Pacific Plate Biogeography, with Special Reference to Shorefishes

NUMBER 367
much of the Indo-Pacific. An endemic species
occurs in the Marquesas Islands on the Pacific
Plate (Smith-Vaniz and Springer, 1971).
Andamia is in need of revision. It ranges from
the eastern Indian Ocean to the western margin
of the Pacific Plate in the New Guinea region
(Smith-Vaniz and Springer, 1971; Springer, unpublished
data).
Antennablennius, which has been revised by H.
Bath (ms.), contains seven species and is restricted
to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean (Smith-Vaniz
and Springer, 1971).
Atrosalarias is monotypic, but with two allopatric
subspecies: one restricted to the Indian Ocean
and Red Sea, the other ranging from Western
Australia to well out on the Pacific Plate
(Springer and Smith-Vaniz, 1968; Smith-Vaniz
and Springer, 1971).
Cirripectes, which ranges throughout the Indo-
Pacific, is being revised by J.T. Williams, who
informs me that two (of the approximately 25)
species are widely distributed Pacific Plate endemics:
Cirripectes jenningsi from the Gilbert, Tokelau,
Phoenix, Line and Tuamotu islands; Cirripectes
variolosus, with representation in every major
nonmarginal island group on the Plate (except
the Pitcairn Group and Hawaiian Islands) and
from Guam, the Palaus, and the Tonga Islands,
all adjacent to the margin.
Cirrisalarias is monotypic and ranges from the
Comoro Islands, Indian Ocean, to Samoa, on the
margin of the Pacific Plate (Springer and
Spreitzer, 1978:1). See Medusablennius below.
Crossosalarias is monotypic and is known from
the Ryukyu Islands south to the Moluccas and
eastward to New Guinea and southeast to the
Tonga Islands; hence, it is absent from the Pacific
Plate nonmarginally (Smith-Vaniz and Springer,
1971; USNM).
Dodekablennos is monotypic and known only
from Mauritius (Springer and Spreitzer, 1978).
Ecsenius comprises about 30 species (including
undescribed forms) of predominently benthic
coral-reef inhabitants (Springer, 1971, 1972a;
McKinney and Springer, 1976). Each of two
species (E. opsifrontalis, E. oculus) consists of several
recognizably distinct, allopatric color-pattern
populations (McKinney and Springer, 1976). Ecsenius
species are known from depths of less than
one to about 45 m. Only three species occur other
than marginally on the Pacific Plate, and two of
these, E. midas and E. bicolor, have the greatest
overall ranges of any of the species of Ecsenius.
Ecsenius midas (east coast of Africa to the Marquesas)
is one of the few species of Ecsenius that rises
above the bottom and becomes free swimming;
E. bicolor (Maldives to Marshall and Samoan
islands), however, is closely tied to the substrate.
The third Plate species, E. opsifrontalis (not free
swimming) consists of several color-pattern populations.
The population of E. opsifrontalis on the
Pacific Plate consists of a color-pattern type that
is restricted to the Plate and its margins (Springer
and Bruwelheide, unpublished data). The other
color-pattern populations of E. opsifrontalis are
restricted to Pacific areas west of the Plate or on
the Plate margin.
Entomacrodus comprises 22 species (several species
consist of unnamed, but recognizably distinct
populations; Springer, 1967a, 1972a, and unpublished
data) that live in the shallows adjacent to
shore and in the intertidal. Of the 17 Indo-Pacific
species, 13 occur nonmarginally on the Pacific
Plate, and I consider nine of these to be endemic
to the Plate (including margins and Philippine
Plate; Figures 7, 8). Two of the endemics, E.
cymatobiotus and E. sealei, are widely distributed.
Springer (1972a) noted that a specimen of E.
sealei, the only one known from New Guinea, had
a different color pattern from all other available
specimens of the species, and questioned if the
color pattern was normal. A second specimen,
exhibiting the same peculiarities of color pattern,
from Indonesia (Ternate, Halmahera; USNM
collections) was recently obtained. Entomacrodus
sealei, thus consists of two allopatric color-pattern
types that are separated along the western margin
of the Pacific Plate. Entomacrodus caudofasciatus,
which I do not include among the Plate endemics,
embraces five color-pattern types (Figure 7), of
which one is widely distributed along the southern
island chains on the Pacific Plate, and a
second, which I reported (1967a) from two widely
separated groups of localities, might also prove to
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