The genus Paracheilinus Fourmanoir, previously known from a
single specimen collected in the Red Sea, is reviewed and a new species is described
from New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Paracheilinus, which was not adequately
defined when introduced by Fourmanoir, is a member of the labrid subfamily
Cheilininae, which also includes Cheilinus, Cirrhilabrus, Pseudocheilinops, and
Pseudocheilinus. It appears to be closely allied to Cirrhilabrus. The two genera are
similar in body shape, dentition, and behavior. Paracheilinus filamentosus n.sp. differs
from P. octotaenia Fourmanoir primarily on the basis of color pattern and shape
of the head, dorsal fin, and caudal fin

Allen, Gerald R.

Pacific Science

ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Pacific Science (1974), Vol. 28, No.4, p. 449-455Printed in Great BritainA Review of the Labrid Genus Paracheilinus, with the Descriptionof a New Species from Melanesia IGERALD R. ALLEN2ABSTRACT: The genus Paracheilinus Fourmanoir, previously known from asingle specimen collected in the Red Sea, is reviewed and a new species is describedfrom New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Paracheilinus, which was not ade-quately defined when introduced by Fourmanoir, is a member of the labrid sub-family Cheilininae, which also includes Cheilinus, Cirrhilabrus, Pseudocheilinops, andPseudocheilinus. It appears to be closely allied to Cirrhilabrus. The two genera aresimilar in body shape, dentition, and behavior. Paracheilinus filamentosus n.sp. differsfrom P. octotaenia Fourmanoir primarily on the basis of color pattern and shapeof the head, dorsal fin, and caudal fin.FOURMANOIR (1955) introduced the genus Para-cheilinus in his description of P. octotaenia, butdid not include a formal generic definition. Thegenus and species were described on the basisof a single specimen, 64 mm standard length,collected in the Red Sea.During April-May 1972, I collected fishes atMadang, New Guinea, aboard Walter A.Starck's research vessel El Torito. The collec-tions were made with SCUBA by means ofrotenone, quinaldine, and small multiprongspears. They include seven specimens of a newParacheilinus, which is described herein. Addi-tional specimens were procured by J. Randalland me during an expedition to the SolomonIslands during July 1973. In addition to thedescription of P. filamentosus n. sp., a briefreview of Paracheilinus and discussion of itsrelationships are included.Type specimens have been deposited at theAustralian Museum, Sydney (AMS), Bernice P.Bishop Museum, Honolulu (BPBM), and Mu-seum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris(MNHN). All measurements were made withneedle-pointed dial calipers. Lengths areexpressed as standard length (SL).I Manuscript received 1 February 1974.2 The Australian Museum, Department of Ichthyol-ogy, P.O. Box A-285, Sydney South, New SouthWales 2000, Australia. Present address: Western Aust-ralian Museum, Department of Fishes, Francis Street,Perth, Western Australia 6000.GENUS Paracheilinus FOURMANOIRParacheilinus Fourmanoir, 1955. Ann. Inst.Oceanogr. Monaco 30: 199, fig. 1 (genotype,Paracheilinus octotaenia Fourmanoir, by ori-ginal description).DiagnosisA genus of the labrid subfamily Cheilininaewith the following combination of characters:dorsal spines usually IX (VIII in holotype ofP. filamentosus); soft dorsal rays 11; soft analrays 9; lateral line interrupted, margin of pre-opercle entire; mouth small, slightly protractile;three pairs of canines at front of upper jaw,bent outward and backward; single pair of en-larged canines at front of lower jaw, bent out-ward and backward; caudal fin slightly rounded,emarginate, or strongly lunate; a series of six toeight dark stripes on sides.RemarksThe subfamily Cheilininae was defined byNorman (1966) as follows: occipital and parietalcrests strong, extending forward to above theanterior margins of the orbits; lower pharyn-geal plate T-shaped; dorsal fin rays IX to XI,9 to 11; anal fin rays III, 8 to 9. In