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PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



markings are irregular and highly variable but there are usually 

 present indications of three or four pairs of dark vertical bands in the 

 region below the dorsal fin and between the posterior dorsal spines and 

 the last dorsal ray. The bands may be absent or represented only as 

 pairs of midlateral dark spots; the members of one or more pairs may 

 be fused. Females frequently have more distinct banding than males. 

 In females the bands may be complete and almost uniformly dark, or 

 darker in their midportions, and extend from the dorsal to the ventral 

 body contour. The sides and venter are everywhere marked with 

 splashes of melanophores giving the specimens a smudged appearance. 

 Specimens of less than 25 mm SL exhibit few or no markings on the 

 body. The head always bears a dark spot just behind the eye; in 

 females a secondary, usually paler, spot follows the first and is some- 

 times linked ventrally to it, giving the appearance of a U . The head 

 is variably splashed with melanophores; the upper lip is irregularly 

 marked but may show adumbrations of about eight dusky bands and 

 eight pale stripes. The underside of the head is splotched and dusky, 

 frequently with a large noticeable concentrated area of melanophores. 

 The spinous dorsal bears various dark and pale spots, which may be 

 regularly or irregularly distributed. There is a pale distal band along 

 the length of the spinous dorsal. The fin is darker in males than in 

 females from the same collection. The soft dorsal bears one to four 

 dusky spots over each ray w^ith scattered, paler, dusky markings on the 

 fin membrane basally. Dis tally the soft dorsal has a broad, pale to 



TABLE 69.— Frequency distribution of number of predorsal commissural pores of specimens 

 of subspecies of Entomacrodus thalassinus arranged by SL classes (in mm) 



