The stichaeid genus Pholidapus is recognized as a valid genus distinct from Opisthocentrus.Although Opisthocentrus zonope and O.tenuis have been regarded either a dubious species or a junior synonym of O.ocellatus, both of them are valid.A key and descriptions of these genera and species are given.

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Nine species of the subfamily Noemacheilinae currently referred to Noemacheilus s.l.from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are described.Kuhl and van Hasselt, in van Hasselt, 1823 are the authors of Noemacheilus whose type-species is N.fasciatus Kuhl et van Hasselt, in van Hasselt, 1823.Modigliania Perugia, 1893 (type-species: M.papillosa Perugia, 1893) and Pogononemacheilus Fowler, 1937 (type-species: N.masyai Smith, 1933) are subjective junior synonyms of Noemacheilus. Noemacheilus kapuasensis characterized by its colour pattern and N. spiniferus characterized by acuminate scales on the caudal peduncle, both from Borneo, are new species.Cobitis suborbitalis Valenciennes, 1846 is a synonym of N.fasciatus;N.translin eatus Fowler, 1939 and N. kuiperi de Beaufort, 1939 are synonyms of N.selangoricus Duncker, 1904.Lectotypes are designated for N.fasciatus, N.saravacensis Boulenger, 1894, N.olivaceus Boulenger, 1894, N.longipectoralis Popta, 1904, N.chrysolaimos (Valenciennes, 1846) and N.obesus Vaillant, 1902. The five nominal species described from Sumatra (N.jaklesi (Bleeker, 1852), N.pfeifferi (Bleeker, 1853), N.papillosa, N.longipinnis Ahl, 1922 (nec Peters, 1861) and N.dunckeri Ahl, 1922) are still incertaesedis.

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New records, new extralimital synonymies, and a key to the species of the Japanese moray eels, genus Uropterygius are presented.The valid Japanese species (in boldface) and their synonyms are: U.bennettii (Günther, 1870) = U.okinawae Jordan et Snyder, 1901;Gymnomuraena brevicaudaRegan, 1903;Scuticaria unicolor Seale, 1917;and U.sealei Whitley, 1932;U.micropterus (Bleeker, 1852) = U.tinkhami Fowler, 1945;U.macrocephalus (Bleeker, 1865) =Gymnomuraena nectura Jordan et Gilbert, 1882;Anarchias knighti Jordan et Starks, 1906;and U.reidi Schultz, 1943;U.marmoratus (Lacepède, 1803);U.concolor Rüppell, 1837, and;U.nagoensis Hatooka, 1984. Uropterygius macrocephalus is recognized as a widespread trans-Pacific species, and comments are included concerning the distribution of muraenid and ophichthid eels.

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A detailed description of the osteology of Gasterochisma melampus is presented, and the systematic position of the species is discussed through comparison with other perciform species from nine families.Of the 13 osteological characters considered in this study to be diagnostic of the Scombridae, 12 are shared by G.melampus.On the other hand, in perciform families other than the Scombridae, there are no characters of a particular family shared only by G.melampus, except for the ethmoid of the Coryphaenidae.In addition to the above scombrid characters, G.melampus possesses 15 characters which are seen in none of the other species, and these characters are mostly seen in the neurocranium.The osteological characters of G.melampus represent both primitive and advanced states in the Scombridae.On the basis of these osteological observations, G.melampus can be considered to have been derived from the scombrid stem at an early time and to have undergone its own specialization.G.melampus is regarded as an aberrant form but still within the taxonomic limits of the family Scombridae.

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The development of eggs and larvae of Rhodeus atremius and R.suigensis was observed under controlled water temperature of 22±1°C.The egges of R.atremius began to hatch about 36 hours after insemination, and those of R.suigensis in about 46 hours.The larvae of both species reached the free-swimming stage about 24 days after hatching.The larval development of both species was so similar that they are considered to be closely related species.

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Genetic divergence between the steelhead trout and the Kamchatkan trout was examined based on allelic frequencies at 37 genetic loci.In terms of genetic distance, a coastal group of the steelhead trout in North America was more close to the Kamchatkan trout than to an inland group of the steelhead trout.This finding as well as the fact that the two species are separable only by the difference in vertebral counts strongly indicates that the Kamchatkan trout and the steelhead trout should be recognized as a single species.Refuges for the Kamchatkan trout and the above two groups of the steelhead trout during the last glacial period and their postglacial dispersal are discussed based on their estimated divergence time .

