Fishes of the family Syngnathidae from the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1963
- Subjects: Syngnathidae , Fishes -- Red Sea , Fishes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15002 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019716 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 27
- Description: Family Syngnathidae - Seahorses: Pipefishes - Body encased in tough but flexible horny rings, all except the first corresponding with the vertebrae, of which the first three are ankylosed. Body form mostly elongate, with clearly defined head, trunk and tail, the trunk stouter, in Seahorses much stouter, than the usually slender tail. The head rather slender, its chief features a tubular sometimes very elongate snout with a small terminal oblique mouth, no teeth of any kind: a tiny pore-like branchial opening, the gillmembranes fused with the skin of the shoulder; four lobate or tuft-like gills. Pelvics absent, other fins usually present, the caudal often absent, rarely the anal or the pectoral or all fins absent. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1963
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1963
- Subjects: Syngnathidae , Fishes -- Red Sea , Fishes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15002 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019716 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 27
- Description: Family Syngnathidae - Seahorses: Pipefishes - Body encased in tough but flexible horny rings, all except the first corresponding with the vertebrae, of which the first three are ankylosed. Body form mostly elongate, with clearly defined head, trunk and tail, the trunk stouter, in Seahorses much stouter, than the usually slender tail. The head rather slender, its chief features a tubular sometimes very elongate snout with a small terminal oblique mouth, no teeth of any kind: a tiny pore-like branchial opening, the gillmembranes fused with the skin of the shoulder; four lobate or tuft-like gills. Pelvics absent, other fins usually present, the caudal often absent, rarely the anal or the pectoral or all fins absent. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1963
Fishes of the family Gaterinidae of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea with a resume of all known Indo Pacific species
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Subjects: Grunts (FIshes) , Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14993 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019670 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 25
- Description: Family Gaterinidae - Fairly robust usually deeply ovoid body, moderately compressed, covered with moderate to small strong adherent ctenoid scales, mostly only front of muzzle naked. Vertical fins partly scaly. Lateral line complete, concurrent with dorsal profile, but in adults not very distinct, tubules oblique, fewer than series of scales. Snout not pointed, moderately to markedly blunt. Mouth moderate, little protractile, maxilla slips below preorbital for most of its length. Lips well developed, often greatly swollen with age. Feeble cardiform teeth in bands in each jaw, outer series often enlarged, no teeth on palate or tongue. Chin with distinct pores, no central groove behind symphysis. Preopercle coarsely serrate in young, finer w ith age, obsolescent in very large fishes. Gill membranes free from isthmus. Gillrakers well developed, stout, spiny behind, 20-40 on whole outer arch. Dorsal continuous, of (9)10-14 spines and 15-26 rays, total 27-35, spines well developed, moderate to powerful, fewer than soft rays, but spinous part mostly with longer base, fin of almost uniform height to deeply notched, usually less so with age. Anal short, height exceeds base, III (6)7-8(9), 2nd spine mostly longer and stouter than 3rd. Caudal rounded in juveniles, feebly emarginate or truncate with age. Pectoral distinctly shorter than head. Juveniles up to about 40mm differ from the adults in certain features. They show some Pomadasyid characters i.a. the lateral line is continuous, the tubular scales adjacent; no pores are visible on the chin and the maxilla reaches to below the eye. Also the predorsal scaling ends in mid interorbital, and the scale rows above the lateral line are fewer. With growth the scale rows increase in number, but not the tubular L .l. scales, which become separated, the predorsal scales extend to the nostrils, while the snout extends, the maxilla not reaching to eye. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Subjects: Grunts (FIshes) , Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14993 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019670 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 25
- Description: Family Gaterinidae - Fairly robust usually deeply ovoid body, moderately compressed, covered with moderate to small strong adherent ctenoid scales, mostly only front of muzzle naked. Vertical fins partly scaly. Lateral line complete, concurrent with dorsal profile, but in adults not very distinct, tubules oblique, fewer than series of scales. Snout not pointed, moderately to markedly blunt. Mouth moderate, little protractile, maxilla slips below preorbital for most of its length. Lips well developed, often greatly swollen with age. Feeble cardiform teeth in bands in each jaw, outer series often enlarged, no teeth on palate or tongue. Chin with distinct pores, no central groove behind symphysis. Preopercle coarsely serrate in young, finer w ith age, obsolescent in very large fishes. Gill membranes free from isthmus. Gillrakers well developed, stout, spiny behind, 20-40 on whole outer arch. Dorsal continuous, of (9)10-14 spines and 15-26 rays, total 27-35, spines well developed, moderate to powerful, fewer than