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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IX, July, 1955 
nigricans 
. . . Riippell’s figure 
UPPER LATERAL 
LINE 
23 
MID-LATERAL 
SCALES 
24-27 
TRANSVERSE 
SCALES; LATERAL 
LINE TO ANAL 
8 
nigricans 
. . .Second Riippell specimen 
19 
23 
nigricans 
. . .USNM 147530 (Red Sea) 
19 
9 
multisquamata . . . 
. .Gilchrist & Thompson (1911) 
27 
multisquamata . . . 
. .Barnard (1927) . . f 
. . . 28-30 
10-11 
multisquamata . . . 
. . Barnard (personal communication) . . 
. . . 25-29 
30-33 
multisquamata . . . 
. . Smith (1949) 
. . . 25-28 
28-30 
12 
multisquamata . . . 
. .Smith (1952) 
27 
33-34 
12 
Data on the second Riippell specimen were 
supplied by Dr. Zilch. Barnard (personal com- 
munication) re-examined the fishes seen by 
himself (1927) and by Gilchrist and Thomp- 
son (1911). At most six Natal specimens are 
included in the table. 
If the two groups are treated as one species, 
the ranges of variation in upper lateral line 
(12), mid-lateral (12), and transverse scales 
(4) far exceed observed ranges in other spe- 
cies (see Table 3). In fact thay would exceed 
the ranges for all other species combined. 
The high scale counts separate multisqua- 
mata from its congeners. The coloration 
(pectoral not bicolored; opercle without ocel- 
lus) is different from that of the large Indo- 
Pacific form, corallicola , while its size sets it 
off from the three small species, coeruleolin- 
eatus , oxycephalus , and cephalotaenia. 
Material examined: None. 
Holotype: Specimen 220 mm. total length, 
described by Smith (1952) from Natal and 
figured in Smith’s plate 9. 
Admittedly it is bad practice to describe 
a new form without actually having material 
at hand. Fortunately the detailed description 
and figure provided by Smith (1952) make 
identification possible and furnish a type. 
Range: As yet known only from the coast 
of Natal. 
Plesiops corallicola Bleeker 
Figs, la, 2b, c, 3 c 
Plesiops corallicola Bleeker, 1853, Nat. Tijd. 
Ned. Indie 4: 280 — Priamam, Sumatra; 
1857, op. cit., 13: 479; I860, Soc. Sci. Indo- 
Neerl., Act. 8 (Sumatra): 35; 1865, Ned. 
Tijd. Dierk. 2: 279; Gunther, 1861, Cat. 
Fishes Brit. Mus. 3: 364; 1873, Fische 
Siidsee 1: 87, pi. 58, fig. B; Kner, 1865, 
Reise Novara, Fische, p. 214; Vaillant, 
1889, Soc. Philom., Bui. VIII, 1: 58. 
Plesiops nigricans (not of Riippell). Bleeker, 
1875, Akad. Wetens. Amsterdam, Verh. 15 
(Pseudochr.): 27, pi. 3, fig. 3 (part); Day, 
1878, Fishes India, p. 128, pi. 31, fig. 5; 
1889, Fauna Brit. India, Fishes, 2: 79, fig. 
79; Vaillant, 1889, Soc. Philom., Bui. VIII, 
1: 58; Boulenger, 1895, Cat. Fishes Brit. 
Mus. 1: 340 (part) ; Jordan and Richardson, 
1908, U. S. Bur. Fish., Bui. 27: 257; Weber, 
1913, Siboga Exped., Fische, p. 212; de 
Beaufort, 1913, Bijdr. Dierk. 19: 112; Fow- 
ler, 1928, Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Mem. 
10: 188; Weber and de Beaufort, 1929, 
Fishes Indo-Austr. Arch. 5: 375; Fowler 
and Bean, 1930, U. S. Natl. Mus., Bui. 
100, 10: 313; Herre, 1936, Field Mus. Nat. 
Hist., Zook, 21: 163; Fowler, 1938, Hong 
Kong Nat. 9: 59, fig. 18; Schultz, 1943, 
U. S. Natl. Mus., Bui. 180: 112 (part). 
Pharopteryx nigricans (not of Riippell). Jordan 
and Seale, 1906, U. S. Bur. Fish., Bui. 25: 
260. 
Plesiops nakaharae Tanaka, 1917, Zool. Mag. 
29: 199— Pro v. Shima or Kii, Japan. 
Pharopteryx nakaharae Tanaka, 1935, Fishes 
Japan, 2nd. ed., p. 497, pi. 137, fig. 383 
Pseudochromichthys riukianus Schmidt, 1931, Pac. 
Comm. Acad. Sci. U. S. S. R., Trans. 2: 
180— Riukiu Islands. 
Although the original description of coral- 
licola (Bleeker, 1853) does not mention an 
opercular ocellus, Bleeker subsequently stated 
