Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. A, Suppl. 1, pp. 175–184, March 22, 2007

Two New Species of the Gobiid Fish Genus Trimma(Perciformes: Gobioidei) from Southern Japan
Toshiyuki Suzuki1 and Hiroshi Senou2
1

Amagasaki-kita Senior High School, 5–40–1 Tsukaguchimachi, Amagasaki, Hyogo 661–0002, Japan
E-mail: suzuki-toshiyuki@pop21.odn.ne.jp
2
Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History, 499, Iryuda, Odawara, Kanagawa 250–0031, Japan
E-mail: senou@pat-net.ne.jp

Abstract Two new species of the gobiid fish genus Trimma, T. yanagitai and T. nomurai, are described based on specimens from southern Japan. T. yanagitai is distinguished from all congenericspecies by the following combination of characters: 10–12 predorsal scales; second spine of firstdorsal fin elongate (but not filamentous) or not elongate; middle 6–11 (of 18–19) rays of pectoral
fin branched; fifth pelvic-fin ray unbranched or branched, 49–57% of fourth ray in length; no connecting membrane between innermost pelvic-fin rays; a deep interorbital trough, no postorbital
trough; 24 longitudinal scales; cheek and opercle scaled; when fresh ground color of head andbody grayish brown dorsally, dull yellow to pale ventrally, 7 grayish lavender saddles with broad
pale pink margins on body. T. nomurai is distinguished from all congeneric species by the following combination of characters: 5 to 6 predorsal scales; second spine of first dorsal fin elongate andfilamentous; middle 9–15 (of 19) rays of pectoral fin branched; fifth pelvic-fin ray branched,
72–90% of fourth ray in length; height of connecting membrane between innermost pelvic-fin rays
28% of length of fifth ray; interorbital and postorbital trenches deep; 22–23 longitudinal scales;
opercle lacking scales; when fresh ground color of head and body pale lilac, 3 vivid yellow longitudinal stripes on body, and a large, rounded, dark brown blotch posterodorsally to base of pectoralfin.
Key words : Trimma, two new species, Gobiidae, southern Japan.

Trimma is an Indo-Pacific gobiid fish genus,
comprising cryptic, tiny (less than 40 mm SL),colorful, tropical species found in coral androcky reefs at depths shallower than 80 m. According to Winterbottom (2006), Trimma can berecognized by the lack of cephalic sensory canalpores, much reduced cephalic sensory papillae
pattern, wide gill opening extending to below thevertical limb of the preopercle or anterior to this,lack of spicules on the outer gill rakers of thefirst gill arch, less than 12 dorsal and anal-finrays, and a fifth pelvic-fin ray that is equal to or
more than 40% the length of the fourth pelvic-fin
ray.
Trimma (type species T. caesiura) was established by Jordan and Seale (1906). The genus
may contain about 80 species (e.g., Winterbottom, 2006); 50 species are currently recognized

as valid (see Hagiwara and Winterbottom in thisvolume), while the others are still unnamed.
In Japan, 11 valid species and 16 unnamed
species of Trimma have been reported so far.
Tomiyama (1936) was a pioneer in the study ofgobiid fishes in Japan, describing T. macrophthalma from Hachijo-jima Island and T. grammistes from Hayama on the west coast of theMiura Peninsula, Honshu. Aoyagi (1949) reported T. caesiura Jordan and Seale, 1906 from
Miyako-jima Island and Okinawa-jima Island,and described T. okinawae as a new species from
Okinawa-jima Island. Masuda et al. (1975) reported Trimma sp. from several islands in the
Ryukyu Islands. Subsequently, Akihito et al.
(1993) identified it as T. naudei Smith, 1956.
Yoshino and Araga (1975) described T. caudomaculata from Okinawa-jima Island; however,176