soft rays, but spinous part mostly with longer base, fin of almost uniform height to deeply notched, usually less so with age. Anal short, height exceeds base, III (6)7-8(9), 2nd spine mostly longer and stouter than 3rd. Caudal rounded in juveniles, feebly emarginate or truncate with age. Pectoral distinctly shorter than head. Juveniles up to about 40mm differ from the adults in certain features. They show some Pomadasyid characters i.a. the lateral line is continuous, the tubular scales adjacent; no pores are visible on the chin and the maxilla reaches to below the eye. Also the predorsal scaling ends in mid interorbital, and the scale rows above the lateral line are fewer. With growth the scale rows increase in number, but not the tubular L .l. scales, which become separated, the predorsal scales extend to the nostrils, while the snout extends, the maxilla not reaching to eye. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
Sand-dwelling eels of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Subjects: Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14992 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019664 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 24
- Description: The Western Indian Ocean has been found to be notably rich in marine eels. The Moray eels have been treated earlier (Bulletin No 23). In the present revision are described eels of the families OPHICHTHIDAE, ECHELIDAE, M ORING UIDAE, and NEENCHELIDAE, which are chiefly sand-dwelling forms, norm ally not free swimming by day. Some favour muddy areas where the water is turbid, and are found in estuaries, sometimes in or near fresh water. None of these eels are of any economic importance in the Western Indian Ocean though some are eaten by the natives in parts of the region. Only few attain any size, the majority are small and seldom encountered by the ordinary fisherman, in many cases they have been unknown to the local inhabitants. Our specimens were obtained chiefly by rotenone poisoning of suitable areas, mainly intertidal. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Subjects: Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14992 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019664 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 24
- Description: The Western Indian Ocean has been found to be notably rich in marine eels. The Moray eels have been treated earlier (Bulletin No 23). In the present revision are described eels of the families OPHICHTHIDAE, ECHELIDAE, M ORING UIDAE, and NEENCHELIDAE, which are chiefly sand-dwelling forms, norm ally not free swimming by day. Some favour muddy areas where the water is turbid, and are found in estuaries, sometimes in or near fresh water. None of these eels are of any economic importance in the Western Indian Ocean though some are eaten by the natives in parts of the region. Only few attain any size, the majority are small and seldom encountered by the ordinary fisherman, in many cases they have been unknown to the local inhabitants. Our specimens were obtained chiefly by rotenone poisoning of suitable areas, mainly intertidal. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
The moray eels of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14991 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019663 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 23
- Description: The reefs of the Western Indian Ocean hold a dense population of marine eels of all kinds, and the morays are well represented. On some reefs in the more remote parts not often visited by humans we found a swarming population of morays, at low tide great numbers were moving freely all over the reef. In more inhabited areas there are fewer as the natives kill all they can, fearing them as much as snakes. Some species attain a large size, in East African coral reefs we have seen some with bodies the thickness of a man’s thigh. Native divers have told us that they fear these eels more than any other marine creature, as they have been known to seize a diver under the water, and so held he is powerless and drowns in a short time as there is no escaping from their powerful grip. While in some parts morays are eaten, they are apparently nowhere valued as food. In East Africa only certain natives eat them, but a number are dried for sending inland. In some parts the flesh of the moray produces an intoxication that may prove fatal (Ichthyosarcotoxism) and for which no antidote is known. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14991 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019663 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 23
- Description: The reefs of the Western Indian Ocean hold a dense population of marine eels of all kinds, and the morays are well represented. On some reefs in the more remote parts not often visited by humans we found a swarming population of morays, at low tide great numbers were moving freely all over the reef. In more inhabited areas there are fewer as the natives kill all they can, fearing them as much as snakes. Some species attain a large size, in East African coral reefs we have seen some with bodies the thickness of a man’s thigh. Native divers have told us that they fear these eels more than any other marine creature, as they have been known to seize a diver under the water, and so held he is powerless and drowns in a short time as there is no escaping from their powerful grip. While in some parts morays are eaten, they are apparently nowhere valued as food. In East Africa only certain natives eat them, but a number are dried for sending inland. In some parts the flesh of the moray produces an intoxication that may prove fatal (Ichthyosarcotoxism) and for which no antidote is known. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
