Ninety-one new records of fishes from the Marshall islands

Fig. 4. Himantura fai, Majuro. Photo by S. Yoshii.

Pastinachus sephen (Forskal, 1775). Distributed from the Red Sea (type locality) and South Africa to the western Pacific from the Ryukyu Islands to New South Wales, Australia. Distinctive in having a broad ventral cutaneous fold on the outer part of the tail. Previously known from Oceania only from Palau, Saipan, and Pohnpei. The slender fish in the illustration near the base of the tail is the Shark Sucker Echeneis naucrates. Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Pastinachus sephen, Kwajalein. From video by S. R. Johnson.

Ophichthidae (snake eels)
Ophichthus bonaparti (Kaup, 1856). Ranges from the east coast of Africa to the Society Islands where it was later named O. garretti (Gunther). Type locality, Ambon, Indonesia. Nocturnal, buries in sand during the day, typically with only the upper front part of the head visible. Michael (1998) illustrated three different colour variants of the head from underwater photos. Fig. 6.
Fig. 6. Ophichthus bonaparti, Kwajalein. From video by S. R. Johnson.

Muraenidae (moray eels)
Gymnothorax breedeni McCosker & Randall, 1977. East coast of Africa and the Comoro Islands (type locality) to the Marquesas Islands; occasionally observed by the Johnsons and BOG at Kwajalein in holes near the top of oceanside reef slopes. From JER's experience, ranks as the most aggressive of morays. Seen here with Pseudanthias bartlettorum (Randall & Lubbock). Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. Gymnothorax breedeni, Kwajalein. From video by S. R. Johnson.

Holocentridae (squirrelfishes and soldierfishes)
Myripristis chryseres Jordan & Evermann, 1903. Described from the Hawaiian Islands; now known from scattered records to the east coast of Africa; recently reported from the Society Islands and Tuamotu Archipelago (Randall et al., 2002); usually found deeper than 30 m, the deepest record, 230 m_ One Majuro specimen now catalogued as USNM 371627. Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Myripristis chryseres, Majuro. Photo by M. N. Trevor.

Syngnathidae (pipefishes and seahorses)
Choeroichthys brachysoma (Sleeker, 1855). This small pipefish (to 64 mm) occurs from the Red Sea and Mozambique to the Society Islands, including Palau and Guam in Micronesia; in the western Pacific it ranges from the Philippines to Queensland. Reported
Fig. 9. Choeroichthys brachysoma Kwajalein. Photo by S. R. Johnson.

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