30 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XIV, January I960 
Fig. 1. Suttonia lineata. Paratype, 72 mm. in stand- 
ard length. 
essentially similar coloration. In alcohol, the 
smallest of the paratypes show a certain amount 
of reticulation on the lower portion of the head. 
Unlike S. suttoni, S. lineata has no dark oper- 
cular spot and no lines along the sides. 
Aside from the characters noted in the last 
sentence, S. lineata seems to differ from the de- 
scription and figure of S. suttoni given by Smith 
(1953) principally in the lack of externally 
visible opercular spines. The two forms are ob- 
viously close; they seem to differ to about the 
same degree as most Hawaiian and East African 
counterparts do. 
Lineata (L.): lined, for the prominent mid- 
dorsal stripe on the head. 
"pseudogrammid” relationships 
Though there is little doubt about the close 
interrelationship of the genera assigned to the 
"pseudogrammid” group — Aporops, Rhegma, 
Pseudo gramma, and Suttonia — there is consider- 
able disagreement about the family to which 
these genera should be assigned (see Table 2). 
Regan and Norman have included them in the 
Serranidae; Schultz placed them in the Pseudo- 
chromidae; and Smith erected a separate family 
for them. 
Fig. 2. Pseudo gramma poly acanthus, a, Lateral 
view of head; b, diagram of right nasal organ, with 
covering tissues removed but with the position of the 
nostrils indicated for orientation. 
In an attempt to resolve the problem of 
"pseudogrammid” relationships, partial or com- 
plete skeletons have been prepared of the typical 
serranid Epinephelus quernus (from Hawaii), 
of Pseudo gramma polyacanthus ( from Hawaii ) , 
Plesiops corallicola (from the Marshalls; see 
Inger, 1955: 266), and Pseudo chromis tapeino- 
soma (from the Gilberts). Certain aspects of 
the soft anatomy of these species and of Epine- 
phelus hexagonatus ( from the Phoenix Islands ) , 
Aporops bilinearis ( from Tahiti ) , Suttonia line- 
ata (paratypes), and of Grammistes sexlineatus 
(from the Line Islands) have been examined. 
When generic names are used alone in this 
paper, they refer to the above species. 
Soft Anatomy. The only internal soft struc- 
ture that has hitherto been used in the classifica- 
tion of the "pseudogrammid” fishes is the pres- 
ence of two heavy -walled pyloric caeca (Smith, 
1953: 548, fig. 2) . In Epinephelus pyloric caeca 
are relatively numerous (cf. Suyehiro, 1942: 
161, fig. 112), and in Plesiops and Pseudo- 
chromis they are completely lacking. 
A second feature that seems at least equally 
significant is the structure of the nasal rosette. 
In Epinephelus, Pseudo chromis, and Plesiops 
(Fig. 3 a) the rosette is small. In Pseudo gramma 
(Fig. 2b) the nasal epithelium is extended both 
upward below the nasal bone and downward 
below the lacrimal. 
In view of this difference between nasal or- 
gans, the brains in specimens of Epinephelus 
and Pseudogramma were uncovered dorsally. 
However, no conspicuous differences were seen. 
Attempts to investigate the nature of the air 
bladder were unsuccessful. 
In Aporops, Pseudogramma, and Suttonia 
there is an area of presumably glandular tissue 
just ahead of the preopercular spine. In Aporops 
this area may be discerned externally, but in the 
other two genera it is concealed by the skin and 
scales. 
Cranium. The crania of Epinephelus, Pseu- 
dogramma (Fig. 4), Plesiops, and Pseudo- 
chromis differ very little from one another. In 
Epinephelus there is no conspicuous otic bulla 
as there is in the other three, and the supra- 
occipital has a well-marked crest. Pseudogramma 
has a median opening to the sensory canal sys- 
tem between the frontals (Fig. Aa) , but this is 