The rare "Furred-Tongue" Uraspis uraspis (Gunther) from South Africa, and other new records from there
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019711 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 26
- Description: During the past century at odd mostly long intervals there have appeared records and descriptions of certain rather small Carangid fishes, characterised by edentate white furred tongue and inside of mouth, and sometimes by the unusual armature of the straight part of the lateral line. These have almost always been single specimens, most rather small. Until recently records have been from the western north Atlantic (5), Red Sea (1), Persian Gulf (1), Western Pacific (5), Hawaii (3), Australia (2). In 1961 Williams reported 3 small specimens from equatorial East Africa, the first from the western Indian Ocean. Recently a specimen has been found at Algoa Bay, the first from South Africa, fortunately still alive, and of particular interest as being the smallest ever described. These fishes fall in the genus Uraspis Bleeker, 1855. , ABBYY FineReader 12 , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019711 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 26
- Description: During the past century at odd mostly long intervals there have appeared records and descriptions of certain rather small Carangid fishes, characterised by edentate white furred tongue and inside of mouth, and sometimes by the unusual armature of the straight part of the lateral line. These have almost always been single specimens, most rather small. Until recently records have been from the western north Atlantic (5), Red Sea (1), Persian Gulf (1), Western Pacific (5), Hawaii (3), Australia (2). In 1961 Williams reported 3 small specimens from equatorial East Africa, the first from the western Indian Ocean. Recently a specimen has been found at Algoa Bay, the first from South Africa, fortunately still alive, and of particular interest as being the smallest ever described. These fishes fall in the genus Uraspis Bleeker, 1855. , ABBYY FineReader 12 , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1962
Fishes of the family Anthiidae
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Ground beetles , Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14984 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018951 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 21
- Description: These fishes are generally assigned to the family Serranidae, one of the most diverse and cumbersome groups of fishes. Containing numerous ill-assorted types this family for convenience at least merits sub-division. One of the natural sub-groups, generally given sub-family status as the Anthiinae, but here given full family rank, consists mainly of small, brilliant, free-swimming coral haunting types confined almost exclusively to tropical seas. These d iffer from the Serranidae proper in the absence of a supramaxilla, in having larger scales, in the dentition, and mostly in the concave or lunate caudal. Although by most workers assigned without question to the Serranidae (sensustricto) the monotypic genus Variola Swainson, 1839 has distinct affinities with the Anthiidae. The dentition, lunate caudal and the brilliant colouration accord better with the Anthiid than with the Serranid fishes. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Ground beetles , Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14984 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018951 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 21
- Description: These fishes are generally assigned to the family Serranidae, one of the most diverse and cumbersome groups of fishes. Containing numerous ill-assorted types this family for convenience at least merits sub-division. One of the natural sub-groups, generally given sub-family status as the Anthiinae, but here given full family rank, consists mainly of small, brilliant, free-swimming coral haunting types confined almost exclusively to tropical seas. These d iffer from the Serranidae proper in the absence of a supramaxilla, in having larger scales, in the dentition, and mostly in the concave or lunate caudal. Although by most workers assigned without question to the Serranidae (sensustricto) the monotypic genus Variola Swainson, 1839 has distinct affinities with the Anthiidae. The dentition, lunate caudal and the brilliant colouration accord better with the Anthiid than with the Serranid fishes. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
Fishes of the family Apogonidae of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Cardinalfishes , Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018952 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 22
- Description: Fishes of the family Apogonidae of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Small and relatively feeble as most of these fishes are many cover an astonishing range. Some are found over truly vast areas of the Indo-Pacific, ranging from Southern Africa to the mid-Pacific. As a result, workers on even mid-Pacific Apogonidae need to give heed to the fauna of the Red Sea and of the Western Indian Ocean, from where, as in the case of the Parrot fishes, many early types were described. Failure to do this has caused species from the Pacific described as new, later to be proved identical with those long known from the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Cardinalfishes , Fishes -- Classification , Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Fishes -- Red Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018952 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 22
