FAMILY LABRIDAE — SCHULTZ 179 



SPECIMENS STUDIED 



Bikini Atoll: 4 stations, 4 specimens, 13 to 210 mm. in standard length. 2 

 lots, Univ. Washington, 3 specimens, 36 to 149 mm. 

 Rongelap Atoll: 2 stations, 3 specimens, 78 to 169 mm. 

 Eniwetok Atoll: 1 station, 2 specimens, 72 to 110 mm. 

 Kwajalein Atoll: 1 lot, Univ. Washington, 1 specimen, 210 mm. 



Description. — Dorsal rays IX,12; anal 111,12; pectoral ii,ll; pores 

 in lateral line 50 to 52+6 or 7+ 14 or 15; vertical scale rows 70 to 73; 

 gill rakers 5 to 7 + 1 + 10 to 12. See table 100 for additional counts 

 and for those recorded for other species of Coris. 



Head 2.6 to 3.2; greatest depth 2.5 to 3.3; longest pectoral ray 4.6 

 to 5.0; snout tip to anus 1.8 to 2.1; snout to dorsal origin 2.7 to 3.0; 

 all in standard length. Snout 2.8 to 4.0; eye 3.2 to 6.7; postorbital 

 length of head 1.8 to 2.0; interorbital space 4.0 to 4.3; longest pectoral 

 ray 1.6 to 2.1; least depth of body 2.3 to 2.5; all in length of head. 

 Eye in fleshy interorbital space 0.8 to 1.7. 



Dorsal profile of head forming an angle of about 65 to 70 degrees 

 with the ventral contour of head; pectoral fin reaches to opposite 

 about the 24th to 27th lateral line pores; outer rays of pelvics longest, 

 greatly elongate in adults, reaching past anal origin; first and second 

 dorsal rays of adults greatly elongate, sometimes nearly as long as head ; 

 distal margin of caudal fin rounded. 



Color in alcohol. — The series of specimens collected at Johnston 

 Island and in the Marshall Islands, along with others in the U. S. 

 National Museum, has demonstrated that this species has a most 

 remarkable change in color pattern between the young and adult 

 stages. The following color descriptions are based on that material: 



Young, 13 to 52 mm.: Background coloration whitish, with 5 

 dark brown or blackish bordered white areas dorsally, first on snout, 

 second from rear of interorbital space to occiput and extending ven- 

 traUy to about opposite middle of rear edge of orbit, third from front 

 of spiny dorsal fin ventrally and becoming wedge-shaped and ending 

 on lower side in axil of pectoral, fourth between soft dorsal rays 4 to 

 8 and extending nearly to midside of body and sometimes to distal 

 edge of soft dorsal, fifth at rear edge of soft dorsal and on dorsal half 

 of caudal peduncle; middle of caudal fin crossed with a blacldsh bar, 

 except in the 13 mm. specimen; distal edges of dorsal and anal fins 

 blackish, except in 13 mm. specimen. 



Intermediate sizes, 60 to 82 mm. : The dark bordered pale areas 

 are distinct but the body has generally become brownish or tinged 

 with brownish. The 60-mm. specimen is lighter than the larger ones, 



