FAMILY MULLIDAE — LACHNER 45 



the names available, the description of Upeneus vanicolensis Cuvier 

 and Valenciennes best fits my specimens. The type locality is 

 Vanicolo Island, Santa Cruz Islands, a locality not faunistically 

 different from the Marshall Islands in respect to the jMullidae. 

 Characters listed b}^ subsequent authors for this species agree fairly 

 closely with those of mine, although I have no positive assurance of 

 this, since the material studied by them was often not listed nor was 

 it available for examination. 



2. It is conceivable that the material may represent the young 

 or juvenile form of some well known species. AU were of a juvenile 

 size, 77 to 96 mm. in standard length. On the basis of the material 

 collected, the species was most active at night, for 73 specimens 

 were taken in 1 1 collections at night with the aid of lights and only 4 

 collections totaling 21 specimens were taken during the daylight 

 hours when most of the collecting was done. Specimens of A/. 

 samoensis and M. auriflamma were taken with vanicolensis in the 

 same net hauls. The greater number of gill rakers, larger eye, and 

 longer barbels of auriflamma and the light peritoneum of j>flugeri 

 eliminate any possibility of associating these species with my speci- 

 mens of vanicolensis. 



On the basis of certain meristic counts and measurements, samoensis 

 is the species most closely related (see table 80) to specimens of 

 vanicolensis -fhoweyeT, my specimens have these pronounced differences 

 from samoensis: Most specimens were reddish brown in life and in 

 preservation the striations of the caudal fin are dusky, and no specimen 

 had a dark spot or yellow stripe on the body as in samoensis ; at com- 

 parable sizes the body is slenderer, the snout more pointed, and the 

 mouth more horizontal; certain morphological structures, such as 

 the shorter head, wider interorbital, and shorter snout in vanicolensis, 

 show differences that do not appear to be associated vv'ith young or 

 with a transforming stage. The barbel is significantly shorter, 

 although this difference might be associated with transformation, as 

 the young may be pelagic and may not require the barbels as do the 

 bottom-feeding adults. 



In several species of Parupeneus, the adults of which equal or exceed 

 in total length that attained by any species of Mulloidicldhys, the 

 young have acquired the definitive adult characters at a much 

 smaller size, 40 to 50 mm., than my specimens of vanicolensis. The 

 absence of intermediate specimens lead me to drop the theory that 

 my specimens represent an early stage. Life history studies are 

 needed. 



3. The last possibility is that these specimens represent a new 

 species. In view of the fact that we do not have a clear understanding 

 just what form Upeneus vanicolensis Cuvier and Valenciennes may 



