Abstract
Callionymus leucopoecilus, a new species of dragonet from the Yellow Sea, is described and illustrated. The new species is characterized by 4 spines in the first dorsal fin, 9 rays each in the second dorsal and anal fins, ii, 5, ii principal caudal fin rays, a preopercular spine formula of 13-4/-1, an interspace between the dorsal fin bases which is about equal to the first dorsal fin base length, the upper part of the pectoral fin base dark brown, and a low first dorsal fin without filaments in both sexes. Callionymus leucopoecilus is compared with the closely allied species C. planus Ochiai, 1955 from Japan, and C. olidus Gunther, 1873 from the coasts of China and Korea.
The identity of the two nominal species Callionymus sagitta Pallas, 1770 and C. macdonaldi Ogilby, 1911, which were recently synonymized, is reconsidered. The two species are treated as separate, but closely allied species on the basis of five distinguishing characters.