- Description: Fishes of the family Apogonidae of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Small and relatively feeble as most of these fishes are many cover an astonishing range. Some are found over truly vast areas of the Indo-Pacific, ranging from Southern Africa to the mid-Pacific. As a result, workers on even mid-Pacific Apogonidae need to give heed to the fauna of the Red Sea and of the Western Indian Ocean, from where, as in the case of the Parrot fishes, many early types were described. Failure to do this has caused species from the Pacific described as new, later to be proved identical with those long known from the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
Fishes of the family Xenopoclinidae
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Clinidae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14982 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018781 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 20
- Description: As is w ell know n, there is a sharp line of distinction at the Cape between the warmer waters of the east and south coast of Africa, and the cool seas of the western Cape areas, with corresponding cleavage in the marine fauna. It was in this cooler area that a specimen of the first member of this group, Xenopoclinus kochi Smith, 1947, was discovered, and at that time it was given subfamily rank in the Clinidae. Until recently only the holotype was known, but now not only have further specimens been secured, but also a second species in this genus, and even more striking is the discovery of a second genus and a third species from the same locality. These forms all show clear relationship with the Blennioid fishes, but despite the numerous families in that order, I cannot find any among them that are so clearly related to the fishes described here, as to be able to assign this small group with certainty to anyone. The peculiar characters appear to merit full family rank, as is given here. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Clinidae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14982 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018781 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 20
- Description: As is w ell know n, there is a sharp line of distinction at the Cape between the warmer waters of the east and south coast of Africa, and the cool seas of the western Cape areas, with corresponding cleavage in the marine fauna. It was in this cooler area that a specimen of the first member of this group, Xenopoclinus kochi Smith, 1947, was discovered, and at that time it was given subfamily rank in the Clinidae. Until recently only the holotype was known, but now not only have further specimens been secured, but also a second species in this genus, and even more striking is the discovery of a second genus and a third species from the same locality. These forms all show clear relationship with the Blennioid fishes, but despite the numerous families in that order, I cannot find any among them that are so clearly related to the fishes described here, as to be able to assign this small group with certainty to anyone. The peculiar characters appear to merit full family rank, as is given here. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
Coral fishes of the family Pomacentridae from the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Pomacentridae , Perciformes , Fishes -- Red Sea , Fishes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14981 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018780 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 19
- Description: Coral fishes of the family Pomacentridae from the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Local names in the Western Indian Ocean: Red Sea; SCHARAM. Italian Somaliland; SHIRISHIRI, BUNSHILI, L'YUNUSS RASHIDD. Zanzibar; KIPEPEU, KIYAKAZI, NDUZI. Tanga; BAZI. Pinda (Moz); NIPATE. Seychelles; BOETEUR (DU SABLE, NOIR, BLEU, etc.), MARMITE. Mauritius; COUS COUS, DEBOUETTER, BOETEUR. Comores; SOUMPI, SOUMPOUI, DAOU, GOALE. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1960
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Pomacentridae , Perciformes , Fishes -- Red Sea , Fishes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14981 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018780 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 19
- Description: Coral fishes of the family Pomacentridae from the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Local names in the Western Indian Ocean: Red Sea; SCHARAM. Italian Somaliland; SHIRISHIRI, BUNSHILI, L'YUNUSS RASHIDD. Zanzibar; KIPEPEU, KIYAKAZI, NDUZI. Tanga; BAZI. Pinda (Moz); NIPATE. Seychelles; BOETEUR (DU SABLE, NOIR, BLEU, etc.), MARMITE. Mauritius; COUS COUS, DEBOUETTER, BOETEUR. Comores; SOUMPI, SOUMPOUI, DAOU, GOALE. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1960
Fishes of the family Gobiidae in South Africa
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Gobiidae -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14980 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018779 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 18
- Description: Gobioid fishes are not popular with most ichthyologists, which is understandable, for most species are small to minute, and of neither commercial nor angling significance. Although almost all live in shallow water, many Gobies are so expert at concealment, that only the most thorough collecting brings them to light. Thirty years ago only 16 species were known in purely South African waters, where as in the present review, no less than 46 species are described from the South African zone, which is here taken as the area between Walfish Bay and Delagoa Bay. Critical revision of the South African species is long overdue, as the results of this review clearly reveal. Not only have there been malidentifications but also much confusion, e.g. it has been found that in nudicepts C & V, 1837, no less than four species have been confused. In addition, there have been constant new discoveries. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1960