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The patterns of geographic distribution and morphological variation of three species of ninespine sticklebacks (Pungitius tymensis, P.pungitius and P.sinensis) in Hokkaido, Japan, were investigated.The range of geographic distribution of P.tymensis was essentially restricted to thefollowing three areas, Teshio District of the northern part of Hokkaido, Ishikari District of thecentral part of Hokkaido and Kushiro-Nemuro District of the eastern part of Hokkaido.Onthe other hand, P.pungitius and P.sinensis were distributed more widely and continuously onHokkaido, compared with the distribution of P.tymensis.P.pungitius was distributed continuouslyin the rivers of the Pacific slope from Nemuro District to Iburi District of the central part ofHokkaido, though, discontinuously in the rivers along the Japan Sea and the Okhotsk Sea slopes.In most rivers facing the Nemuro Straits, P.pungitius was not collected.P.sinensis was distributedin only a few rivers of the Pacific slope from Tokachi District to the Oshima Peninsula ofthe southern part of Hokkaido, but was continuously distributed in the rivers facing the TsugaruStraits, the Okhotsk Sea and the Nemuro Straits.
In three rivers examined (Osatsu, Fukunaga and Bettoga) P.tymensis exninntea more of anupstream distribution than did P.pungitius and/or P.sinensis.In two rivers (Fukunaga andBettoga), P.pungitius and P.sinensis did not occur together along the lengths of the river, butwere distributed with a different range respectively.The morphological characteristics of P.tymensis were quite different from the other two species and its meristic characters varied less thanthose of P.pungitius and P.sinensis.Difference in morphology between P.pungitius and P.sinensis was not significant except for number of lateral plates.The number of vertebrae, in bothP.pungitius and P.sinensis decreased gradually from north to south on the Japan Sea slope, thoughthe other meristic characters did not indicate such a geo-cline.The patterns of geographic variationswere most similar between the two species in the rivers of the Japan Sea slope.
Comparison of morphological characteristics and distribution patterns suggest that P.tymensisis distinguished as an independent species from P.pungitius and P.sinensis.Although thecomparative study does not necessarily show that P.pungitius and P.sinensis are different speciesfrom each other, it does not show that they are completely identical.The latter two species showdifferent distribution patterns in the coexisting rivers and are distributed contiguously and allopatricalyin Hokkaido.It is supposed, therefore, that P.pungitius and P.sinensis in Hokkaidoshould be distinguished from each other at a lower taxonomic level than species.

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Gazza minuta (Bloch, 1797) is distributed in the coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific Region: the Red Sea, the east coast of Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, Taiwan, the East China Sea, and North Australia to the Society Islands (Weber and de Beaufort, 1931: 339-341;Matsubara, 1955: 569;Chen, 1962: 454;1963: 298-299;Kühlmorgen-Hille, 1974). Specimens of G.minuta are recorded from Okinawa Island, Japan for the first time in this report.

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[in Japanese]

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The taste buds in fish were first discovered by Schulze (1863).Storer and Usinger (1957), Jollie (1962), Nason (1967) and Nigam (1969) mentioned that taste buds are widely distributed in fishes.They reported the presence of taste buds embedded in the lining epithelia of the tongue, pharynx, palate and opercula.However, the mode of formation of the taste buds has not been recorded in detail.Thus, it was decided to study the morphological development of these taste organs in the teleost fish, Oryziaslatipes.

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Recent advances in cytogenetic techniques have rendered it possible to obtain detailed karyotypic data of approximately 300 species which correspond to 1/5 of the existing cyprinid fish (Ojima et al., 1972;Uyeno and Miller, 1973; Cataudella et al., 1977;Gold and Avise, 1977; Manna and Khuda-Bukhsh, 1977;Taki et al., 1977;Arai, 1982;Lee et al., 1983;Li et al., 1983; etc.).However, there is little information concerning the fish along the Asian Continent, where numerous species exist.The present paper gives a detailed account of the karyotype of nine species of Korean cyprinid fishes with some karyosystematical discussions.An investigation into the karyotypes of two Japanese species closely related to Korean fish was carried out to add to these discussions.

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Mobbing of potential predators, a behavior long known for birds, has only recently been reported for fishes.Mobbing by fishes has been simply defined as the assemblage of individuals around a potentially dangerous predator (Dominey, 1983).Possible functions of this behavior include advertisement of the presence of a predator (Dominey, 1983), driving the predator from a given area, or cultural transmission of predator identity (Curio, 1978).Mobbing behavior has been reported chiefly from colonially nesting fishes, and serves to protect nesting adults rather than eggs present in a nest (Fricke, 1973;Dominey, 1983).It has also been reported for non-territorial and occasionally territorial coral-reef species (Motta, 1983).Here I report mobbing behavior by the damselfish Stegastes albifasciatus (Schlegel et Miiller), a non-nesting inhabitant of coral reef flat territorial mosaics.
A territorial mosaic consists of contiguous territories occupied for long periods of time by single animals (Keenleyside, 1979).Pomacentrid territorial mosaics are characterized by having single adults of both sexes occupying and defending small areas of the substrate, usually in patches of coral rubble (Sale, 1974).Territories are relatively stable and non-overlapping (Keenleyside, 1979), except in heterospecific mosaics where territory boundary overlap can occur (Donaldson, 1981).Mosaic territories support feeding, breeding (courtship and nesting), sheltering and resting activities (Keenleyside, 1979) but function primarily as a means for protecting a limited food source, usually benthic algae (Low, 1971;Vine, 1974;Ebersole, 1977; Hixon, 1980).

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