T. Suzuki and H. Senou

Winterbottom (2005b) regarded it as a juniorsynonym of T. tevegae Cohen and Davis, 1969.
Hagiwara and Hayashi (1992) reported T. sheppardi Winterbottom, 1984 and T. griffithsi Winterbottom, 1984 from Amami Group of the
Ryukyu Islands. However, Winterbottom (2005a)
described T. griffithsi sensu Hagiwara andHayashi as a new species, T. marinae. Shimada
and Yoshino (1994) reported T. emeryi Winterbottom, 1985 and T. taylori Lobel, 1979 fromseveral small island groups in the Ryukyu Islands. Suzuki and Senou (2001) reported T.
winchi Winterbottom, 1984 from Ie-shima Islandof the Ryukyu Islands. Suzuki (2004) reported 16
unidentified species of Trimma from various localities in southern Japan. Trimma sp. 4 andTrimma sp. 10 of those were described as T.
hayashii and T. flavatrum respectively by Hagiwara and Winterbottom in this volume.
In the present paper, we describe Trimma sp.
11 and Trimma sp. 14 of Suzuki (2004) as new
species under the names of T. yanagitai and T.
nomurai, respectively.
Materials and Methods
Institutional abbreviations follow Leviton etal. (1985), except for BLIH (Biological Laboratory, Imperial Household, Japan) and KPM(Kanagawa Prefectural Museum, Japan).
Methods of counting and measurements follow
Winterbottom (1996) except for the following:
the small scale bordering the dorsal and/or anal
midline (if present) is counted as “0.5” (rather
than “1/2”) when transverse scales are given.
With respect to dorsal-fin spine appearance, we
use the term “elongate” to describe the spine(s)longer than those posterior to it (or them), as wellas the term “filamentous” to describe the spine(s)having the filamentous distal part free from thefin membrane. Pectoral- and pelvic-fin ray
branching, number and distribution of scales,
cephalic sensory system and trough/trencharound orbit are described from preserved material stained with a cyanine blue solution.
The notation of pattern of interdigitation of thedorsal-fin proximal pterygiophores between theneural spines (P-V) follows Akihito (1984). Vertebrae are counted from radiographs. Information
about tooth morphology and gill raker counts
was obtained from a paratype stained withalizarin red. Color descriptions were based oncolor slides of the holotype of each species.
Name of a color follows Japan Color ResearchInstitute (1995). Color when alive is based on theunderwater photographs in the Image Databaseof Fishes in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museumof Natural History (KPM-NR) and/or Suzuki(2004). Proportional measurements are provided
in Table 1.
Trimma yanagitai sp. nov.
(New Japanese name: Oni-benihaze)(Figs. 1, 2)
Trimma sp. 11: Suzuki, 2004: 115 (Izu Peninsula,
Kagoshima Prefecture and Ie-jima Island; underwaterphotograph and brief description).
Holotype. KPM-NI 3444, male, 33.0 mm SL, Izu
Oceanic Park, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, 56 m depth, M.
Yanagita and R. Orita, 17 Feb. 1997.
Paratypes. Ten paratypes (13.5–36.8 mm SL):NSMT-P 73057 (ex. KPM-NI 3443), female, 29.0 mm SL,
same collecting data as holotype; BLIH 19900192, female, 32.0 mm SL, same locality as holotype, M. Morita,
15 Jan. 1990; BLIH 19900193, male, 36.8 mm SL, same
locality as holotype, M. Morita, 16 Jan. 1990; BLIH
19960019 and 19960283, female and male, 29.3 and 31.5mm SL, Kamimura, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan,
35–38 m depth, S. Dewa, 9 Jan. 1996; BLIH 19960124
and 19960284, 2 females, 29.8 mm SL and 33.5 mm SL(stained), same locality as BLIH 19960019, S. Dewa, 19
Apr. 1996; BLIH 19960126, male, 29.5 mm SL, same collecting data as BLIH 19960019; BLIH 19960211 and19960285, female and young, 26.5 and 13.5 mm SL, samecollecting data as BLIH 19960019.
Image Database of Fishes. KPM-NR 8208 and
8324, Osezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, 60 and 64 m
depth, 20 May 1995. KPM-NR 21786 and 21787, Osezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, 76 m depth, 1 June 1996.
KPM-NR 26410, Osezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, 70
m depth, 30 May 1998. KPM-NR 38883, I.O.P., Shizuoka
Prefecture, Japan, 48 m depth, 20 Aug. 2000. KPM-NR
60137, I.O.P., Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, 45 m depth, 23
Sep. 2000.

Two New Species of Trimma

177

Fig. 1. Trimma yanagitai, fresh specimen, KPM-NI 3444, male, holotype, 33.0 mm SL, Izu Oceanic Park,
Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Photo by H. Senou.

Diagnosis. Trimma yanagitai differs fromthe other described species of the genus in thefollowing combination of characters; large size
(largest specimen is 36.8 mm SL); 10–12 predorsal scales; second spine of first dorsal fin elongate (not filamentous) or not elongate; middle
6–11 rays of pectoral fin branched; fifth pelvicfin ray unbranched or branched, 49–57% of
fourth ray in length; no connecting membrane
between innermost pelvic-fin rays; a deep interorbital trough, no postorbital trough; 18–19
pectoral fin rays; 24 longitudinal scales; cheekand opercular scales; ground color of head andbody grayish brown dorsally, dull yellow to paleventrally, seven grayish lavender saddles withbroad pale pink margins on body when fresh.
Description. In following description, data
for the holotype are given first, followed by thedata for 8 paratypes (except for BLIH 19960211
and 19960285) in parentheses when different.
Dorsal-fin rays VI-I, 8; anal-fin rays I, 8 (I, 7
in one); pectoral fin rays 19 (18 in seven, broken
in one); pelvic-fin rays I, 5; segmented caudal-fin
rays 98; branched caudal-fin rays 65 (66 infive); longitudinal scales 24; anterior transverse
scales 8 (7.5–9.5 in eight, mode 9); posteriortransverse scales 7.5 (7.5–8.5 in eight, mode 7.5
and 8.5); predorsal scales 11 (10–12 in eight,
mode 12); gill rakers (513 in the cleared andFig. 2. The cephalic sensory system of Trimma
yanagitai, KPM-NI 3444, holotype. Anterior
part of dorsal (left top) and lateral views ofhead. Dots represent the sensory papillae. AN
and PN indicate anterior and posterior nostrils,
respectively. Arrows show position where gillmembrane is attached to isthmus.