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Gobiidae -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14980 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018779 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 18
- Description: Gobioid fishes are not popular with most ichthyologists, which is understandable, for most species are small to minute, and of neither commercial nor angling significance. Although almost all live in shallow water, many Gobies are so expert at concealment, that only the most thorough collecting brings them to light. Thirty years ago only 16 species were known in purely South African waters, where as in the present review, no less than 46 species are described from the South African zone, which is here taken as the area between Walfish Bay and Delagoa Bay. Critical revision of the South African species is long overdue, as the results of this review clearly reveal. Not only have there been malidentifications but also much confusion, e.g. it has been found that in nudicepts C & V, 1837, no less than four species have been confused. In addition, there have been constant new discoveries. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1960
Fishes of the families Blenniidae and Salariidae of the Western Indian Ocean
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Blenniidae -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018775 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 14
- Description: Blennioid fishes of the families Blenniidae and Salariidae are found in almost all seas. They are small, agile fishes of shallow water, most being intertidal. The body is normally naked, elongate; the pectoral and vertical fins well developed; the pelvics mostly reduced, the rays hidden in thick tissue, used as limbs for support of the body. Many species freely leave the water and are as agile as grasshoppers on land. I have found them virtually unaffected by underwater explosions, e.g. detonators, even close by, possibly because they have no air bladder. While some are sombre, many of these fishes are brilliantly coloured, those living in weed showing wide variation in colour on a basically similar pattern. While more abundant than in most tropical areas, none are of economic significance in the W. Indian Ocean. 67 species are described. All new species, and all others possible, including sexual dimorphs, have been figured, 24 in colour, and 53 monochrome illustrations, total 77. In the case of 4 species, neither specimens nor illustrations could be obtained. The locality from which each specimen illustrated came is given in each case. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Blenniidae -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018775 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 14
- Description: Blennioid fishes of the families Blenniidae and Salariidae are found in almost all seas. They are small, agile fishes of shallow water, most being intertidal. The body is normally naked, elongate; the pectoral and vertical fins well developed; the pelvics mostly reduced, the rays hidden in thick tissue, used as limbs for support of the body. Many species freely leave the water and are as agile as grasshoppers on land. I have found them virtually unaffected by underwater explosions, e.g. detonators, even close by, possibly because they have no air bladder. While some are sombre, many of these fishes are brilliantly coloured, those living in weed showing wide variation in colour on a basically similar pattern. While more abundant than in most tropical areas, none are of economic significance in the W. Indian Ocean. 67 species are described. All new species, and all others possible, including sexual dimorphs, have been figured, 24 in colour, and 53 monochrome illustrations, total 77. In the case of 4 species, neither specimens nor illustrations could be obtained. The locality from which each specimen illustrated came is given in each case. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
Fishes of the family Lethrinidae from the Western Indian Ocean
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Lethrinidae -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14979 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018778 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 17
- Description: Among the most difficult problems of the systematist are certain groups of tropical fishes, notably the Parrotfishes and the Lethrinidae, whose bright colours fade quickly after death. Both of these groups are especially abundant in the Indo-Pacific. The Parrotfishes are troublesome enough, but the species do tend to retain the same livery fairly constantly in life, and there are several features that provide well defined generic cleavage, as well as useful clues to species. The Lethrinidae are more difficult, having fewer variable features. Even dimensions, e.g. relative depth, are useful only when comparable stadia can be compared, as considerable general change in body shape may occur with growth. Under the water these are troublesome fishes to identify, as most species are camouflaged by an intricate pattern of cross bars, cloudy patches, and reticulations, which make them all look much alike. In addition, they are among the most wary of the reef fishes, and difficult to approach for close scrutiny. Fresh from the water, the concealing, darker, cross markings and reticulations usually fade within a few moments, and some species are not difficult to recognise, since just after death, colour and pattern are normally reasonably constant within one species, a few are almost constant, others show variation round a typical pattern. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Lethrinidae -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14979 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018778 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 17
