68 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 122 



interradial membrane is pale to dusky, darker distally. The caudal 

 fin bears up to five irregular vertical dusky bands or stripes separated 

 by paler interspaces. The pectoral fins are more or less uniformly 

 pale or light dusky except for an occasional cresentic darker area at 

 the base of the rays. The fleshy pectoral base is pale distally and 

 usually has a dusky cresentic area proximally. The pelvic rays are 

 usually pale; the interradial membrane dusky. 



Indian Ocean specimens: Two female specimens are available from 

 Madagascar. These two specimens differ in color pattern from Pacific 

 specimens primarily in two features. They have well-developed 

 subquadrate dark blotches in the humeral region above the pectoral 

 axil as the darkest markings on the body, and the markings on the 

 upper lip consist of about six broad dusky bands separated by fine 

 pale stripes. 



Geographic variation. — ^Pacific Ocean populations appear to be 

 very similar, but the two specimens from Madagascar are somewhat 

 different from Pacific specimens. Aside from color pattern (see 

 above) these two specimens have longer nuchal cirri (table 28) and 

 possibly more predorsal commissural pores (table 27) than Pacific 

 specimens of equal size. Their segmented anal fin ray counts of 16, 

 with the last anal pterygiophore supporting only a single element, 

 occurred in only 2 of the .32 Pacific specimens available. Possibly, 

 this indicates lower average counts for the Madagascar population. 



Relationships. — Entomacrodiis niuafootiensis is a member of the 

 E. striatus species group. Of this group, E. niuafoouensis differs: 

 from E. epakeocheAlus, in having the nuchal cirri simple (with one 

 branch in a few of the larger specimens) and in usually having more 

 crenulae on the ventral margin of the upper lip; from E. randalli, in 

 having more than one pore before each anterior nostril and in having 

 stripes or bands on the upper lip; from E. marmoratus, in usually 

 luiving no lateral branches on the main supraorbital cirrus (almost 

 always fewer supraorbital cirri at any given SL), simple nuchal cirri, 

 more than one pore before each anterior nostril, and in having more 

 stripes, when present, on the upper lip; from E. striatus, in having 

 more than one pore before each anterior nostril, paired pores in the 

 preopercular series, lacking lateral branches on the main supraorbital 

 cirrus, and in having a distinctly different color pattern. 



Members of the E. striatus group are quite closely related. With 

 the exception of E. striatus (collected with E. epalzeocheilus and E. 

 niuafoouensis), no two of them have been collected from the same 

 locality. Because of the existence of a Madagascar population of 

 E. niuafoouensis (otherwise known only from the Pacific Ocean) and 

 a Samoa Islands population of E. epalzeocheilus (otherwise known only 

 from the Indian Qcean), there is general overlap in the range of these 



