FAMILY POIVIACENTRIDAE — WOODS AND SCHULTZ 117 



entii'e; both inferior and posterior margins of preopercle naked; 

 dorsal spines gradually increasing in length to 5th, 6th, and 7th, 

 which are subequal, then decreasing slightly to last; soft dorsal and 

 anal outlines angular, caudal apparently only slightly forked, pelvics 

 pointed, pectoral rounded. 



Color in alcohol. — Pale 3^ellowish pink with two black saddles; snout 

 dusky; interorbital with indistinct dusky band, a black band about 

 equal in width to diameter of eye on nape before first dorsal spine, 

 narrowing ventrally and becoming indistinct on upper portion of 

 opercle, or dividing and descending along anterior portion of opercle 

 and on preopercle to cheek ; second band extending from distal portion 

 of membranes between 6th dorsal spine and first soft dorsal ray, 

 narrowing and fading ventrally to about middle of sides, anus black, 

 fins all pale or sometimes slightly dusky basally. 



Remarks. — Bleeker has stated in a description of this species that 

 one band descends from the nape and the other from the soft dorsal 

 (Nat. Verb. Holl. Islaatsch. Wetensch. ser. 3, vol. 2, p. 89, 1877). 

 His figure (Atlas ichthyologi que . . . , vol. 9, pi. 401, fig. 3) shows 

 the second band descending from the middle of the soft dorsal rather 

 than from the posterior part of the spinj^ dorsal. It may be that our 

 specimens represent a different species but they have been called 

 P. hvfasciatus because they possess the other features that Bleeker 

 gave as characteristic of this species: Lower limb of preopercle without 

 scales, interorbital region scaled, and median spines of dorsal longer 

 than posterior spines. We have not found this combination of 

 characters in any of the other banded species of Pomacentrus. 



POMACENTRUS MELANOPTERUS Bleeker 



Plate 90, A 



Pomacentrus melanopterus Bleeker, Nat. Tijdschr. Nederl .-Indie, vol. 3, p. 562, 

 1852 (type locality, Amboina). 



SPECIMENS STUDIED 



Rougelap Atoil: Rongela^:) Island near north end, lagoon coral head at depth of 

 18 feet, July 25, S-46-286, Brock, Herald & Kohler, 1 specimen, 75 mm. 



Description. — Dorsal fin rays XIII, 14; anal rays 11,13; pectorals 

 ii,16; transverse scale rows 27 from upper edge of gill opening to base 

 of caudal rays, with 3K between lateral line and origin of spiny 

 dorsal, 10 between lateral line and origin of anal; upper part of lateral 

 line with 18 tubular scales; gill rakers 6+1 + 15. 



Depth of body 1.9; length of head 3.5; both in standard length. 

 Snout 4.1; eye 3.2; preorbital \^ddth 10.7; length of upper jaw 3.0; 

 postorbital part of head (hind margin of eye to upper edge of gill 

 opening) 3.7; interorbital v/idth 2.95; depth of caudal peduncle 1.8; 

 length of pectoral fin 0.85, of pelvics 0.9, of 13th dorsal spine 1.5; of 