- Description: Among the most difficult problems of the systematist are certain groups of tropical fishes, notably the Parrotfishes and the Lethrinidae, whose bright colours fade quickly after death. Both of these groups are especially abundant in the Indo-Pacific. The Parrotfishes are troublesome enough, but the species do tend to retain the same livery fairly constantly in life, and there are several features that provide well defined generic cleavage, as well as useful clues to species. The Lethrinidae are more difficult, having fewer variable features. Even dimensions, e.g. relative depth, are useful only when comparable stadia can be compared, as considerable general change in body shape may occur with growth. Under the water these are troublesome fishes to identify, as most species are camouflaged by an intricate pattern of cross bars, cloudy patches, and reticulations, which make them all look much alike. In addition, they are among the most wary of the reef fishes, and difficult to approach for close scrutiny. Fresh from the water, the concealing, darker, cross markings and reticulations usually fade within a few moments, and some species are not difficult to recognise, since just after death, colour and pattern are normally reasonably constant within one species, a few are almost constant, others show variation round a typical pattern. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
Gobioid fishes of the families Gobiidae, Periophthalmidae, Trypauchenidae, Taenioididae, and Kraemeriidae of the Western Indian Ocean
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Gobiidae -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14975 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018774 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 13
- Description: Much said in the introduction to the Eleotridae (Bulletin No. 11 of this series, July 1958) applies with equal force to this large and closely related family, the overwhelming majority of whose members are small to minute fishes of shallow water, embracing some of the smallest vertebrates in existence. Most are found in coastal areas, some in freshwater, others have penetrated to fairly deep water. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Gobiidae -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14975 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018774 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 13
- Description: Much said in the introduction to the Eleotridae (Bulletin No. 11 of this series, July 1958) applies with equal force to this large and closely related family, the overwhelming majority of whose members are small to minute fishes of shallow water, embracing some of the smallest vertebrates in existence. Most are found in coastal areas, some in freshwater, others have penetrated to fairly deep water. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
Serioline fishes (yellowtails: amberjacks) from the Western Indian Ocean
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Seriola , Yellowtail
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018776 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 15
- Description: Among the most esteemed by the big game angler, these fishes are of world-wide distribution, and the various species (commonly named “Yellowtail” in South Africa), are all built on much the same plan, the caudal lunate, the dorsal and anal fins long and mostly low. All are powerful swimmers, presumably able to cover vast distances, and within each genus and subgenus the different species do not differ widely from one another. As a result, there has been a general tendency for systematists to identify species, even in remote parts, with those already known. The literature reveals astonishingly few detailed original descriptions of these fishes, and there has been a regrettable tendency merely to reproduce early illustrations that are technically good, rather than to provide originals of actual specimens, which has caused widespread confusion. Two genera are treated here, viz. Seriola Cuvier, 1817 and the monotypic Seriolina Wakiya, 1924; Zonichthys Swainson, 1839 is regarded as Atlantic only, while the pelagic monotypic Naucrates Rafinesque, 1810 is so well known as scarcely to need inclusion here. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Seriola , Yellowtail
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018776 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 15
- Description: Among the most esteemed by the big game angler, these fishes are of world-wide distribution, and the various species (commonly named “Yellowtail” in South Africa), are all built on much the same plan, the caudal lunate, the dorsal and anal fins long and mostly low. All are powerful swimmers, presumably able to cover vast distances, and within each genus and subgenus the different species do not differ widely from one another. As a result, there has been a general tendency for systematists to identify species, even in remote parts, with those already known. The literature reveals astonishingly few detailed original descriptions of these fishes, and there has been a regrettable tendency merely to reproduce early illustrations that are technically good, rather than to provide originals of actual specimens, which has caused widespread confusion. Two genera are treated here, viz. Seriola Cuvier, 1817 and the monotypic Seriolina Wakiya, 1924; Zonichthys Swainson, 1839 is regarded as Atlantic only, while the pelagic monotypic Naucrates Rafinesque, 1810 is so well known as scarcely to need inclusion here. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