addition toParacheilinus the subfamily contains CheilinusLacepede, Cirrhilabrus Schlegel, PseudocheilinopsSchultz, and Pseudocheilinus Bleeker. Roux-449450 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 28, October 1974TABLE 1A COMPARISON OF SELECTED CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA OF CHEILININAECHARACTER Cheilintts Cirrhilabrus Paracheilintts Psettdocheilinops PseudocheilinllsDorsal Rays IX to X, XI to XII, VIII to IX, IX, 11 IX, 119 to 11 8 to 10 11Anal Rays III, 8 to 9 III, 9 III, 9 III, 9 III, 9Pectoral Rays 12 15 to 16 14 13 14 to 16Canines (Upper Jaw) 2 to 4 6 6 4 6 to 8Edge of Preopercle entire serrate entire serrate entireSecond Anal Spinein Relation toThird longer shorter shorter shorter shorterCaudal Fin emarginate to rounded slightly rounded rounded roundedrounded to lunateEsteve (1956) stated that the genus Para-cheilinus is related to Cheilinus and Pseudo-cheilinus; to the former by virtue of the secondanal spine that is shorter than the third, and tothe latter because of similar dentition in whichthe canines are bent outward. Although severalmorphological features are shared by Para-cheilinus and Pseudocheilinus (see Table 1), thesegenera are clearly distinct particularly withregard to head shape and lip structure. Thesnout of Paracheilinus is noticeably more blunt,usually fitting more than 4.0 in the head length,whereas that ofPseudocheilinus is produced(2.7 to3.1 in the head length). The lips of the lattergenus form enlarged, plicate folds. The lowerlip is particularly apparent, measuring nearlyhalf an eye diameter at its widest point. Bycontrast, the lips of Paracheilinus are small andscarcely visible when the mouth is closed. It ismy opinion that the genus is most closelyrelated to Cirrhilabrus. It is very similar to thisgenus in body shape, dentition, and behavior.The members of both genera spend a good dealof time feeding on plankton a short distanceabove the substratum. Cheilinus and Pseudo-cheilinus, however, are bottom-dwelling fishesthat feed on benthic organisms. The canineteeth of Cirrhilabrus, which consist of a pair ofsmall canines at the front of the upper jaw withtwo pair of larger canines on each side, and apair of medium-sized canines on each side ofthe symphysis of the lower jaw, are very similarto those of Paracheilinus except they are notflared outward as strongly (the inner pair of theupper jaw is straight). It is easy to understandhow the affinity of Cirrhilabrus escaped theattention of Roux-Esteve as the genus is poorlyknown, consisting of three known species(western Pacific, 2; Hawaiian Islands, 1) and ahost of undescribed forms, most of which arehoused at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum,Honolulu. At present it has not been reportedfrom the Red Sea or Indian Ocean. John E.Randall intends to revise the genus in the nearfuture. The salient characters of Paracheilinus,Cheilinus, Cirrhilabrus, and Pseudocheilinus arecompared in Table 1.KEY TO THE SPECIES OF Paracheilinusla. Soft dorsal rays not produced into filaments; caudal fin slightly rounded; about eight darkstrips on body (Red Sea) octotaenia Fourmanoir1b. Several of the soft dorsal rays produced into elongate filaments (at least in specimens over30 mm SL); caudal fin emarginate or lunate; about six dark stripes (usually only threeapparent in preserved specimens) (New Guinea; D'Entrecasteaux Group; Solomon Islands).......... ..filamentosus n. sp.Review of the Labrid Genus Paracheilinus-ALLEN 451FIG. 1. Paracbeijinus octotaenia, 69 mm standard length, Red Sea (photo by J. E. Randall).Paracheilinus octotaenia FourmanoirFig. 