales 45 or 

 46 - octoactinus, western Atlantic. 



Table 1. — Relation of total number of gill rakers on 

 anterior gill arch to number of pored lateral-line 

 scales in Symphysanodon 



1 1 = S. typus; k = S. katayamai; m = S. maunaloae; b = S. berryi; 

 o ~ S. octoactinus; numbers within the body of the table represent 

 the individuals with each gill raker-scale combination] 



44 45 46 47 

 Lateral-line 



48 49 50 51 52 53 54 

 scales 



REVISION OF THE GENUS SYMPHYSANODON 



327 



