Groupers of Tahiti- — R andall 
291 
ration above hind edge of eye; maxillary extends 
from 34 to 1 eye diameter posterior to eye 
(seven specimens: 120-334 mm standard length, 
Red Sea, Zanzibar, and Gilbert Islands); micro- 
don, pectoral rays 16 or 17 (usually 17); gill 
rakers on lower limb of first arch 15 or 16; 
dorsal profile of head smoothly convex; maxillary 
ends beneath hind edge of eye or extends up to 
half an eye diameter posterior to eye (nine 
specimens: 153-350 mm standard length; from 
Red Sea, Zanzibar, Gilbert Islands, Marshall 
Islands, and Phoenix Islands). 
There is a slight difference in the depth of the 
body, microdon being the more slender form on 
the average (depth 2.7-3 in standard length; 
that of fuscoguttatus is 2. 6-2. 9) . The dorsal soft 
rays of fuscoguttatus are 14 (rarely 15) and 
those of microdon 14 or 15 (usually 15). 
Morgans (1958:656) has separated the spe- 
cies in a key on color. He noted that the spots 
of microdon (at least of adults) are more regular 
in outline than those of fuscoguttatus. An addi- 
tional color difference is the nature of the spot 
beneath the spinous portion of the dorsal fin. 
Adults of E. microdon have a single roundish 
dark blotch centered at the base of the fifth 
dorsal spine; fuscoguttatus has two close-set 
blotches or a single bilobed one. 
Morgans described tukula, a third species of 
Epinephelus from the western Indian Ocean 
which can be confused with fuscoguttatus and 
microdon. It is distinguished by the lack of small 
spots on the body, many rows of teeth at the 
front of both jaws, subequal nostrils, convex in- 
terorbital, and large size ( it is believed to attain 
a weight of at least 240 lb). In the author’s 
opinion tukula is the same as Playfair’s Serranus 
dispar variety a. Since Morgans restricted dispar 
to variety b, his new species tukula is valid 
whether variety a is the same or not ( unless an 
earlier name is found). 
In view of the absence of a holotype and the 
instability of the classification of this complex 
of serranid fishes, a neotype is herein described 
of fuscoguttatus, based on a specimen from the 
Red Sea, the type locality. 
neotype OF Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (fors- 
kAl): usnm 147594, 216 mm in standard 
length and 267 mm in total length, collected by 
Donald S. Erdman at the S.A.M. pier at Jidda, 
Red Sea, on July 2, 1948 (Fig. 10). 
Dorsal rays XI, 14; anal rays III, 8; pectoral 
rays 19; gill rakers 12 + 1 + 18 (two addi- 
tional small rakers between larger rakers of 
upper limb not counted ) ; vertical scale rows 
from upper end of gill opening to end of hypural 
plate about 127; 25 scales in diagonal row above 
lateral line to origin of dorsal fin. 
The following measurements are expressed as 
Fig. 9. Epinephelus microdon (Bleeker), 153 mm standard length, Canton, Phoenix Islands (USNM 115367). 
