16 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 124 



Suborder Stromateoidei 



No examination has been made of any stromateoid by the present 

 author. A recent review of the group, however, has been provided 

 by Haedrich (1967a). 



Suborder Gobioidei 



Certain of the families formerly placed in the blennioids have been 

 moved to the Gobioidei by me (Gosline, 1955), but I have nothing 

 to add to that paper. 



Suborder Acanthuroidei 



The zanclids, acanthurids, and siganids (teuthidids) herein are 

 considered members of a single suborder. The relationships among the 

 three groups, to my knowledge, have not been disputed. The question 

 merely is whether the siganids represent a sufficiently aberrant off- 

 shoot of the acanthurid stock to warrant a separate suborder. Starks 

 (1907) was in doubt about the matter. From the overall view of 

 perciform fishes taken in this paper it seems preferable to consider 

 the siganids as one of the two superfamilies in the suborder 

 Acanthuroidei. 



The primary specialization of these fishes seems to be the develop- 

 ment of a nipping type of jaw structure. Gregory's (1933, pp. 279- 

 283) analysis of this structural complex and the relationships of these 

 fishes appears to me to be entirely correct. He raises what seems 

 to be the only important taxonomic question regarding the group; 

 namely, whether or not it should be removed entirely to the Tetra- 

 odontiformes, which it foreshadows. 



In this connection, the "prepalatine" bone (Starks, 1907, 1926) 

 of the Siganidae (Teuthididae) warrants brief mention. In the sig- 

 anids, as in the Tetraodontiformes, the upper jaw, instead of being 

 protrusile as in most percoids, rocks in and out on the tip of the pala- 

 tine as a fixed point. In the Tetraodontiformes, the whole palatine 

 may become attached rigidly to the cranium and remain free from 

 the rest of the suspensorium. In the siganids, a somewhat different 

 system has been developed to accomplish the same end. The palatine 

 bone has become divided into two parts, with the rear portion 

 attached to the rest of the suspensorium as usual. The front portion, 

 i.e., the "prepalatine" bone, however, has developed as a separate 

 element from the rest of the palatine and has developed a firm attach- 

 ment to the inner surface of the expanded nasal bone above and 

 of the lacrimal below. The nasal in turn has a rigid, sutured attach- 

 ment on the front of the cranium. 



