no. S643 ATROSALARIAS — SPRINGER AND SMITH- VANIZ 5 



rays 5; 2 epurals present, no minimal hypural (=posteriormost epural 

 of Springer, 1966; hypural 5 of Nybelin, 1963); one pectoral radial 

 attached to scapula, one in part to scapula and coracoid, and two to 

 coracoid; two well-developed postcleithra on each side; lateral line 

 tube passing through supraclei thrum ; post-temporal forked, ventral 

 limb attached by ligament to pterotic (no attachment to intercalar) ; 

 lateral extrascapular present on each side; 5 weak circumorbitals 

 (including lachrymal and dermosphenotic) on each side; no subocular 

 shelf; ascending wings of parasphenoid meet descending wings of 

 frontals to exclude pterosphenoids and prootics from orbital region; 

 belophragm and meningost portions of basisphenoid present (basis- 

 phenoid complete; for discussion of the composition of the basis- 

 phenoid, see Chabanaud, 1936) ; 13 to 15 epipleurals on each side; one 

 pleural attached to parapophysis on each side of third through tenth or 

 eleventh vertebrae; no neural spine on first vertebra; low neural spine 

 on second vertebra ; well-developed neural spines on all other vertebrae; 

 conspicuous neural arch processes on third and fourth vertebrae only 

 (processes attach by strong ligaments to third and fourth pair of 

 epipleurals); parapophysial stays (haemal arches without spines) on 

 eighth through tenth vertebrae; first haemal spine on eleventh 

 vertebra. 



Preserved coloration (ethyl alcohol). — Body, head, and fins, 

 except pectorals and caudal, mostly brown to black; dorsal fin most 

 intensely black basally over anterior three spines; pectorals clear to 

 light dusky with dark spot at base of upper rays; caudal clear to 

 dark dusky; occasional variants exhibit up to five irregular dark 

 bands on body separated by paler interspaces. 



The caudal fin has been described in the literature as ranging from 

 clear to dark. Most specimens exhibit a dark dusky caudal, but 

 occasional specimens with pale (immaculate) caudals are found in 

 collections of specimens where dusky caudals predominate. Specimens 

 from the Great Barrier Reef usually have immaculate caudals. 



Life coloration (based on specimens from One Tree Island, 

 Great Barrier Reef). — Caudal fin bright yellow orange, pectorals 

 yellow; deep amber submarginal stripe in spinous dorsal; color 

 otherwise black. 



Size. — Specimens examined ranged in size from 16.8 to 105 mm 

 SL. No ophioblennius larvae were represented in our collections. 

 Some males were noted to have the skin over the anal spines and 

 anterior two or three anal rays rugose. It is presumed, as for 

 Entomacrodus (see Springer, 1967), that these were mature specimens. 

 In females, as is typical of blenniids, the first anal spine is not visible 

 externally. 