1Paracheilinus octotaenia Fourmanoir, 1955. Ann.Inst. Oceanogr. Monaco 30: 199, fig. 1 (typelocality, Abulat Island, off the Arabian coast,Red Sea).DiagnosisDorsal rays IX, 11; anal rays III, 9; pectoralrays, 14; gill rakers 16; lateral line scales 15+7 ;predorsal scales 5.The following proportional measurementswere taken from the holotype, 59.5 mm SL:depth 3.3, head 3.4, both in the SL; snout 4.0,eye 3.8, interorbital 3.9, least depth of caud;,.lpeduncle 2.2, pectoral fin 1.2, pelvic fin 1.5,middle caudal rays 1.2, all in the head length.Color of holotype in alcohol reddish brownon back, paler on sides with eight bluish stripes29(one per scale row); three bluish lines radiatingfrom posterior edge of eye extending to edge ofopercle, lowermost extended on to snout; blueline across interorbital connecting eyes; dorsaland anal fins yellowish.RemarksThe holotype, which is deposited at Paris(MNHN 52-296), was examined by me. Thisspecimen was collected with explosives by thecrew of the Calypso. A drawing of this specimenwhich accompanies the original descriptionindicates that the membranes between thedorsal spines are produced into short filaments.However, eight specimens (25 to 69 mm SL)recently collected by J. E. Randall :>.t the Gulfof Aqaba, "Red Sea, have a uniform dorsal finoutline without filaments (see Fig. 1). Thedorsal filaments of the holotype probablyrepresent torn fin membranes. Five of theH P 5 28452 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 28, October 1974FIG. 2. Pararbeilinus filamentoslIs, holotype, 62.6 mm standard length, New Guinea.specimens collected by Randall are males (60 to69 mm), two are mature females (34 and 37 mm),and one (24 mm) is immature. The latter has ablackish spot about the size of the pupil at thecaudal base, just above the lateral line. Randall(personal communication) reports that in pre-servative the males have more conspicuousstripes on the body. Also they have distinctblack submarginal lines on the soft part of thedorsal and anal fins, and posteriorly on thecaudal fin. These markings are entirely lackingin the females. In addition, the median fins ofthe male are higher than those of the female.Paracheilinus filamentosus n. sp.Fig. 2; Table 2DiagnosisA species of Paracheilintts with the followingcombination of characters: dorsal ray~ VIII orIX, 11; anal rays III, 10; pectoral rays 14; gillrakers 13 to 16; adults and larger subadultswith several of the soft dorsal rays producedinto elongate filaments; caudal fin slightlyemarginate in young, strongly lunate in adults.HolotypeAMS I.16994-001, male, 62.6 mm SL, col-lected with rotenone on outer reef off northernend of Kranket Island (5°11'24/1 S, 145°50'54/1E), about 2 nautical miles north of Madang,New Guinea, in 32 meters by G. Allen on10 April 1972.ParatypesAMS 1.16995-001, four specimens, 19.3 to29.1 mm SL, collected with the holotype;AMS I.17479-001, 53.5 mm SL, collected withspear and quinaldine near Tassafaronga Point(approximately 9°22' S; 159°52' E), Guadal-canal, Solomon Islands, in 30 meters by G.Allen on 5 July 1973; AMS I.17496-001, 11specimens, 28.9 to 57.0 mm SL, collected withdynamite at Alite Reef (approximately 8°52' S;160°36' E), off Malaita, Solomon Islands, in15 meters by G. Allen, B. Goldman, J. Randall,Review of the Labrid Genus Paracheilinus-ALLENTABLE 2MORPHOMETRIC PROPORTIONS (IN THOUSANDTHS OF THE STANDARD LENGTH)OF SELECTED TYPES OF Paracheilinus ftlamentosus453HOLOTYPE (~) PARATYPE (~) PARATYPE ('?) PARATYPE (Juv.)AMS BPBM MNHN AMSCHARACTERS I. 16994-001 14658 1973-7 I. 16995-001Standard Length 62.6 55.3 45.9 29.1Greatest Body Depth 328 327 331 306Greatest Body Width 152 152 157 158Head Length 315 311 316 347Snout Length 85 71 65 76Eye Diameter 64 69 76 96Interorbital Width 75 72 78 76Least Depth of Caudal Peduncle 144 150 146 144Length of Caudal Peduncle 147 166 142 141Snout to Origin of Dorsal Fin 326 304 325 368Snout to Origin of Anal Fin 566 528 590 660Snout to Origin of Pelvic Fin 355 335 331 374Length of Dorsal Fin Base 524 566 549 516Length of Anal Fin Base 299 289 279 247Length of Pectoral Fin 201 208 214 203Length of Pelvic Fin 161 165 153 182Length of Pelvic Spine 93 98 102 134Length of 1st Dorsal Spine damaged 42 37 48Length of Last Dorsal Spine 158 157 148 151Longest (1st) Soft Dorsal Ray 516 515 331 210Length of 1st Anal Spine 58 58 59 89Length of 3rd Anal Spine 90 90 102 120Longest (last) Soft Anal Ray 224 213 148 138Length