332 BULLETIN 100, "UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Body elongate, compressed. Snout abruptly extended as long 

 tube, with rather long jaws terminal. Front canines small; no hind 

 canines. Gill-membranes attached to isthmus. Scales moderate, 

 25 to 30 in lateral line. Head scaleless. Lateral line complete. 

 Dorsal spines 8, rays 13. Anal spines 2 or 3, rays 11. 



Small, brilliant, though usually with dark shades, abundant 

 through most the Indo-Pacific region. Easily distinguished by the 

 extended tube-like snout. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SPECIES 



a'. Head light, contrasted with brown body, each scale with dark basal blotch; 

 vertical fins dark, rays with pale tips; caudal with narrow pale border 

 behind varius. 



a*. Head not lighter than blue or green of rest of body; vertical fins pale; dark 

 and light bar across pectoral tricolor. 



GOMPHOSUS VARIUS Lacepede 



Gomphosus varius Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. 3, 1802, pp. 100, 104, 

 pi. 5, fig. 2. Tahiti.— GtJNTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., vol. 4, 1862, p. 193 

 (Aneiteum and Tahiti); Fishes of Zanzibar, 1866, p. 99 (Zanzibar and 

 Angazilia Island or Great Comoro) .^ — -Ishikawa and Matsuura, Prelim. 

 Cat. Fish. Mus. Tokyo, 1897, p. 28 (Japan). — Jordan and Snyder, Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 24, 1902, p. 650 (Kagoshima). — Jordan and Ever- 

 MANN, Bull. U.S. Fish Comm., vol. 23, pt. 1, 1903 (1905), p. 289,fig. 125 

 (Honolulu, Kailua, Hilo). — Gunther, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, vol. 8 (16), 

 1909, p. 298, pi. 147, fig. 13 (Western Indian Ocean, South Sea, Fiji, 

 Ponape). — Regan, Ann. Durban Mus., vol. 1, 1914-17, p. 459 (Durban). 



Gomphosus pectoralis QuoY and Gaimard, Voy. Uranie, Zool., 1824, p. 282. 

 Maui, Hawaii. — Day, Fishes of India, pt. 3, 1877, p. 406, pi. 86, fig. 6 

 (Andaraans); Fauna British India, vol. 2, 1889, p. 416. 



Gomphosus fuscus Bennett, Fishes of Ceylon, 1830, pi. 3, Ceylon. — Val- 

 enciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. 14, 1839, p. 25 (Mauritius, Tahiti, 

 Hawaii). — Brevoort, Exp. Chin. Jap. Perry, vol. 2, 1856, p. 272 (Riu Kiu 

 Islands). — Guichenot, Notes I. Reunion, vol. 2, 1862, p. 28; Mem. Soc. 

 Sci. Nat. Cherbourg, ser. 2, vol. 2, 1866, p. 147 (Madagascar). 



Gomphosus melanotus Bleeker, Nat. Tijds. Ned. Indie, vol. 8, 1855, p. 457. 

 Cocos Island, Indian Ocean. — Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. Ind. N6erl., vol. 1, 

 1862, p. 87, pi. 21, fig. 3 (Cocos Island and Java). — GtJNTHER, Cat. Fish. 

 Brit. Mus., vol. 4, 1862, p. 193 (East Indies). — Klunzinger, Verh. 

 zool. bot. Ges. Wien., vol. 21, 1871, p. 535 (Koseir, Red Sea). 



Labrus nasutus Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., vol. 4, 1862, p. 193 (name 

 in text). 



Gomphosus undulatus Streets, Bull. 7, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1877, p. 85. 

 Fanning Islands. 



Depth 3^ to 4; head 2i^ to 2%, width d}i to 33^. Snout 1^ to 

 2; eye 73^ to 9M, 3^ to 5^i in snout, 1% to 1% in interorbital; 

 maxillary 2 to 2}^ in snout, 3^^ in head; interorbital 63>^ to 6^^, 

 convex. Gill rakers 8 + 14, short, lanceolate. 



Scales in lateral line 21 to 22, 4-1-2; 4 scales above lateral line, 8 

 or 9 below, 8 to 10 predorsal. Scales with 32 to 34 basal radiating 

 striae, apical 26 to 34; circuli fine. 



