FAMILY MULLIDAE — LACHNER 13 



56. Gill rakers fewer, total from 24 to 27; peritoneum dark brown in adults, 

 silvery browii in small specimens; a light oval spot about 7 scale rows 

 in length below end of soft dorsal fin, the lateral line passing through 

 its lower portion; a distinct circular black spot on caudal peduncle 

 anterior to caudal fin and more of it above lateral line than below, and 

 its diameter greater than orbit; barbel long, extending beyond posterior 



margin of preopercle; plate 76, A P. indicus " (Shaw) 



Id. Sides of body chiefly plain, lacking conspicuous stripes, bands, spots or 

 marks; at most, scales may have small light spots or the caudal peduncle 

 may have a light or dark saddle (weak dark saddles through the dorsal 

 fins present in one species) ; gill rakers, range from 27 to 39. 

 7a. Second dorsal spine flexible near tip, not pungent; gill rakers fewer, range 

 from 27 to 32; barbels long, extending beyond posterior margin of 

 preopercle. 

 8a. Scales lacking light circular spots; a prominent light spot dorsally on 

 caudal peduncle posterior to soft dorsal fin, its length more than 

 twice diameter of eye (spot present in about 50 percent of speci- 

 mens, faded in others) ; head longer, 32 to 37 percent of standard 

 length; barbels very long, extending to posterior margin of head; 

 snout longer and pointed, eye smaller, eye in snout 2.2 to 5.1 in 



specimens larger than 75 mm P. cyclostomus (LacepMe) 



86. Scales on the body with a light circular spot, slightly smaller than pupil, 

 these forming about 5 faint horizontal rows; light spot on caudal 

 peduncle absent; head shorter, about 30 to 32 percent of standard 

 length; barbels shorter, not extending to end of head; snout shorter 



'8 Mullus indicus Shaw, General zoology, vol. 4, pt. 2, p. 614 (type locality, Indian Seas) (on Rahtee goo- 

 livinda Russell, . . . Fishes collected at Vizagapatam on the coast of Coromandel, vol. 2, p. 42, pi. 157, 1803, 

 Vizagapatam). 

 Upeneus indicus Gunther, Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum .... vol. 1, p. 406, 1859.— Day, 



Fishes of Malabar, p. 28, 1865; Fishes of India, pt. 1, p. 120, pi. 31, fig. 4, 1S75.— Herre and Montalban, 



Philippine Journ. Sci., vol. 36, No. 1, p. 115, pi. 2, fig. 1, 1928. 

 Parupeneus indicus Bleeker, Verh. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam, vol. 15, p. 27, 1875; Atlas ichthyologique . . . , 



vol. 9, pi. 394, fig. 5, 1878.— Barnard, Ann. South African Mus., vol. 21, pt. 2, p. 589, 1927.— Weber and 



de Beaufort, Fishes of the Indo- Australian Archipelago, vol. 6, p. 394, 1931. 

 Pseudupeneus indicus Fowler, U. S. Nat. Bull. 100, vol. 12, p. 287, fig. 22, 1933.— Smith, Sea fishes of southern 



Africa, p. 230, pi. 27. fig. 567, 1949. 

 Upeneus russelli Cuvier and Valenciermes, Ilistoire naturelle des poissons. vol. 3, p. 465, 1829 (on Rahtee 



yoolivinda Russell, 1803). 

 Upeneus waigiensis Cuvier and Valenciennes, Histoire naturelle des poissons, vol. 3, p. 466, 1829. 

 Upeneus malabaricus Cuvier and Valenciennes, Histoire naturelle des poissons, vol. 3, p. 467, 1829 (type local- 

 ity, Malabar). 

 Parupeneus malabaricus Weber and de Beaufort, Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago, vol. 6, p. 395, 



1931.— Schultz, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 180, p. 130, 1943. 

 Upeneus griseofrenatus Kner, Sitzb. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 68, pt. 1, p. 305, pi. 3, fig. 7, 1868 (type locality, 



Fiji). 

 The following 32 USNM lots totaling 55 specimens were examined: East Indies, 1 specimen; Philippines, 

 23 lots, 40 specimens; China, 1 specimen; Japan and Okinawa, 3 lots, 4 specimens; New Guinea, 1 specimen; 

 Admiralty Islands, 1 lot, 4 specimens; Fiji Islands, 1 specimen; Samoa, 1 lot, 3 specimens. 

 This species is widely distributed from the east African coast eastward to islands of Oceania. 

 An examination of the coloration, size, and location of the light body spot and dark caudal spot, meristic 

 characters (tables 59 and 60), and body proportions (tables 61 and 62), did not indicate that more than one 

 species may be present in our material. Such differences as the location of the eye and length of snout and 

 barbel considered by Weber and de Beaufort (Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago, vol. 6. p. 397, 1931) 

 to distinguish between indicus and malabaricus can be attributed to individual variation or differences in 

 stages of development, a condition exhibited in most of the species of Parupeneus. Alcoholic specimens 40 

 to 50 mm. in length have developed the adult coloration, but the eye is larger and the snout considerably 

 shorter than m larger specimens. An inspection of the data in table 63, as well as the data for other species, 

 reveals that as the body increases in length, the eye proportionately decreases in size and the snout increases, 

 thereby considerably altering the position of the eye in respect to head length. 



