STRUHSAKER and MONCRIEF: BOTHUS THOMPSON! 



The teeth in the middle row also exhibit a general, 

 but less well-defined, increase in numbers with 

 size. 



There are no fleshy papillae along the edges 

 of the eyes such as reported for male B. pcvtther- 

 imis (Norman, 1934). There is a single promi- 

 nent, blunt protuberance on the snout of males 

 greater than 60 mm SL. This stnacture is 

 represented in females by a small knob. The 

 anterior edge of the lower orbit tends to be more 

 developed and rugose in males than in females. 



Coloration of fresh specimens 



The blind side of both sexes is white, but tending 

 to dusky white in males greater than about 80 

 mm SL, especially on the cheek and above the 

 cheek. The ground color of the ocular side is 

 light olive green. There is a single prominent 

 dark spot on the lateral line posteriad about 60% 

 of the standard length. There are two secondary 

 dark ocelli near the pectoral fin. There are 14-15 

 olive green ocelli broadly distributed along the 

 dorsal and ventral borders of the trunk. There 

 are numerous light blue ocelli and spots dis- 

 tributed over the trunk, head, and dorsal, anal, 

 caudal, and ventral fins. The pectoral fins are 

 almost clear. In males, the light blue spots are 

 more numerous and elongated along the anterior 

 profile and between the eyes. 



Comparison with Other Species oi Bothns 



A definitive discussion of the relation of B. 

 th()))tps())ii to other species of Bothus must await 

 further study of the genus on a worldwide basis. 

 B. tJiompsoiii differs from all recognized 

 species of Bothus (Fowler, 1933; Norman, 1934; 

 Chabanaud, 1942; Stauch, 1966; Gutherz. 1967; 

 Amaoka, 1969; Topp and Hoff, 1972) in possess- 

 ing 11-17 gill rakers on the lower limb of the 

 first arch (11 or fewer in other species) and 

 115-147 scale rows above the lateral line 

 (apparently 100 or fewer in other species: Nor- 

 man, 1934). It may also be unique in that it 

 usually has only 16 caudal rays as opposed to 

 17 in other species. This character, however, 

 apparently has been examined only rarely by 

 earlier authors and few data on the numbers 

 and arrangements of the caudal rays are avail- 

 able (Chabanaud, 1942; Amaoka, 1969; Gutherz, 

 1970). The figures given by Norman (1934) for 

 B. leopardinus (Giinther) and B.bleekeri indicate 



Figure 6. — The arrangement of teeth in Baihiis ihompsoni. 



caudal ray counts of 16. However, a count of 16 

 is also indicated for B. ovalis (Regan) which 

 Amaoka (1964) has shown to be the young of 

 B. myriaster (Temminck and Schlegel). B. 

 inyriaster has 17 caudal rays (Amaoka, 1969). 

 Chabanaud (1942) described B. biidkeri from the 

 Red Sea and gave caudal ray counts of 16 for 

 the holotype and 17 for the two paratypes. A 

 sample of 368 adult and lai*val specimens of 

 B. panthcrhiKs from the Hawaiian Islands had 

 the following caudal ray counts: 16 (2.7%), 17 

 (95.7% ), 18 (1.6% ). Further examination of this 

 character is required. 



We have not examined specimens of B. bleekeri, 

 and we separate this species from B. thompsniii 

 on the basis of the description given by Norman 

 (1934). In addition to the differences in gill 

 raker and lateral line scale row counts dis- 

 cussed above, B. thompso)n has more pectoral 

 rays on the ocular side (10-14 vs. 8-9). Adult 

 male specimens of B. tho))ipso)u do not have 

 elongated pectoral rays (ocular side), whereas 

 male B. bleekeri have elongated pectoral rays. 



Two other species of Bothus, B. panthennus 

 and B. mcnicKs (Broussonet), occur in the 

 Hawaiian Islands. Adult specimens of B. thomp- 

 suiii may be separated from similar life history 

 stages of the former two species on the basis of 

 body profile alone. Other useful characters for 



243 