The fishes of the family Eleotridae in the Western Indian Ocean
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14973 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018772 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 11
- Description: Family Eleotridae - The Gobioid fishes are one of the major trials of ichthyologists, and when general regional collections are worked up, these fishes tend to be pushed aside, and are apparently often identified with some impatience by those not especially interested. It is not indeed uncommon for later workers to find several species in a bottle supposed to contain only one, or to find one and the same fish in the same collection labelled with different names. All this is understandable, for not only are there numerous species, but almost all are small to minute, so that accurate description and especially illustration are no light undertaking. In addition, they are generally covered with mucus, so that two exactly similar living specimens, preserved in different media, e.g. alcohol and formalin, can emerge looking so completely different, that the purely museum worker may be forgiven for considering them different species. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14973 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018772 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 11
- Description: Family Eleotridae - The Gobioid fishes are one of the major trials of ichthyologists, and when general regional collections are worked up, these fishes tend to be pushed aside, and are apparently often identified with some impatience by those not especially interested. It is not indeed uncommon for later workers to find several species in a bottle supposed to contain only one, or to find one and the same fish in the same collection labelled with different names. All this is understandable, for not only are there numerous species, but almost all are small to minute, so that accurate description and especially illustration are no light undertaking. In addition, they are generally covered with mucus, so that two exactly similar living specimens, preserved in different media, e.g. alcohol and formalin, can emerge looking so completely different, that the purely museum worker may be forgiven for considering them different species. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
The identity of Scarus gibbus Ruppell, 1828 and of other parrotfishes of the family Callyodontidae from the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14978 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018777 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 16
- Description: Parrotfishes have long been one of the major problems of the taxonomist, largely as a result of classification based on preserved material. Workers such Bleeker, who handled fresh specimens, provided useful descriptions and at least passable illustrations of Parrotfishes. There has, in consequence, been a general tendency to use such names in preference to those of earlier workers, notably Lacepede and Valenciennes, most of whose descriptions, based on long dead specimens, not only lack accurate, or indeed any, illustration, but rarely contain critical diagnostic data. In consequence, the nomenclature has been in a state of utter chaos, and any worker privileged to travel and examine early type specimens incurs a good deal of responsibility, since the majority of other workers are usually not in a position to query his opinions about their identities. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14978 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018777 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 16
- Description: Parrotfishes have long been one of the major problems of the taxonomist, largely as a result of classification based on preserved material. Workers such Bleeker, who handled fresh specimens, provided useful descriptions and at least passable illustrations of Parrotfishes. There has, in consequence, been a general tendency to use such names in preference to those of earlier workers, notably Lacepede and Valenciennes, most of whose descriptions, based on long dead specimens, not only lack accurate, or indeed any, illustration, but rarely contain critical diagnostic data. In consequence, the nomenclature has been in a state of utter chaos, and any worker privileged to travel and examine early type specimens incurs a good deal of responsibility, since the majority of other workers are usually not in a position to query his opinions about their identities. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
Fishes of the families Tetrarogidae, Caracanthidae and Synanciidae from the Western Indian Ocean with further notes on Scorpaenid fishes
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Scorpionfishes -- Indian Ocean , Stonefishes -- Indian Ocean , Scorpaeniformes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14974 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018773 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 12
- Description: Fishes of the Families Tetrarogidae, Caracanthidae and Synanciidae, from the Western Indian Ocean with furthser notes on Scorpaenid fishes - The present work follows the similar regional faunal revision of the family Scorpaenidae of the W. Indian Ocean (Smith, Ich.Bulls. 4 & 5, 1957, 49-88). The Scorpaenoid fishes of that area are provisionally divided into four families as defined there (loc. cit. p 49). , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1958
