Fish Fauna of Johnston Is. — Gosline 
475 
TABLE 7 
Fin Counts in Specimens of the Chaetodon multicinctus-punctato-fasciatus Complex 
SPECIES AND LOCALITY 
DORSAL SOFT 
RAYS 
ANAL SOFT RAYS 
PECTORAL* 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
17 
18 
19 
13 
14 
15 
C. multicinctus 
Hawaiian Islands (Woods) 
1 
7 
3 
6 
5 
4 
Honolulu 
1 
4 
1 
3 
3 
3 
Johnston 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
C. punctato - fasciatus 
Marshalls (Woods) 
1 
2 
6 
1 
4 
6 
2 
6 
* Splint at top of pectoral fin not included. 
In color pattern three rather distinctive 
types have been distinguished in the Central 
Pacific. (1) In the Marshalls (according to 
Schultz and Woods, op. cit ., p. 250, table 1) 
specimens of A. triostegus almost always have 
a single spot at the upper end of the pectoral 
fin base. In addition (Schultz and Woods, in 
Schultz, et al., 1953: 625) the black marking 
on the caudal peduncle is "represented by a 
spot on dorsal and ventral sides, or a saddle, 
sometimes absent except for a small spot on 
dorsal surface only, never completely across 
side of caudal peduncle.” (2) Acanthurus sand- 
vicensis consistently has a dark bar across the 
pectoral base, which is continued downward 
and somewhat backward on the body. On the 
caudal peduncle there is a black saddle which 
extends one third to one half way down the 
side of the peduncle; there is no spotting 
below this saddle. (3) In the Marquesas (ac- 
cording to Schultz and Woods, 1948, loc. 
cit.) A. triostegus consistently has two spots 
at each pectoral base, one at the upper part 
of the base as in the Marshallese form, and 
another on the body just below the base. 
These two spots are connected in the young. 
The caudal saddle in the Marquesan spec- 
imens is usually as in the Marshallese form 
but, in 6 out of 18 specimens, "extending 
down sides of caudal peduncle and joining 
with spot on lower sides” on at least one side 
of the body (Schultz and Woods, 1948, loc. 
cit.). All of the three color types cited above 
may be found in specimens from Line and 
Phoenix Island samples in addition to va- 
riants not apparently found elsewhere. Quite 
frequently markings characteristic of two dif- 
ferent races occur on the two sides of the 
same Phoenix or Line Island fish. 
If a stripe running down on to the body 
below the base of the pectoral fin is desig- 
nated as A, a single spot on the upper part of 
the pectoral fin base as B, two spots, one on 
and one below the fin base as C, and a bar 
across, and limited to, the fin base as D, 
Table 8 may be prepared. (The A, B, C, and 
D types are essentially those similarly desig- 
nated in Schultz and Woods (1948: 249 and 
in Schultz, et al., 1953: 625). Actually the four 
types are not sharply distinct in Phoenix and 
Line Island fishes. In these areas the A type 
band extends only slightly below the pectoral 
base (about as in type E of Schultz and Woods 
and not well below as in Acanthurus sand- 
vicensis) and thus can only be distinguished 
by definition from D. Furthermore in a few 
specimens the lower part of the stripe of A 
tends to become separate and thus grades 
into C. Finally an elongate spot (B) grades 
into a bar (D).) 
From this table it may be seen that between 
these two samples all combinations of the 
different types of pectoral marking may and 
do occur on opposite sides of the same fish. 
Indeed, 16 out of 60 specimens have different 
types of pectoral markings on the two sides 
of the body. The instability in these popula- 
tions of the types of pectoral markings that 
