﻿FISHES, GENUS ECSENIUS — CHAPMAN AND SCHULTZ 511 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF ECSENIUS 



Ifl. (See also 1& and Ic.) Pectoral with 15 rays and no dark spot around anua 

 (Red Sea and Djibouti). 

 2,0: Color of head, body, and vertical fins a rich, uniform brown, with no 

 markings; dorsal XII,19; nual 11,20 (Rod Sea). 



Ecsenius frontalis (Cuvier and Valenciennes) 

 26. Color of head and body light tan with no markings other than a few scat- 

 tered black specks on upper part of caudal peduncle ; a jet black band 

 as wide as eye diameter running along base of both spinous and soft 

 dorsal, outer part of fin hyaline ; top and bottom of caudal fin jet black 

 to end of long rays, rest of fin hyaline ; anal fin colorless ; dorsal XII, 18 ; 



anal 11,20 (Djibouti) Ecsenius gravieri (Pellegrin) 



16. Pectoral rays 13 to 15, usually 14 ; anal rays II, 18 or 19 ; a distinct dark spot 

 around anus ; a large dark brown spot on base of caudal fin ; dark brown 

 streak from lower edge of eye backward across gill cover; dorsal rays 



XII, 16 or 17 (Philippines) Ecsenius stigmatura Fowler, new species 



Ic. Pectoral with 13 or 14 rays, rarely 12; if area around anus is black anal 

 rays are 11,13 or 14 (tropical Indo-Pacific oceans). 

 3a. Nasal cirrus simple and single. 



4o. Dorsal with ID or 20 soft rays ; anal with 21 or 22 ; a dark band along 

 base of dorsal (western Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf). 



Ecsenius pulcher (Murray) 



5a. Body evenly brown, without markings (Ecsenius pulcher, female) 



56. Head, throat, and body to level of sixth dorsal ray rich, light brov^n 

 (paler below), without markings; rest of body to caudal abruptly 

 pale, crossed by 5 or 6 equally spaced narrow, sharply defined 

 vertical bars, reaching from dorsal to ventral edge of body. 



(Ecsenius pulcher, male) 



46. Dorsal with 12 to 14 soft rays; anal with 13 to 17 soft rays; no dark 



streak along base of spinous dorsal and never sharply defined if 



present on soft dorsal. 



6a. Spinous and soft dorsal separated by shallow notch in young but no 



notch at all in adults ; sharply defined black spot, half the area of 



eye, around anus, set off from rich brown body by light peripheral 



band ; no other markings on head, body, or fins ; dorsal with 12 or 13 



soft rays; anal with 13 or 14 soft rays (Solomon Islands). 



Ecsenius lividanalis, new species 



66. Spinous and soft dorsal separated by a deep notch reaching nearly 



to base of fin ; last dorsal spine minute, nearly hidden in basal fin 



membrane; no dark spot around anus; well-defined dark streaks, 



bars or spots on body; dorsal with 13 to 16 soft rays; anal with 



15 to 18 soft rays. 



7o. A row of 6 or 7 small teeth laterally on ridge of dentary; anal 



with 16 to 18 soft rays ; double row of small, dark, roundish 



spots along side of body, but no bars or bands (Queensland, 



Australia) Ecsenius mandibularis McCuUoch 



76. One or 2 tiny teeth posterolaterally on the dentary, but never 

 more; anal with 15 soft rays; no dark spots on body, but dark 

 bars or bands present on sides ; 2 pale horizontal bands, each as 

 wide as pupil, running full length of body, one from upper corner 

 of opercle, the other from imder pectoraL 



