FAMILY POMACENTRIDAE — WOODS AND SCHULTZ 107 



Teeth of jaws uniserial, close together, curved, truncate or rounded; 

 scales on top of head not extending on snout anterior to nostrils; pre- 

 orbital naked, wide (almost equaling width of eye), its lower posterior 

 margin serrate; suborbital scaled, serrate; preopercular margins 

 naked, vertical Hmb finely serrate; membranes between dorsal spines 

 with simple, entire margin, not incised or lobed, soft dorsal outline 

 rounded; caudal lobes rounded; soft portion of anal angular; outer 

 pelvic ray long and filamentous; pectorals short, rounded. 



Color in alcohol. — Back reddish brown; lips dark brown; naked part 

 of snout, preorbital, and top of head blackish; cheeks dark brown, 

 opercle blackish; breast and belly dark reddish; scales of back and 

 sides with very dark brown or blacldsh submarginal line, scale bases 

 reddish broAvn; vertical fins black basally, gradually becoming brown- 

 ish distally, margms grayish brown; pelvics dark grayish brown; 

 pectorals light grayish brown, no black spot on pectoral base, axil of 

 pectoral reddish brown. 



Color when alive. — Yellowish orange below, brownish dorsally; fins 

 yellowish; sides below lateral line with about 8 series of lengthwise 

 rows of blue spots, one on each scale; brown spot at rear base of soft 

 dorsal. 



POMACENTRUS NIGRICANS (Lacepede) 



Plate 90, C 



Holocentrus nigricans Lacepede, Histoire naturelle des poissons, vol. 4, p. 332, 

 367, 1803 (type locality, none given), 



SPECIMENS STUDIED 

 Bikini Atoll: 7 stations, 20 specimens, 26 to 75 mm. in standard length. 

 Eniwetok Atoll, 3 stations, 136 specimens, 17 to 91 mm. 

 Rongelap Atoll: 6 stations, 23 specimens, 21 to 90 mm. 

 Rongerik Atoll: 3 stations, 26 specimens, 36 to 86 mm. 

 Likiep Atoll: 1 lot, Univ. Washington, 53 specimens, 39 to 85 mm. 

 Guam: 4 lots, 93 specimens, 24 to 87 mm. 



Description.— BoTsal fin rays XII,15 to 17 (usually 16); anal rays 

 11,12 to 14 (usually 13) ; pectoral rays ii,17 (rarely 18); scale rows from 

 upper edge of gill opening to base of caudal fin 27 to 29 (usually 28), 

 with 3 between lateral line and origin of spiny dorsal, 11 between lat- 

 eral line and origin of anal; upper part of lateral line with 18 or 19 

 tubular scales; gill rakers 10+1 + 15. 



Depth of body 1.7 to 2.1; length of head 2.7 to 3.0; both in stand- 

 ard length. Length of snout 3.1 to 3.7; diameter of eye 2.6 to 3.5; 

 preorbital width 5.8 to 9.7; length of upper jaw 3.2 to 3.7; postorbital 

 part of head (hind margin of eye to upper edge of gill opening) 2.8 to 

 3.0; interorbital width 3.4 to 4.4; depth of caudal peduncle 2.0 to 2.4; 

 length of pectoral fin 1.1 to 1.3, of pelvic fin 0.9 to 1.0, of last dorsal 

 spine 1.5 to 2.1, of upper caudal rays 0.9 to 1.1; of lower caudal rays 

 1.0 to 1.3 ; all in length of head (tip of snout to posterior edge of opercu- 



