Tony Gill

Juvenile Gracila albomarginata.

Parkraemeria. This is the Japanese form of P. ornata. However, it doesn't look at all like typical P. ornata (from eastern Australia), and I understand that it is being described as a new species.

Pseudotrichonotus altivelis. Despite looking like a sand diver, it's more closely related to lizardfishes, and the genus is placed in its own family (Pseudotrichonotidae). There are two described species in the family: P. altivelis from Japan and P. xanthotaenia from the western Indian Ocean. Two specimens of the genus were recently collected off Western Australia, and I am currently studying them to see if they represent a third species.

You were misled on this one. This is a clinid rather than a tripterygiid. I'm not sure of the genus, but it looks like either Springeratus or Heteroclinus. Most are from relatively cool waters, which is perhaps why it died in the bag on the way home.

As far as I can tell, the confusion originates from some of Rudie Kuiter's guides, but has spread everywhere now. It is remarkable as the species are completely unalike. True P. rosae is a relatively chubby little fish with much larger scales (around 30, counting from the top of the gill opening to the base of the tail, versus 50 or more in Lubbockichthys species). There are photos of real P. rosae on the internet, though they are often jumbled in with one or more Lubbockichthys species (or sometimes other odd things, like juvenile Pseudochromis!). Here are some to show the diversity of coloration in the species: http://www.fishwisepro.com/Pictures/details.aspx?Zoom=True&SId=60658&PictureId=2; http://research.kahaku.go.jp/zoology/Fishes_of_Andaman_Sea/contents/pseudochromidae/03.html; http://www.fishwisepro.com/pictures/default.aspx?Fid=404&seoctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_dv=page4 Although I provided some details for Gerry Allen and Mark Erdmann's pseudochromid account for their three-volume "Reef Fishes of the East Indies", I never saw the species accounts before it went to press. Unfortunately there are several errors, and their photograph of P. rosae is actually P. annae. Their photo of Lubbockichthys multisquamatus is also wrong; it's either the new species from Cebu that's usually called P. rosae, or a closely related new species. (I'm still undecided whether the Cebu species is only found there, or whether it's more wide-ranging.) Hope this helps!

Triplefins superficially resemble gobies, but they are more closely related to blennies. The family (Tripterygiidae) includes a lot of small species that are highly suitable for aquaria, but they rarely turn up in the trade. I have a local eastern Australian species in my tank at the moment: http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/16

There are two species in there, both now classified in Ostorhinchus. The pinkish upper fish is O. doederleini, and the others are O. cavitensis.

Chrysiptera rapanui

That's not a goby. It's a larval flyingfish!

Lubbockichthys new species ... usually incorrectly identified as Pseudoplesiops rosae (a very different fish - brown or green to bright red or yellow, usually with a dark marking behing the eye, with large scales).

Tomiyamichthys nudus.

The goby is Myersina lachneri.

From left to right: Chlidichthys inornatus, Pseudochromis ammeri, Pseudochromis flammicauda, Lubbockichthys new species, Pseudochromis caudalis, Pseudochromis persicus, and Pseudochromis nigrovittatus.

This is a Great Barrier Reef endemic called Oxycercichthys veliferus. Based on my early studies, some books and websites put the species in Ogiblyina, but I later decided it was not closely related to the three species of Ogilbyina and instead erected a new genus for it in my 2004 revision of the Pseudochrominae. It was originally described as a species of Pseudochromis by Dr Roger Lubbock. (Lubbock had worked on pseudochromids up until his death in 1981. Alasdair Edwards and I named the genus Lubbockichthys after him.)

These aren't gobies. They're triplefins. From what I can see, they look to be Springerichthys bapturus.

No problem - I enjoyed going through the past posts looking for unknowns. And please, just call me Tony!

Doratonotus megalepis

This appears to be P. semidoliata.

Coris venusta

It's a bit hard to tell what the lower photo is as it's obscured. However, I'm pretty confident it's a type of sandperch called Ryukyupercis gushikeni. There's a photograph of it here: http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2938

On looking closer, I think the Diplectrum is most likely D. formosum.

The upper fish is Gymneleotris seminuda. The lower fish looks like a Diplectrum ... so a serranid not a sparid. Tony

I'm not sure if ever responded on this. This is Pseudochromis dilectus. Pseudochromis flammicauda is a very different fish. Tony

I agree with you on the dead photos! It was a shame because the original photos weren't too bad ... just bad scanning and production. I think almost all of the species have high potential as aquarium fish. Even the apparently drab ones have attractive attributes, like subtle spots of bright red or pink. My favourite species is Chlidichthy clibanarius. If anyone is interested, you can download my paper for free here: http://www.saiab.ac.za/bookshop

Veronica, your eel is Scuticaria tigrina ... Tiger Snakemoray. They grow about 1.2 metres long. Tony