REVISED CLASSIFICATION FOR CERTAIN CIRRHITOID GENERA 



Fig. 1 The urohyal of:A. Paracirrhites forsteri; Cirrhitidae; left lateral view (BMNH 1852.9.13: 119). B. Chironemus marmoratus; 



Chironemidae; left lateral and ventral views. (BMNH 1871.3.29:28). C. Aplodactylus punctatus; Aplodactylidae; left lateral and ventral 

 views. (BMNH 1873.4.3: 157). D. Dactylophora nigricans; Cheilodactylidae; left lateral view. (BMNH 1869.2.24:8). Relative to other 

 figures, this bone has been rotated through 90° to the left; arrow indicates dorsal prominence. Scale in millimetres. Drawn by Gordon 

 Howes. 



type can be correlated with one of the five family groups 

 recognised by Regan (1911), these will be referred to as the 

 cirrhitid, latrid, chironemid, aplodactylid and cheilodactylid 

 types respectively. 



The cirrhitid type (Fig. 1A) appears to be a plesiomorphic 

 form, one fundamentally similar to that found in several basal 

 percoids (see Kusaka, 1974; also personal observations). 



The latrid urohyal (Fig. 2) differs markedly from the 

 cirrhitid type, and also shows slightly more intrafamilial 

 variation, particularly with regard to its posterior margin's 

 degree of indentation, the extent to which the ventral margin 

 is produced bilaterally into a narrow or broader shelf, the 

 extent to which the bone is produced ventrally, and whether 



the bone's upper margin is sharp or somewhat flattened. Like 

 the cirrhitid type, the latrid urohyal is also of a pleisomorphic 

 form, one occurring in such basal percoids as the Serranidae 

 and Centropomidae (Kusaka, 1974; Greenwood, 1976: 39, 

 fig. 21, and other personal observations). 



Departure from the basal percoid form of urohyal is most 

 pronounced in the chironemid, aplodactylid and cheilodac- 

 tylid types of bone. In chironemids (Fig. IB) the bone is 

 shallow, the ventral margin greatly flattened and expanded 

 bilaterally to form a broad shelf, while the dorsal margin is 

 also noticeably flattened and bilaterally produced into a shelf, 

 albeit one relatively narrower than that on the ventral aspect 

 of the bone; when compared with the urohyal in cirrhitids, 



