WILLIAMS: CHASMODES TAXONOMY


Florida State Museum, University of Florida (UF), Florida State University (FSU), Grice
Marine Biological Laboratory, College of Charleston, South Carolina (GMBL), Gulf Coast
Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi (CCRL), Indian River Coastal Zone Study
Reference Museum, Harbor Branch Foundation, Ft. Pierce, Florida (IRCZ), Museum
National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (MNHN), Northeast Louisiana University, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana (NLU), Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection of Texas A&M University (TAMU),
Tulane University (TU), University of Massachusetts (UMS), University of Miami Rosenstiel
School of Marine and Atmosphere Sciences (UMML), University of Michigan Museum of
Zoology (UMMZ), United States National Museum of Natural History (USNM), University
of North Carolina, Morehead City (UNC), University of South Alabama Ichthyological
Collection, Mobile (USAIC), University of Texas Institute of Marine Science (UTMSI),
Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS and CBL for specimens donated to VIMS by
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory). The Florida fishes included in the GCRL material were
from the Raney-Wang Collection donated to GCRL by the Mote Marine Laboratory.

 GENUS CHASMODES VALENCIENNES 1836
Chasmodes Valenciennes (in Cuvier and Valenciennes) 1836: 295. (Type
 species: Blennius bosquianus Lacepede 1800 by original designation).
Blennitrachus Swainson 1839:78, 274. (Type species: Pholis quadrifasciatus
 Wood 1825, by original designation).
 A genus of blenniid fish (sensu Springer 1968) characterized by dorsal
elements X to XII, 16-20 (XI spines in 99% of specimens examined, usually
18 or 19 rays; Table 1), occasionally 2 or 3 rays bifurcate; anal elements II,
16-20 (usually 18 or 19 rays; Table 1); pectoral-fin rays 11 to 13 (99% of
specimens examined have 12); segmented caudal-fin rays 10 to 13 (99% of
those examined have 11, one specimen has 9 due to an anomalous condi-
tion); branched caudal-fin rays 0-10; dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays 4-5;
ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays 3-5; precaudal vertebrae 10; caudal
vertebrae 24-26; epipleural ribs 12; branchiostegal rays 6; teeth in jaws
typically uniserial and uniformly spaced; one specimen examined has two
teeth immediately behind uniserial row of teeth in anterior portion of lower
jaw. This is probably anomalous, as various anomalies were observed in
other specimens. Mandibular teeth distributed over approximately ante-
rior half of dentary; premaxillae toothed over anterior three-quarters;
vomer and palatines toothless; upper pharyngeals each have 5-7 enlarged
canines and 0 to 5 small canines; each lower pharyngeal has 4-6 enlarged
canines and 4-6 small ones, number of enlarged canines on upper pharyn-
geals relatively constant, but count of small pharyngeal teeth highly varia-
ble (Table 1); gill openings restricted by broad fusion of branchiostegal
membranes with body, opening never extends ventrad below ventral level
of pectoral-fin base.
 Chasmodes is, perhaps, unique in the blenniid tribe Blenniini, in having
the ventral hypural plate fused to the complex urostylar centrum (Peters
1981; Springer, pers. comm.). Springer (1968) erroneously reported that
the ventral plate was autogenous in Chasmodes.