﻿FISHES, GENUS ECSENIUS — CHAPMAN AND SCHULTZ 509 



only in tlie Red Sea and at Djibouti; two have been found only 

 in the Solomon Islands ; one each in the Marshall Islands, northeast 

 Australia, the PhilipjTines, Formosa, the Hawaiian Islands, the west- 

 ern Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf. Only one species has been 

 determined to have a broad range, occurring in Ceylon, Bengal, Christ- 

 mas Island, Timor, and the New Hebrides Islands. In discussions 

 under each species some notes have been made of the possible relation- 

 ships of the several species, but clarification of these relationships must 

 await further collections throughout the range of the genus. 



Genus ECSENIUS McCulloch 



Ecsenitis McCulloch, Rec. Austruliau Mus., vol. 14, p. 121, 1923. (Genotype, 

 E. mandibularis McCulloch.) — Nokman, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 11, vol. 10, 

 p. 810, 1943. 



description. — Dorsal rays XII, 12-20; anal II, 13-21; pectoral 

 13-15 ; pelvic 1,3. 



No crest on head in either sex (except low ridge on large male of 

 mandihularis) ; nasal cirrus either simple, bifid, or trifid ; no supra- 

 orbital or nuchal cirrus ; both lips smooth ; one or more tiny, hidden 

 canines posteriorly on each dentary; 45 to 50 firmly placed teeth in 

 lower jaw (typical of Blennius) ; more than 100 independently 

 movable, slender teeth in upper jaw (typical of Istiblennius and 

 Salarias) ; no teeth on vomer; depth 3.6 to 6.0, head 3.3 to 4.8, both in 

 standard length ; lateral line a double series of pores anteriorly, end- 

 ing under tenth or eleventh dorsal spine, not turning downward on 

 side, continued on as a faint line with no visible pores to end of dorsal ; 

 dorsal notched or not, reaching to or over first small rays of caudal ; 

 last ray bound to caudal peduncle by membrane; caudal usually with 

 12, occasionally 13, unbranched principal rays, with 6 or 7 small rays 

 above and below, mostly hidden under skin ; upper and low^er principal 

 caudal rays typically exserted beyond margin of fin, by as much as 

 length of shortest caudal rays in large individuals of certain species; 

 2 spines in anal, always plainly visible in male and usually so in 

 female, but veiy minute in latter; no crenulated pads on first anal 

 rays of male, instead these rays on adult males are normally a little 

 swollen or bulbous at distal tip ; no anal ray extends beyond margin of 

 fin in males; last anal ray fully bound to caudal peduncle by mem- 

 brane; males with a slender, tubular genital pore midway between 

 anus and insertion of anal spine; pelvics always with I, 3 rays, the 

 third soft ray normally bound to second and not visible without dis- 

 section ; pelvic spine always present but not visible without dissection. 



