366 U-S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 02 Vol. 2 



327; pelvics are broken; caudal with broken tips of rays; snout tip to 

 anus 527; length from snout tip to dorsal origin 382; length of anal 

 fin base 291. 



No orbital cirrus; nuchal cirrus simple, on each side, broad based, 

 thm, tapermg abruptly to a point so that it is acutely triangular- 

 shaped; nasal cirrus simple, short; snout profile with a forward slant 

 of 20 to 30 degrees; edges of both lips smooth; lateral line with 6 or 7 

 pores about opposite upper edge of pectoral fin base, ending about % 

 the way out length of pectoral fin; a vertical line through dorsal origin 

 passes through pectoral base and notably behind the pelvic bases; 

 probably no membrane attaching last dorsal ray to upper edge of 

 caudal peduncle; anal origin opposite base of next to last dorsal spine; 

 last anal ray without membrane attaching it to ventral edge of caudal 

 peduncle; pectoral fins reachmg to about opposite a third the way along 

 anal fin base; the two flexible anal spines are distinct on the male 

 holotype and tips not swollen; teeth in upper jaw flexible, numerous, 

 those in lower jaw in Ophioblennius stage, with 2 pahs of hooked 

 canines forward and a posterior canine on each side. 



Color in alcohol. — Body plain whitish; head whitish; except dorsally 

 brownish; middle rays of pectoral fin dark brown, upper and lower 

 edges of fin white. 



Remarks. — This new species probably is genericaUy distinct from F, 

 minutus but since F. wellsi is in a late Ophioblennius stage we are 

 unable to work out suflBcient characters to establish a new genus at this 

 time. F. wellsi differs from F. minutus in having a very broad inter- 

 orbital space longer than snout and about equal to eye diameter, 

 whereas in minutus the interorbital space is contained about 3 times in 

 the snout and twice in eye; wellsi has a dark brown pectoral fin and no 

 dusky pigmentation on the head, whereas minutus has a hyahne 

 pectoral fin, and V-shaped bars on under side of head. 



Named wellsi in honor of Dr. John W. Wells, Geologist, who was 

 at Bikini in 1947, and with whom I (Schultz) spent two pleasant days 

 on the reef at Johnston Island. 



Genus ALTICUS Cuvier and Valenciennes 

 Alticus Cuvier and Valenciennes, Histoire naturelle des poissons, vol. 11, p. 

 337, 1836 (type species, Blennius saliens Lacepfide = Salarias alticus Cuvier 

 and Valenciennes). 

 Rupiscartes Swainson, Natural history and classification of fishes . . . , vol. 2, 

 pp. 79, 182, 275, 1839 (type species, Salarias alticus Cuvier and Valen- 

 ciennes) . 

 Basilisciscartes Fowler, Not. Naturae Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, No. 26, p. 2, 

 1939 (type species, Blennius saliens IvacepSde). 



Since Alticus semicrenatus Chapman in de Beaufort and Chapman 

 (Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago, vol. 9, p. 270, 1951) has 



