FlSHElS OF THE PHOENIX AND SAMOAN ISTLrANDS 111 



Family PSEUDOCHROMIDAE 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF PSEUDOCHROMIDS FROM THE PHOENIX AND SAMOAN 

 ISLANDS REPRESENTED BY SPECIMENS IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



la. Dorsal with pungent spines. 

 2a. Dorsal spines VII to XII. 



3a. Dorsal spines XI or XII, menibrant-s deeply iiici.-ed ; soft dorsal rays 

 7, anal rays III, 8 ; pectoral about 20 to 22 ; scales about 27 ; pelvic 



fins very long, rays I, 5 Plesiops nigricans (RiipiK'U)" 



36. Dorsal spines VII, membranes not deeply incised. 

 4a. No dermal flap located on dorsal edge of eye. 



5a. No pair of pores next to eyes on interorbital space; dorsal rays 

 VII, 23 or 24; anal rays III, 19 or 20; scale rows from where 

 lateral line begins at upper edge of opercular apparatus to base 

 of caudal fin 59 to 62 ; two lateral lines, dorsal one interrupted 

 under soft dorsal, recommencing a little anteriorly on middorsal 

 line of caudal peduncle; a few canine teeth at front of upper jaw; 

 spine on preopercle short, with a slight curve dorsally ; length 

 of pectoral fin about 5 times in standard length. 



Aporops bilinearis, new genus and species 

 5b. A pair of large pores next to eyes on interorbital space; dorsal 

 rays VII, 19 to 21; anal III, 16 to IS; scales 48 to 51; one 

 lateral line extending from head along dorsal contour of body, 

 ending under middle third of soft dorsal fin and not recom- 

 mencing on midline of caudal peduncle ; preopercle with a short 

 spine that points slightly downward (ventrally) ; pectoral fin 

 about 4 times in standard length. 



Pseudogramma '^ polyacanthus (Bleeker) 

 4&. A dermal flap located dorsally on each eye; a pair of large pores 

 next to eye on interorbital space ; anterior canine teeth in jaws ; 

 dorsal rays VII, 15 to 24; anal III, 12 to 20; scales 48 to 55. 



Rheg'ma Gilbert " 

 2&. Dorsal spines III, a black spot bordei'ed above with white, located pos- 

 teriorly on caudal peduncle above lateral line. 



Pseudochromis janiesi, new species 

 16. Dorsal without stiff spines, all rays flexible and articulated ; pelvic rays 

 long, slender, I, 3; anal with all rays flexible, no stiff spines; scales about 

 26 or 27 ; a pair of pores in interorbital space ; no lateral line. 



Pseudoplesiops rosae, new species 



u PseudochromicMhys Schmidt, Trans. Pacific Conim. Acad. Sci. U. S. S. R., vol. 2, p. 180, 

 1931 (genotype, Pseudochromichthi/s ritikianiis Schmidt), is the same as Ple.siops Oken, and 

 P. riukianus appears to he the same species as Pharoptcryx nivricans Riippell. 



'^^ Rhegma r/uineensis Norman (Discovery Reports, vol. 12, p. 10, fig. 2, 1935) should bo 

 placed in the genus Pseudogrumma along with Rhef/nia brederi Hildebrand, in Longley and 

 Hildebrand (Pap. Tortugas Lab., vol. 32, p. 244, fig. 11, 1940), because both have the pair 

 of interorbital pores, absent on Aporops. These two species also lacl< a fleshy t(>ntach' over 

 each eye. It is highly doubtful wliother Pscudogramma gidnccnsis (Norman) has a lateral 

 line along the midaxis of the caudal peduncle. 



"Two species known (1) Rhegma thaumanium Gilbert, from Toboguilla Island, Panama ; 

 off Octavia Bay (Colombia), and Oorgona and Secas Islands, and (2) Carihrhegma gregoryi 

 Breder, from (Jlover reef, off British Honduras. Although Myers (Smithsonian Misc. Coll., 

 vol. 91, No. 23, p. 2, 1935) refers Rhegma and Carihrhegma to the gimus Pseudogramma. 

 I do not accept this opinion at the present time. 