of Middle Caudal Rays 198 204 233 251and W. Starck on 25 July 1973; BPBM 14658,six specimens, 34.5 to 65.0 mm SL, collectedwith the holotype; MNHN 1973-7, a female,45.9 mm SL, collected with the holotype.DescriptionCounts are recorded for the holotype, fol-lowed in brackets by data for 13 selectedparatypes when differing from the holotype.Proportional measurements appearing in paren-theses apply to paratypes in excess of 40 mm SLwhen differing from the holotype. Morpho-metric proportions expressed in thousandths ofthe standard length for the holotype and threeselected paratypes are presented in Table 2.Dorsal rays VIII, 11 [IX, 11 (13)]; anal raysIII, 9; pectoral rays 14; pelvic rays I, 5;branched caudal rays II; lateral line scales16+6 [15+6(1), 15+ 7(2),15+8(1),16+6(6),16+10 (1), 17+5 (1), 17+6 (1)]; predorsalscales 5, a single row of large scales betweenanterior part of lateral line and dorsal fin andsix rows between anterior part of lateral lineand anal fin; a row of oblong scales at base ofdorsal and anal fins, and several enlarged scalesat caudal base; head scaled except occiput,interorbital, preorbital, snout, lips, and lowerjaw; gill rakers on first gill arch 16 [12 (1),13 (7), 14 (3), 15 (2)].Body elongate and compressed, its greatestdepth 3.1 (3.0 to 3.3) in the standard length.Width of body at gill opening 2.2 (1.9 to 2.2)in the depth. Head conical and laterally com-pressed, its length 3.2(2.9 to 3.2) in the standardlength. Snout 3.7 (4.4 to 4.8), eye 4.9 (3.6 to4.5), interorbital width 4.2 (4.0 to 4.6), leastdepth of caudal peduncle 2.1 (1.9 to 2.5), lengthof caudal peduncle 2.1 (2.0 to 2.4), of pectoralfin 1.6 (1.4 to 1.7), of pelvic fin 2.0 (1.9 to 2.1),of middle caudal rays 1.6 (1.4 to 1.5), all in thehead length.Origin of dorsal fin at about level of upperpectoral base; dorsal spines slender, b:.It454pungent, gradually increasing in length to lastspine; first dorsal spine damaged in holotype(7.2 to 8.5), last dorsal spine 2.0 (2.0 to 2.4),both in the head length; several of the softdorsal rays produced into elongate filaments,the first 1.9 (1.9 to 4.7) in the standard length;first anal spine 5.5 (3.9 to 5.4), last anal spine 3.5(2.9 to 3.4), both in the head length; last softanal ray the longest 1.4 (1.5 to 2.5) in the headlength; cauda:! fin emarginate in juveniles andadult females to strongly lunate in adult males.Three pairs of tusklike canines at front ofupper jaw, flared laterally and hooked posteri-orly, outer pair enlarged; single pair of en-larged canines, similarly positioned at front oflower jaw; small conical teeth behind canines atfront and side of jaws, mostly uniserial, exceptbiserial to multiserial at anteriormost and pos-teriormost section of jaws.Pores of cephalic lateral line system small andinconspicuous, in several series; a series of 11circumorbital pores with secondary row oftwo pores on snout; a preopercle-dentary seriesof three pores on lower jaw, a fourth belowmiddle of eye near lower edge of preopercleand a fifth near angle of preopercle; a series offour pores across nape.Color in AlcoholHead and body of holotype pale green; snoutslightly bluish; oblique brownish stripe ex-tending from upper corner of opercle, alonglateral line to fourth scale; three narrow brownstripes radiating from posterior edge of eye,upper two extending to edge of opercle, lower-most extending about halfway across pre-opercle; three similar broken stripes on body,one on each of first three scale rows belowlateral line, uppermost extending to anteriorpart of caudal peduncle, two lowermost veryfaint and extending to about middle of body;several short brownish streaks between upperedge of opercle and origin of fir~t few dorsalspines; membranes of dorsal, anal, and caudalfins translucent, spines and rays blue; diffuseblackish band at base of soft dorsal and faintdark band near margin of spinous and softdorsal; pelvic and pectoral fins pale.The colors of the three largest paratypes aresimilar except that the stripes on the body of thePACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 28, October 1974two smaller of these (both females) are morevivid and the blue coloration of the fin rays isless intense. The three smallest paratypes arebasically pale green with transparent fins andwith only a faint trace of the body stripes.Color in LifeGround color orange; head with severalpurple lines radiating from eye; sides with fivefuchsia stripes below lateral line, each aboutone scale wide, additional stripe just belowdorsal fin; lower portion of head, breast, andabdomen pink; dorsal fin mostly orange; analand caudal fins mostly red; dorsal, anal, andcaudal fins with pale purplish blue margins,also a broad band of this color near base of softdorsal fin; pelvic fins faintly purple; pectoralfins translucent.RemarksThis species was relatively common atMadang, New Guinea, and off Guadalcanal,Solomon Islands. It frequents the outer reefand the edges of deeper channels running intoprotected inshore lagoon areas. It was alsoobserved at Fergusson Island, D'EntrecasteauxGroup, commonly occurring in aggregationsnumbering from a few to about 20 or 30 indi-viduals. They appear to spend much of the timefeeding on zooplankton about 1 meter or moreabove the substratum. The species was ob-served at depths ranging from about 5 to35 meters.As in many labrids, sexual dimorphism isexhibited by P. ftlamentosus. Males tend to bebrighter colored, have more elongate dorsalray filaments, and a more lunate caudal fin.Spawning was observed near the type localityon several occasions. During this activity oneor two males accompanied by a group ofsmaller females repeatedly formed tight aggre-gations a short distance above the substratum.This activity was followed by a rapid verticaldash for a short distance, followed by an abruptreturn to the bottom with the fish releasing avisible cloud of milt and eggs at the apex of theascent. During spawning periods the malescontinually confront female members of theaggregation with a spectacular display in whichReview of the Labrid Genus ParacheilintlS-ALLEN 455the male pauses momentarily and erects thefilamentous dorsal fin. The 45.9 and 29.1 mmparatypes are females with eggs.In addition to the characters indicated in thekey, this species differs from P. octotaenia inhead shape. The head of the latter species isdeeper and has a slight hump on the foreheadwhich is lacking in P. filamentostls.Named filamentostls in reference to theelongate dorsal filaments.AddendumAdditional specimens (United StatesMuseum of Natural History catalog number209923, seven specimens, 15-32 mm SL) wererecently sent to me by V. G. Springer. Thesewere collected at Saparua, Molucca Islands,Indonesia.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI would like to thank M. L. Bauchot forsending the holotype ofP. octotaenia and]ohn E.Randall for providing a photograph of thisspecies. Special thanks are due Walter A.Starck II who made it possible for me to collectfishes aboard his vessel. Dr. Frank H. Talbot,Director of the Australian Museum, providedfunds for the completion of this study throughan Australian Research Grants Committeeappropriation. Travel funds for the SolomonIslands expedition were provided by theNational Geographic Society, Washington,D.C.LITERATURE CITEDFOURMANOIR, P. 1955 (in Roux-Esteve, R. etP. Fourmanoir). Poissons captures par lamission de la Calypso en Mer Rouge. Ann.Inst. oceanogr., Monaco 30: 195-203.NORMAN, ]. R. 1966. A draft synopsis of theorders, families, and genera of recent fishesand fish-like vertebrates. Trustees of theBritish Museum (Natural History), London:1-649.Raux-ESTEVE, R. 1956. Resultats scientifiquesdes campagnes de la Calypso. X. Poissons.Ann. Inst. oceanogr., Monaco 31: 61-115.

A Review of the Labrid Genus Paracheilinus, with the Description of a New Species from Melanesia

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A Review of the Labrid Genus Paracheilinus, with the Description of a New Species from Melanesia

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