280 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



817. Pomacentrus trimaculatus Cuvier & Valenciennes. Palau Is.; Guam; Marcus I.; New 



Guinea (Macleay); East Indies. 

 This species is easily recognizable by the black spots on the side of the back. It was not taken 

 by us. Bleeker identifies P. perspicillalits with P. trimaculatus, but the description of the former is too 

 scanty to permit of certainty. 



818. Pomacentrus notophthalmus Bleeker. Woodlark I.; Fate; New Hebrides (Seale); East 



Indies. 

 This species, not taken by us, is very well marked by its coloration, the anterior dorsal region 

 being violet-brown, the rest of the body largely yellow. 



819. Pomacentrus vaiuli Jordan & Seale, new species. Vaiuli. Samoa. (PI. XL, fig. 2.) 



Head 3.50 in length; depth 2; eye 2.85 in head; dorsal xiii, 14; anal II, 16; scales 3-30-9, twenty 

 scales in lateral line proper, which ends under posterior third of soft dorsal fin; interorbital equal to 

 eye; snout 3.40 in head. 



Body compressed, elevated, the upper and lower outlines evenly rounded; depth of caudal 

 peduncle 2 in head, its length 2.75; mouth small; maxillary reaching to below anterior margin of eye, 

 a single series of rather flat cutting teeth in each jaw; no teeth on vomer or palatines; preorbital 

 rather wide, 2 in maxillary, its lower posterior margin strongly toothed; suborbital very narrow, about 

 one-half as wide as preobital, its lower margin toothed; opercle entire; preopercle denticulate; gill- 

 rakers rather blunt, the longest less than width of pupil; base of dorsal 1.75 in length of fish without 

 caudal, its longest ray 1.20 in head; posterior extremities of dorsal and anal pointed; base of anal 

 equal to head; pectoral equal to head; first rays of ventral somewhat prolonged and filiform, reaching 

 to base of anal; caudal forked, its lobes slightly longer than head. 



Color in spirits, purplish, lighter with yellowish wash on upper third of body, the colors thus being 

 reversed from the usual coloring in fishes; scales with blue dots in the center which form numerous 

 blue longitudinal lines on body, about 17 on each side, some more or less irregular, theupper one of the 

 lines extending from tip of snout over interorbital space along base of dorsal; the second has its origin 

 on nuchal region; the third has its origin at posterior of orbit; two narrow blue lines from orbit to 

 mouth; a distinct black opercular spot; a black blue-edged ocellus on the base of the 7 posterior soft 

 dorsal rays; dorsal yellowish with dark margin; caudal bright yellow; pectoral bright yellow; ventral 

 and anal dark blue; the anus has 3 bands of blue dots. 



Life colors were noted in various specimens as follows: 



(1) Specimen from Apia called vaiuli (blue water). Brilliant deep blue, darkest below: the back 

 abruptly orange-yellow with two blue stripes on each side, breaking up behind into rows of dots; no 

 median stripe; dorsal orange with blue edge and blue dots; soft dorsal with a large, black, blue-edged 

 ocellus; caudal and pectoral golden; ventral and anal blue-black. 



(2) From Apia. Deep purplish; dull golden about gill-openings and on tail; sides of head and 

 region of gill-opening with numerous sky-blue spots; a small round black spot on angle of opercle 

 above black speck in axil; dorsal brownish, dull golden behind with a black, bluish-edged ocellus 

 on base of soft dorsal; obscure blackish band along middle of spinous dorsal;, anal brownish, with 

 four or five oblique irregular blackish bands; pectoral and caudal golden; ventral blue-black. 



(3) From Pago Pago. Iridescent purple-blue on sides in post-pectoral region, fading behind into 

 brown-blue; above rich umber with blue in longitudinal series of dots; dorsal light umber with a very 

 narrow marginal bright .blue line; anal purplish brown; pectoral thin clear yellow, purple-violet 

 below; dorsal with black ocellus with narrow blue margin on posterior end. 



(4) From Apia. Back golden brown, grayish on tail; sides and belly deep blue; a row of dark 

 blue spots along each row of scales; two dark blue stripes from snout to dorsal; dorsal golden brown, 

 blue-shaded; a large, black ocellus, blue-edged, on the base of last soft rays; caudal pure golden; anal 

 blue-black, with two oblique shades across it; pectoral golden; ventral blue-black. 



The young of this species is remarkable for the reversal of the coloration, the back being golden, 

 the lower parts violet black. With age, the dark coloration extends upward on the back. The black 

 opercular spot and the black ocellus at the end of the soft dorsal remain the same at all ages. The 

 violet spots on the side grow fainter with age but do not disappear. 



Fifteen specimens from Apia and one from Pago Pago. The type, no. 51740, U. S. National 

 Museum, is 2.75 inches long. 



