NO. 3582 GENUS ENTOMACRODUS — SPRINGER 37 



Entomacrodus decussatiis (Bleeker) 



Plate 1 



Salarias decussatus Bleeker, 1858, Nat. Tijdschr. Nederl. Indie, vol. 15, pp. 230- 



231 [western Biliton and Sangi (Sangir) islands]. 

 Salarias aneitensis Gunther, 1877, Journ. AIus. Godeffroy, vol. 4, no. 13, p. 205, 



pi. USA [Aneiteum]. 

 Salarias atkinsoni Jordan and Scale, 1906, U.S. Bur. P'ish. Bull. 25 (1905), p. 428 



[Apia, Samoa]. 



Description. — Segmented dorsal fin rays 16-18 (rarely 18); seg- 

 mented anal fin rays 16-19 (rarely 16); posteriormost anal pteryg- 

 iophore supporting 1 or 2 external elements (supporting 2 in 95.5 

 percent of specimens) ; total gill-rakers on first arch 17-30, tending to 

 increase in number with increase in SL (table 7) ; pseiidobranchial 

 filaments 5-17, tending to increase in number with increase in SL 

 (table 8) ; vertebrae 34-36 (usually 35) ; supraorbital cirri 1-28, in- 

 creasing in number with increase in SL (table 9); main, or longest, 

 supraorbital cirrus with many short branches on both mesial and 

 lateral margins; nape with 1 cirrus on each side (frequently with small 

 side branches in specimens over 55 mm SL) ; predorsal commissural 

 pores 3 to more than 50, increasing in number with increase in SL 

 (table 10) ; preopercular series of pores varying from all positions with 

 simple pores to all positions with pairs or multiples of pores (specimens 

 less than 40 mm SL frequently with all positions with simple pores; 

 specimens over 90 mm SL have at least 1 pair of pores included in 

 the series) ; 1 or 2 (rarely 3) pores before each anterior nostril (see 

 also geographic variation below) ; lateral line pores terminating on 

 side in area below and between dorsal ray 2 and caudal base (posterior 

 terminus somewhat determined by size; specimens less than 40 mm 

 SL usually have last pore anterior to level of dorsal ray 1 1 ; specimens 

 more than 70 mm SL usually have last pore posterior to level of dorsal 

 ray 10) ; ventral margin of upper lip of specimens less than 80 mm SL 

 usually partially (centrally) crenulate and partially entire (laterally) ; 

 lip of specimens over 80 mm SL frequently weakly but completely 

 crenulate (crenulae difficult to count). 



Proportional measm-ements: See tables 3, 4, and 11. 



Males develop slight modifications of the skin of the anal spines. 

 These modifications appear in the form of fleshy distal extensions of 

 the skin at the tip of the spine. Greatest development occurs on the 

 second spine, which may become plicate at the tip. Only a few 

 specimens, the smallest of which was 115 mm SL, were available with 

 these modifications. It is presumed that these specimens repre- 

 sented mature males. 



The largest male examined was 153 mm SL (mature), and the 

 largest female 133 mm. Females outnumbered males in most size 

 classes. The smallest specimen seen was approximately 15.5 mm SL 



