FAMILY MULLIDAE — LACHNER 35 



Body depth 2,9; head length 3.2 (3.0); length of caudal peduncle 

 3.8 (4.4); length of longest pectoral ray 4.0; all in standard length. 

 Eye 5.3 (5.1); length of upper jaw 2.6 (2.3); depth of caudal peduncle 

 2.3 (2.8);lengthof snout 1.8 (1.7); length of barbell. 5 (1.5); width of 

 interorbital 3.2 (3.5); all in length of head. Eye in snout 2.9 (2.9). 

 Interorbital width in eye 6.1 (6.8). Gill rakers 0, 8+1 + 26, 2 (0, 

 9+1+27, 2), totaling 37 (39); longest raker about 0.9 length of 

 longest filament. 



Teeth of upper and lower jaws uniserial, blunt, stout and widely 

 spaced; no teeth on vomer or palatines; scales on caudal fin, absent 

 on dorsal and anal ; cheeks and opercles scaled ; barbels reach vertical 

 touching posterior margin of preopercle ; first dorsal spine small, about 

 one-seventh length of second spine; second dorsal spine about four- 

 fifths length of third, tip not flexible; peritoneum transparent; lateral 

 line complete; scales ctenoid, with 4 to 9 radii in anterior field; last 

 ray of soft dorsal fin slightly elongate, that of anal same length as 

 other rays of fin. 



Color in alcohol. — Head and body dusky to dusky tan. A diffuse 

 blackish mark or stripe on each side of snout from middle of eye to 

 middle of upper jaw. Some diffuse brownish coloration on chin, 

 cheek, and opercle. An irregular light tan to brown coloration en- 

 circles spiny and soft dorsal and is broken in various places, forming 

 irregular spots. The pectoral fin is transparent; the spiny dorsal is 

 transparent, tipped with black; the soft dorsal is transparent, with 

 about 6 dusky to blackish horizontal streaks; the 3 streaks near base 

 of fin formed by nearly circular spots; the tip of the soft dorsal bor- 

 dered with blackish color; the caudal is dusky, the outer ray edged in 

 white; the anal fin is similar to soft dorsal except the spots and streaks 

 are not so pronounced; pelvic fin light near base, dusky towards tips, 

 the outer edge of first ray and tips of first three rays edged in white. 

 Barbels dusky near base, light brown near tips. The Johnston Island 

 specimen has a barbel blackish from base to tip. 



Remarks. — This species has been considered synonymous with 

 Upeneus luteus Cuvier and Valenciennes (Histoire naturelle des 

 poissons, vol. 7, p. 521, 1831, type locality, Mauritius) by several 

 authors. The problem is partially reviewed by Weber and de Beau- 

 fort (Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago, vol. 6, p. 404, 1931). 

 Certain facts from my data and from the literature lead me to disagree 

 with this contention. First, the characteristic dusky to blackish 

 coloration of the specimens from Bikini and Johnston Island has not 

 been reported by other authors for specimens of luteus; and second, 

 the number of gill rakers in these specimens is much higher than that 

 reported in published accounts of luteus. Weber and de Beaufort 

 (1931, p. 401) found 20 gill rakers, including rudiments, on the lower 



