408 
dorsal fin being white appears to be caused 
by damage to the specimen. The fin mem- 
branes of the first four spines are completely 
torn off. A white area does appear posterior 
to the fourth spine to about the middle of the 
fin, but this seems to be due to a stripping 
off of the pigmented epidermis. The fin ray 
counts of this specimen are given in Table 1 
for the Riu Kiu Islands under the heading 
scopas . 
Paracanthurus Bleeker 
Paracanthurus Bleeker (1863: 252). (Type 
species, Acanthurus hepatus (Linnaeus) Bloch 
and Schneider = Teuthis hepatus Linnaeus 
as restricted by Cuvier and Valenciennes.) 
The characteristics of the genus are those 
of the single known species. 
Paracanthurus hepatus (Linnaeus) 
Fig. 1 g; Fig. 8; PI. 3 
Teuthis hepatus Linnaeus (in part) (1766: 507) 
(after Seba, 1734, and Valentijn, 1724) (sea 
of the Indies). 
Acanthurus hepatus Bloch and Schneider (in 
part) (1802: 11); Cuvier and Valenciennes 
(1835: 183, pi. 288) (Mauritius and New 
Guinea); Bleeker (1854: 325) (Flores, East 
Indies); Gunther (1861: 341) (Ambon, 
East Indies); Gunther (1873: 115, pi. 75) 
(Gilbert Islands); Day (1876: 206) (seas of 
India). 
Acanthurus theuthis Lacepede (1802: 547, 549). 
Acanthurus Theuthis Shaw (1802: 377). 
Acanthurus triangulus Cuvier and Valenciennes 
(1835: 189) (after Vlaming); Gunther 
(1861: 341). 
Paracanthurus hepatus Bleeker (1863: 252) 
(Ceram, East Indies); de Beaufort (1951: 
131, hg. 25) (Pulu Weh and Banda, East 
Indies). 
Colocopus lamhdurus Gill (1885: 279); Jordan 
and Seale (1906: 355). 
Acanthurus teuthis W eber (1913: 318) (Banda, 
East Indies). 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IX, October, 1955 
Fig. 8. Far acanthurus hepatus (Linnaeus), 30 mm., 
Schouten Islands, East Indies (photograph of an un- 
published painting by Frederick M. Bayer). 
Paracanthurus lamhdurus Fowler (1926: 140); 
Herre (1927: 435, pi. 13, fig. 3) (Philippine 
Islands); Herre (1934: 63). 
Paracanthurus theuthis Fowler (1928: 273); 
Fowler and Bean (1929: 205, fig. 10) (Phil- 
ippine Islands and East Indies); Fowler 
(1931: 344) (Palau Islands); Aoyagi (1943: 
202, pi. 8, fig. 1, pi. 4, fig. 8) (Riu Kiu 
Islands); Smith (1949: 239, pi. 33, no. 607) 
(Mozambique). 
The following is based on the one cata- 
logued adult specimen in the United States 
National Museum (No. 146636, 204 mm., 
Philippine Islands): body compressed, ellip- 
tical, the depth contained 2.3 in standard 
length; head length contained 3.75 in stand- 
ard length; a broad groove on each side of 
caudal peduncle with a single movable spine, 
sharp anteriorly, broadly joined to body pos- 
teriorly; length of caudal spine 4 in head 
length; least depth of caudal peduncle 2.4 in 
head length; mouth very small, terminal; jaws 
equal; teeth small, close-set, denticulated, 14 
in upper jaw and 17 in lower jaw (a 140 mm. 
specimen from the Gilbert Islands and now 
in the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, had 12 
upper and 14 lower teeth) ; all spines of fins 
stout; dorsal and anal fins not elevated, long- 
est dorsal ray 8.2 in standard length; dorsal 
fin rays IX (the first very short), 19 or 20; 
anal fin rays III (the first very short), 18 or 
