254 
THE CORAL TRIANGLE: HEARST BIODIVERSITY EXPEDITION 
well with the new species in having in com- Table 1 . Counts and measurements of type 
mon a barbel on the snout tip, maxillary oiPteropsaron dabfar wow. 
spines present, anterior nostril in a raised 
tube, posterior nostril simple, lateral-lme 
scales with an incised (“seirated”) posterior 
margin, vomerine teeth present, five dorsal- 
fin spines, and seven branchiostegal rays. 
Acanthaphritis disagrees in having cheek 
scales and a short spinous dorsal fin, longest 
spine when depressed not or barely extending 
to second dorsal fm. Suzuki and Nakabo 
(1996) synonymized Spinapsaron Okamura 
and Kishida, 1963, and Branchiopsaron 
McKay, 1971, with Acanthaphritis. The 
apparent absence of cheek scales in Pterop- 
saron dabfar may be misleading owing to the 
thin cycloid scales in this species and the 
shallow scale pockets on the cheek, wliich 
could result in easy loss of scales without 
subsequent detection of their former pres¬ 
ence. The holotype and one paratype, CAS 
236667, are, however, in good condition with 
most body scales intact and scale pockets vis¬ 
ible in most places where scales are missing. 
Two other genera that are closely related 
to Acanthaphritis are Pteropsaron Jordan and 
Snyder, 1902 and Osopsaron Jordan and 
Starks, 1904. Nelson (1982) characterized 
these two genera in his paper describing two 
new species, Pteropsaron heemstrai and 
Osopsaron natalensis. Pteropsaron dabfar 
agrees closely with P. heemstrai in general 
features, including absence of scales on the 
head, exposed margin of body scales entire 
(except for those of lateral line, which have 
short projections or crenulations posteriorly), 
short rostral spine, and elongated dorsal fm 
spines. The new species differs in having five, not six, dorsal spines, and the first spine is the 
longest (vs. fourth spine in P. heemstrai and P. evolans Jordan and Snyder, 1902 from Japan), tip 
of pelvic fin reaching past anal-fin origin (vs. not reaching anal fin), no elongated rays in anal fin 
(vs. middle rays elevated), presence of a pupillary lappet, snout barbel, and filamentous tips in dor¬ 
sal lobe of caudal fin (all absent in P. heemstrai and P evolans). Pteropsaron dabfar agrees in most 
characters with P. natalensis (Nelson, 1982), especially in meristic characters and in those features 
that are not in agi'eement with P. heemstrai, aside fi*om the last two characters listed (snout barbel 
and filamentous caudal-fin lobe). The shoitei; blunter snout, shorter maxillary spines, and the 
absence of a snout barbel serve to differentiate P. natalensis from the new species. There may be 
other characters (especially fresh coloration) that would allow better differentiating the two 
CAS cat. No. 
236400 
236667 
236560 
SL (mm) 
33.6 
33.0 
30.0 
MEASUREMENTS (%SL) 
HE 
32.7 
32.1 
32.0 
Head width 
15.2 
17 
12.3 
Orbit diam 
9.2 
10.3 
10.7 
Snout len 
6 
6.7 
5.0 
Postorbital 
16.4 
18.2 
18.7 
Interorb width 
0.8 
1.5 
1.0 
Up jaw len 
14.6 
13.9 
14.3 
Body depth 
14 
15.2 
- 
Pre-D 
28.3 
29.4 
28.3 
Pre-2D 
45.5 
47 
- 
Pre-A 
39.9 
40.3 
34.3 
C ped depth 
7.4 
7.3 
6.7 
Ht ID 
83.3 
84.8 
73.3 
Ht A 
8.3 
12.1 
10.7 
P len 
19.9 
19.7 
22.0 
Vlen 
17.9 
21.2 
23.3 
longest 2D ray 
20.8 
14.2 
12.7 
COUNTS 
D 
IV+20 
V+20 
IV+20 
A 
24 
24 
24 
P 
19/17 
17/17 
17/17 
Caudal rays 
iv4+4iii 
iii4+4ii 
iv4+4ii 
Lateral line scales 
33 
35 
- 
GR lower limb 
9 to 10 
9 
8 or 9 
