WILLIAMS: CHASMODES TAXONOMY


 Chasmodes saburrae JORDAN AND GILBERT
 Chasmodes saburrae Jordan and Gilbert 1883: 298 (Type locality: Pensa-
 cola, Florida; lectotype USNM 30824).
 Blennius fabbri Nichols 1910:161 (Type locality: Miami, Florida; holotype
 AMNH 2537).
 DIAGNOSIs.-Chasmodes saburrae is distinguished from C. bosquianus
 in the diagnosis of the latter.
 DESCRIPTION. (See also Table 1).-Characters appearing in generic and
 Chasmodes bosquianus descriptions are not repeated here. In addition,
 enlarged upper pharyngeal teeth 5-7 (each side); small upper pharyngeal
 teeth total 1-10 (Table 1); lower pharyngeals each with 5 to 6 small teeth
 immediately anterior to 6 enlarged canines (n = 8); number of mandibular
 teeth increases with increasing size (Fig. 4); maximum length about 80 mm
 SL.
 Peters (1981) discussed the developmental osteology and reproductive
biology of Chasmodes saburrae.
 STATISTICAL COMPARISONS.-Secondary sexual dimorphism and com-
parisons of Chasmodes saburrae populations with C. bosquianus popula-
tions are discussed in the generic and C. bosquianus accounts, respectively.
Two populations of C. saburrae (Everglades [SE] and Indian River area
[SF] ) were found to show statistically significant differences when com-
pared with other populations of C. saburrae. Results of comparisons of
regression equations for the number of mandibular teeth (Table 6) show
that the SE and SF populations differ from other populations, but not from
themselves. Both the SE and SF populations differ from the geographically
intermediate Biscayne Bay area population (SM), but this may be due to
the relatively small sample size for SM (n = 15). Springer (1959) suggested
that the relatively high number of mandibular teeth found in some speci-
mens from Whitewater Bay, Everglades, may be related to low salinity (5.5
ppt), but this explanation does not hold for the Indian River area popula-
tion (specimens collected in 15-25 ppt).
 Analysis of the maxillary length character between populations of C.
saburrae (Table 9) revealed no significant differences between regression
equations for females. Comparisons between the males in these different
populations show a statistical difference in maxillary length (Table 9)
between the Indian River area population (SF) and the populations in the
Everglades (SE) and in the waters between Ft. Walton and Cedar Key
(SN). It is interesting to note that the SF and the SE populations differ in
maxillary length, but not in number of mandibular teeth (Tables 6,9). I can
offer no explanation for these differences.
 ECOLOGY AND DISTRBUTION.-Individuals of Chasmodes saburrae are
sometimes found associated with oyster reef communities, but they appear
to prefer grassbed habitats (Springer and Woodburn 1960). Like their