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Scorpionfishes -- Indian Ocean , Stonefishes -- Indian Ocean , Scorpaeniformes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14974 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018773 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 12
- Description: Fishes of the Families Tetrarogidae, Caracanthidae and Synanciidae, from the Western Indian Ocean with furthser notes on Scorpaenid fishes - The present work follows the similar regional faunal revision of the family Scorpaenidae of the W. Indian Ocean (Smith, Ich.Bulls. 4 & 5, 1957, 49-88). The Scorpaenoid fishes of that area are provisionally divided into four families as defined there (loc. cit. p 49). , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1958
Sharks of the genus Pterolamiops Springer, 1951 with notes on the Isurid sharks
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Carcharhinidae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14972 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018771 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 10
- Description: Family Carcharhinidae - This family is here restricted to those forms lacking spiracles, the remainder generally placed with them are regarded as falling in the Galeorhinidae. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1958
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Carcharhinidae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14972 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018771 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 10
- Description: Family Carcharhinidae - This family is here restricted to those forms lacking spiracles, the remainder generally placed with them are regarded as falling in the Galeorhinidae. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1958
The Gunnellichthid Fishes with description of two new species from East Africa and of Gunnellichthys (Clarkichthys) Bilineatus (Clark), 1936
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Microdesmidae , Wormfishes , Paragobioididae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14971 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018545 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 9
- Description: A few specimens of a tiny fish taken by poison in tide pools in northern Mozambique in 1950 set in train a series of researches of world-wide scope, which have resulted in the revelation of unsuspected relationships in fishes long a puzzle. The species concerned, because of its obvious relationship to Paragobioides grandoculis Kendall and Goldsborough, 1911 (from Marshall Islands, Pacific), was described as Paragobioides copleyi (Smith, Ann. & Mag.Nat.Hist., 1951, (12) IV, 518, figs. 1, 2) , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1958
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Microdesmidae , Wormfishes , Paragobioididae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14971 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018545 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 9
- Description: A few specimens of a tiny fish taken by poison in tide pools in northern Mozambique in 1950 set in train a series of researches of world-wide scope, which have resulted in the revelation of unsuspected relationships in fishes long a puzzle. The species concerned, because of its obvious relationship to Paragobioides grandoculis Kendall and Goldsborough, 1911 (from Marshall Islands, Pacific), was described as Paragobioides copleyi (Smith, Ann. & Mag.Nat.Hist., 1951, (12) IV, 518, figs. 1, 2) , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1958
List of the fishes of the Family Labridae in the Western Indian Ocean, with new records and five new species
- Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Wrasses -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14983 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018950 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 7
- Description: Labrid fishes are primarily shore dwelling in tropical seas, few penetrating to cooler waters. An interesting distributional picture in the case of these fishes is observed along the coast of East and South Africa, for not only does the shore line stretch across the equator, but the warm and powerful westward current of the Indian Ocean divides south of the equator, one branch flowing north, the other, the powerful Mozambique current, southwards. As a result Labrid (and other) fishes, which in most parts are confined to a fairly narrow equatorial belt, are here spread out over an abnormally extensive area, many indeed living in surprising latitudes, e.g. the young of Thalassoma purpurem Forskal, have been found at 34°S x 24°E. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1957
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Wrasses -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14983 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018950 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 7
- Description: Labrid fishes are primarily shore dwelling in tropical seas, few penetrating to cooler waters. An interesting distributional picture in the case of these fishes is observed along the coast of East and South Africa, for not only does the shore line stretch across the equator, but the warm and powerful westward current of the Indian Ocean divides south of the equator, one branch flowing north, the other, the powerful Mozambique current, southwards. As a result Labrid (and other) fishes, which in most parts are confined to a fairly narrow equatorial belt, are here spread out over an abnormally extensive area, many indeed living in surprising latitudes, e.g. the young of Thalassoma purpurem Forskal, have been found at 34°S x 24°E. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1957