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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IX, July, 1955 
a squarish black bar at upper posterior border 
and one just below center of posterior border 
of orbit, neither reaching preopercle; occa- 
sionally a narrower oblique bar from beneath 
eye to posterior quarter of maxilla; lower half 
of opercle with a round blackish or dark 
bluish spot, usually with a narrow light bor- 
der; ventrally gill membranes blackish; fins 
dark; pectoral usually with a light tip (orange 
in life); dorsal membrane black, narrowly 
margined with light gray or white behind 
anterior fifth; anal black, soft portion with a 
narrow white or clear margin; caudal with 
narrow white margin; pel vies dark, without 
spots. 
Material examined: Philippine Islands: Sulu 
Islands (1), Maculabo (2), Mindoro (2). 
Waigieu (1). New Hebrides (3). Fiji Islands 
(1). Tonga Islands: Vavau (1). Samoan Is- 
lands: Tutuila (10). Phoenix Islands: Hull 
(5), Canton (5). Caroline Islands: Yap (4), 
Angaur (4). Mariana Islands: Guam (19), 
Rota (5), Saipan (8). Marshall Islands: Ron- 
gelap (4), Bikini (6). East Indian Archi- 
pelago (1). 
Range: From the Bay of Bengal southeast- 
wards to Samoa and Tonga and northwards 
to southern Japan. 
Plesiops coeruleolineatus Riippell 
Figs. 2a, 3 a 
Plesiops coeruleolineatus Riippell, 1835, Neue 
Wirbelt., Fische, p. 5, pi. 2, fig. 5— Mas- 
saua, Red Sea; Bleeker, 1853, Nat. Tijd. 
Ned. Indie, 4: 116; Gunther, 1861, Cat. 
Fishes Brit. Mus. 3: 363; Klunzinger, 1871, 
Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien, Abh. 21: 517. 
Plesiops coeruleolineatus Smith, 1952, Ann. and 
Mag. Nat. Hist., XII, 5: 143, pi. 10, fig 
B, text fig. 1. 
Plesiops melas Bleeker, 1849, Batav. Genoot, 
Verh. 22 (Bali) : 9— Boleling, Jordan and 
Richardson, 1908, U. S. Bur. Fish., Bui. 
27: 257; Snyder, 1912, U. S. Natl. Mus., 
Proc. 42: 498; Weber, 1913, Siboga Exped., 
Fische, p. 213; Weber and de Beaufort, 
1929, Fishes Indo-Austr. Arch. 5: 378, fig. 
91; Herre, 1936, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., 
Zook, 21: 163; Smith, 1949, Sea Fishes So. 
Africa, p. 187; Marshall, 1950, Raffles Mus., 
Bui. 22: 175. 
Pharopteryx melas Jordan and Seale, 1906, U. 
S. Bur. Fish., Bui. 25: 261; Ogilby, 1913, 
Queensland Mus., Mem. 2: 84. 
Plesiops nigricans (not of Riippell; part). 
Bleeker, 1875, Akad. Wetens. Amsterdam, 
Verh. 15 (Pseudochr.) : 27; Day, 1878, 
Fishes India, p. 127; Boulenger, 1895, Cat. 
Fishes Brit. Mus. 1: 340; Schultz, 1943, 
U. S. Natl. Mus., Bui. 180: 112. 
Plesiops semeion Tanaka, 1917, Zool. Mag. 29: 
200 — Tanabe, Kii Prov., Japan. 
Pharopteryx semeion Tanaka, 1935, Fishes Ja- 
pan, 2nd ed., p. 500, pi. 137, fig. 382. 
Shortly after describing melas, Bleeker 
(1853) realized that it was a synonym of 
coeruleolineatus Riippell. Later (1875) he 
thought that the latter was merely the juvenile 
of what is now known to be cor alii cola. How- 
ever, Jordan and Seale (1906) clarified the 
distinctions between these two species and 
no author since 1906 has followed Bleeker. 
Schultz’s designation (1943) is the result of 
a mistaken identification. 
Giinther (1861) agreed with Bleeker that 
melas is identical to coeruleolineatus Riippell. 
Except for Klunzinger (1871), no subsequent 
author had material from the western Indian 
Ocean and all recognized melas Bleeker until 
Smith (1952), who reaffirmed the conclusion 
of Bleeker and Giinther. 
Plesiops semeion Tanaka agrees with coeruleo- 
lineatus in counts (gill rakers 11, lateral line 
20 -f- 12, dorsal XI, 7). The coloration details 
of the dorsal membrane are identical to those 
of coeruleolineatus. Tanaka’s fish had six broad, 
dark crossbands on the body. Although these 
are not usually found in coeruleolineatus, occa- 
sional individuals have obscure indications 
of such markings. 
Diagnosis: Dorsal spines normally XI; lat- 
eral line 18-21 + 6-13; mid-lateral scales 21- 
24; scales in transverse series 2-3/1/8-10; 
