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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol XVIII, July 1964 
erately slender; dorsal fin unnotched, the spinous 
portion of fin equal in basal length to soft por- 
tion; body compressed, the width about 2 in 
head length and 6.5-7 in standard length; head 
small, about 3.1 in standard length; body depth 
moderate, about 2.6 in standard length; supra- 
maxillary (supplemental) bone present; mouth 
moderately large, the maxillary extending 
slightly posterior to eye; a pair of enlarged 
canine teeth anteriorly in each jaw separated 
by a broad gap (two adjacent canines may be 
present in place of a single canine) , and a single 
row of smaller canines on sides of jaws; depress- 
ible canine teeth medial to anterior canines and 
in one medial row on side of lower jaw; upper 
jaw with a band of villiform teeth medial to 
fixed canines at side of jaw; a band of villiform 
teeth on palatines and on vomer (in V -shape on 
latter); tongue smooth; opercle with three flat 
spines, middle one closest to lower; edge of 
preopercle rounded with only a slight indenta- 
tion above angle; upper preopercular margin 
finely serrate, lower margin smooth; margin of 
interopercle and subopercle finely serrate; head, 
including maxillary, scaled; scales moderately 
small (about 110 vertical rows between upper 
end of gill opening and end of hypural ) ; scales 
ctenoid except on head, thorax, abdomen, and 
anterodorsally on body; lateral line single, con- 
tinuous to base of caudal; posterior nostrils 
spherical; pectoral fins obtusely pointed; caudal 
fin emarginate; gill rakers moderately long; the 
one at angle slightly longer than gill filaments; 
24 vertebrae. 
Monotypic. Type species, Cephalopholis al- 
homarginatus Fowler and Bean. 
DISCUSSION. Gracila shows affinities to Ceph- 
alopholis but differs principally in external 
morphology in its smaller head ( head length of 
Cephalopholis 2.4-27 in standard length) and 
emarginate caudal fin (caudal always rounded 
in Cephalopholis) . It also displays a different 
mode of life from Cephalopholis; it charac- 
teristically swims well above the bottom like 
species of Plectropomus. Cephalopholis dwells 
more upon the bottom and is more retiring in 
its habits. Gracila differs notably from Plectro- 
pomus in having 9 instead of 6-8 dorsal spines 
and in lacking enlarged canines of the side of 
the lower jaw. 
Gracila is also closely related to Aethaloperca. 
The latter is distinctive in the steep dorsal pro- 
file of the head (the snout forms an angle of 
nearly 60 degrees to the horizontal; the snout 
angle of Gracila is about 40 degrees) and its 
deep body (depth about 2.2 in standard length) . 
Also, the teeth at the side of the lower jaw of 
Aethaloperca (and most species of Cephaloph- 
olis) occur in more than two rows (except 
posteriorly on the jaw); in Gracila there are 
only two rows of teeth, the outer fixed and the 
inner depressible. Also, Gracila has much smaller 
anal spines. 
Gracila albomarginata 
Figs. 1, 2 
Cephalopholis albomarginatus Fowler and 
Bean, 1930. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 100, p. 
235, fig. 11 (type locality: Danawan Island, 
vicinity of Sibuko Bay, Borneo). 
Aethaloperca albomarginata: Smith, 1954. 
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 12, vol. 7, p. 
925, pi. 33 A (first record from Indian 
Ocean ) . 
One specimen: 257 mm standard length, 318 
mm total length, Tetiaroa, Society Islands, Feb. 
16, 1957, J. E. Randall. Natural History Mu- 
seum, Stanford University, uncatalogued. 
The following counts, measurements, and ob- 
servations were made from the fresh specimen: 
dorsal rays IX, 15; anal rays III, 9; pectoral rays 
19; lateral-line scales about 115; head length 82 
mm; body depth 87 mm; body width 48 mm; 
least depth of caudal peduncle 33 mm; diameter 
of eye 14.5 mm; interorbital space 18.5 mm; 
length of pectoral fin 52 mm; lower jaw projects 
5 mm beyond upper jaw when mouth is closed; 
caudal concavity 13 mm; three spines on opercle, 
the middle located about one-third distance 
from lower to upper spine; preopercle entire, 
rounded, the upper limb finely serrate; four 
canine teeth in lower jaw in two close-set pairs, 
separated by a 5 mm gap at symphysis; teeth in 
upper jaw similar (only one canine on one 
side), separated by 11 mm; remaining teeth 
nearly as long, more slender, depressible, and in 
a double row; narrow band of villiform teeth on 
vomer and palatines. 
Color in life reddish brown with a suffusion 
of orange on head, especially around mouth; 
numerous light grayish-blue bars on sides which 
nearly disappear in preservative; four diagonal 
