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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IX, October, 1955 
tical bands; no black blotch around gill 
opening; a prominent white band down the 
midline of the snout; median fins with broad, 
plain, light borders; dark pigment forming 
an irregular band extending from behind eye 
across rictus; chin and abdomen light; a dark 
saddle running across top of head and down 
at least to the level of the eye on either side. 
*Gymnothorax javanicus (Bleeker) 
Halstead and Bunker, 1954, 2 specs. 
Gymnothorax meleagris (Shaw) 
3 specs., 230-670 mm., 1951. Fowler and 
Ball, 1925, 2 specs.; Halstead and Bunker, 
1954, 2 specs. 
Five rows of teeth on premaxillary; gill 
opening in a black area; small, round, white 
spots on a dark ground. 
Gymnothorax moluccensis (Bleeker) 
1 spec., 257 mm., 1951. 
Larger, lateral teeth in both jaws serrate. 
Body plain brown (cf., Schultz, et al ., 1953: 
109). 
Gymnothorax pictus (Ahl) 
As Lycodontis picta , Fowler and Ball, 1925, 
2 specs., one of these reexamined. 
Gymnothorax undulatus (Lacepede) 
2 specs., 250 and 850 mm., 1951. 
Premaxillary teeth in three series, the cen- 
tral teeth fang-like. Body dark, with narrow 
white reticulations forming irregular ver- 
tical lines; no white streak on snout (cf., 
Schultz, etal. , 1953: 109-113). 
Rabula fuscomaculata Schultz 
19 specs., 116-149 mm., 1951. Schultz, et 
al ., 1953, 16 specs. 
Dorsal fin commencing somewhat less than 
a head length ahead of anus; dark spots and 
reticulations on a light ground (cf., Schultz, 
et al , 1953: 139). 
Uropterygius dentatus Schultz 
1 spec., 366 mm., 1951. Schultz, etal., 1953, 
373 mm., holotype. 
Mottled with dark spots, those posteriorly 
more or less united into irregular vertical bars; 
vomerine teeth either absent or made up of a 
short posterior continuation of the median 
premaxillary row; both anterior and posterior 
nostrils pigmented though less so than the 
rest of the head; gill opening high on the 
sides. 
This specimen seems to be more or less 
intermediate between U. dentatus and U. supra- 
foratus. Indeed the distinctions between these 
two species as given by Schultz (in Schultz, 
et al. , 1953: 141) do not seem to be very 
clear-cut. Nevertheless, it seems best to follow 
Schultz in recognizing the Johnston form as 
U. dentatus , at least until such time as spec- 
imens of U. supraforatus become available for 
comparison. 
For the relationships between U. dentatus 
and U. fuscoguttatus , see the account of the 
latter species. 
Uropterygius fuscoguttatus Schultz 
3 specs., 129-152 mm., 1951. Schultz, et 
al. , 1953, 1 spec. 
At the present time there seem to be three 
recognized Central Pacific species in the Uro- 
pterygius group with the gill openings high on 
the sides and multiserial teeth in both jaws: 
U. supraforatus Regan, U. dentatus Schultz, and 
U . fuscoguttatus Schultz. Unfortunately, Schultz 
has placed his two species, both of which 
according to specimens and his own figures 
(in Schultz, et al., 1953: figs. 32, 33) have the 
gill opening about equally high on the sides, 
on opposite sides of a major break in his key 
based on the level of the gill openings. Ac- 
tually U. fuscoguttatus is rather difficult to 
distinguish from U. supraforatus and U. den- 
tatus. As compared with these, U. fuscoguttatus, 
judging from Hawaii and Johnston material, 
is a relatively small species, not attaining a 
length of over 285 mm. A female 185 mm. is 
ripe. From U. dentatus it can best be disting- 
uished by coloration: U. dentatus is an eel 
with dark spotting and mottling everywhere; 
U. fuscoguttatus, by contrast, is spotted and 
mottled posteriorly, but the head and fore- 
