Pacific Plate Biogeography, with Special Reference to Shorefishes

NUMBER 367 37
reported from the Marshalls and Hawaii, and G.
Nelson (in litt.) informs me that Etrumeus (E.
micropus) occurs in the Hawaiian Islands (Hawaiian
exception; the same species also occurs in
Japan). Whitehead (in litt.), however, doubts that
Dussumieria occurs in the Hawaiian Islands.
Whitehead (1973) essentially duplicated the distribution
data of his earlier paper; however, most
of the dussumierins do appear to be restricted to
continental plate coastal areas.
CONGRIDAE
The conger eels are probably distributed circumglobally
and consist of at least 21 genera and
80 species (R. Kanazawa, pers. comm.) of moderate
to very large (to at least 2.7 m TL) fishes.
They occur in waters from a few centimeters to
several hundred meters depth, but most known
species are shallow dwelling. Breeding probably
takes place at great depths; the larvae are planktonic.
There are few shallow-dwelling species of congrids
on the Pacific Plate. Conger cinereus ranges
throughout the Indo-Pacific (the Hawaiian population
has been recognized as an endemic subspecies),
and there is one other species of Conger
on the Plate, an Hawaiian endemic.
The monotypic Poeciloconger is known only from
Mauritius (J.E. Bohlke, pers. comm.), Madagascar,
Celebes, and Tahiti (Klausewitz, 1971). The
Tahitian record is based on a Museum Godeffroy
specimen (Giinther, 1910), and for this reason
alone might be suspect, but the rarity of this eel
leaves open the question of the Tahitian record.
The garden eels (subfamily Heterocongrinae)
are represented on the Pacific Plate by three
species, of which two are endemics: Heteroconger
lentiginosus from the Marquesas and Societies
(Bohlke and Randall, 1981), and Gorgasia hawaiiensis
from the Hawaiian Islands (Randall and
Chess, 1980). The other Plate species, Heteroconger
hassi, ranges from the Maldives east to the Marshalls
(B6hlke and Randall, 1981).
There are two species of Ariosoma reported from
the Pacific Plate: A. obud from the Marshall Islands
(Schultz, 1953a; also known from the Phil-
ippines), and A. bowersi, which is probably endemic
to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is common.
Giinther (1910) reported on a specimen (as
Congromuraena bowersii) procured by the Godeffroy
Museum from south of the Gilbert Islands. The
specimen is in the British Museum collections
and its identification should be verified.
CONGROGADIDAE
The congrogadids comprise about ten genera
and 20 species (Winterbottom, 1980) of small
(maximum size about 300 mm SL), elongate
fishes restricted to the reefs and rocky bottoms of
the Indo-West Pacific (Figure 17). Castle (1980)
has shown that a report of Congrogadus from the
Hawaiian Islands was based on a congrid eel.
CORACINIDAE
The coracinids consist of a single genus, Coracinus,
with two species. They are of moderate size
(to over 500 mm TL and 7 kg), free swimming,
and limited to the southern and southeastern
coasts of Africa and Madagascar (Smith, 1953).
They are here questionably considered to be
warm-water fishes.
CORYPHAENIDAE
The dolphins consist of one genus and two
species {Coryphaena hippurus, C. equisetis), approximately
1500 and 570 mm maximum TL, that are
circumglobally distributed in warm waters
(Gibbs and Collette, 1959; Collette, Gibbs, and
Clipper, 1969). The species are primarily pelagic,
but the young are often taken inshore. Coryphaena
equisetis has been reported on the Pacific Plate
only from the Hawaiian Islands, but J.E. Randall
(in litt.) has obtained specimens from numerous
island groups on the Plate.
CREEDIIDAE
The Creediidae was reviewed by Nelson (1978,
1979), who recognized seven genera and 12 species.
The identifications of several specimens he