stained paratype only). Values for holotype andone paratype: P-V 3/II II I I 0/9; vertebrae
101626.
Second spine of first dorsal fin elongate andnot filamentous (not elongate in 2 paratypes,
slightly elongate in 4 paratypes), longest (second
and third spines longest in 1 paratype), reaching
posteriorly to base of second ray of second dorsal

178

T. Suzuki and H. Senou
Table 1.

Measurements (% SL) for Trimma yanagitai and T. nomurai. Number of specimens is in parentheses.
T. yanagitai
Holotype

Sex (Sample size)Standard length (mm)Head length
Snout to first dorsal-fin origin
Snout to second dorsal-fin origin
Snout to anal-fin origin
Caudal-peduncle length
Caudal-peduncle depthLongest first dorsal-spine length
Snout length
Upper jaw lengthInterorbital width
Eye diameter
Pupil diameter4th pelvic-fin ray length
5th pelvic-fin ray length
Pelvic connecting membrane length

male
33.0
27.9
36.1
53.9
53.3
30.0
11.5
24.2
5.5
11.2
2.3
10.0
4.8
27.3
15.2
absentfin when appressed (not to second dorsal fin in
one, to base of first to third ray in 7 paratypes).
Middle 11 rays of pectoral fin branched (6–11 in
8 paratypes, mode 10); pectoral fin reaching posteriorly to a vertical with first ray of anal fin (notto anal fin in 6 paratypes, to base of second ray in
1 paratype). First 4 rays of pelvic fin each with
1–2 sequential branch points (1–3 in 2 paratypes); fifth ray unbranched (with a sequential
branch point and 2 terminal tips in 3 paratypes, 2sequential branch points and 3 terminal tips in 1
paratype) and 56% (49–57% in 7 paratypes,
mean 52%, fourth ray broken in 1 paratype) offourth ray in length; fourth ray longest, reaching
posteriorly to base of second ray of anal fin whenappressed (between spine and base of second ray
in 7 paratypes). No pelvic fraenum. No connecting membrane between innermost pelvic-fin rays.
Cheek with small ctenoid and cycloid scalesposterodorsally (4 cycloid scales in cleared andstained paratype). Opercle with large cycloid
scales and a few small ctenoid scales (4 rows ofsmall and large ctenoid scales in cleared andstained paratype). Pectoral-fin base with small
and large cycloid scales (3 rows of small cycloid
scales in cleared and stained paratype). Breast
with small ctenoid scales (small ctenoid and cy-

T. nomurai

Paratypes
males (3)29.5–36.8
27.0–27.2
35.9–36.6
54.6–55.2
55.9–57.1
27.8–30.2
10.8–11.4
21.2–25.8
4.9–6.1
10.6–11.2
2.4
8.7–10.5
4.8–5.1
25.8–28.5
13.7–15.3
absentfemales (5)29.0–33.5
26.8–28.3
34.1–36.1
51.7–56.1
52.4–57.9
29.0–30.0
10.0–12,5
18.1–25.6 (4)5.3–5.7
11.3–11.9
1.9–2.5 (4)9.4–10.4
4.7–5.5
25.3–29.0 (4)
13.7–14.4
absentHolotype

Paratype

male
19.2
31.8
36.5
58.6
58.6
29.2
15.1
41.7
5.5
12.0
1.4
10.2
5.2
26.0
18.8
5.2

female
16.0
33.8
38.1
57.5
62.5
26.9
14.4
37.5
5.9
13.4
1.4
11.9
5.6
25.0
22.5
brokencloid scales in cleared and stained paratype). Anterior part of belly with small cycloid scales.
Nape with large ctenoid scales, extending anteriorly to orbit. Remainder of body with large
ctenoid scales. Gill opening extending anteriorly
to below middle of pupil. Anterior naris with along tube; posterior naris pore-like, without rim(with low rim in 1 paratype). Interorbital troughdeep (shallow in 1 paratype), no postorbital
trough (shallow in 1 paratype). Bony interorbital
width 47% (39–51% in 7 paratypes, mean 46%)of pupil diameter. The cephalic sensory system is
depicted in Figure 3.
Tooth morphology in a stained paratype: inwardly curved conical teeth in both jaws. Upper
jaw with outermost row of 17 enlarged, spaced
teeth, 4 irregular anterior inner rows of small
teeth, leading to posterior inner row of small
teeth; anterior and outer teeth of inner rows arelarger than posterior and inner ones. Anterior
part of lower jaw with outermost row of 7 enlarged teeth, 4 irregular inner rows of small teeth;
middle and posterior parts with an inner row ofenlarged teeth, and an outer row of small teeth.
Color when fresh. Ground color of head andbody grayish brown dorsally, dull yellow to paleventrally. Seven grayish lavender saddles with

Two New Species of Trimma

broad pale pink margins on body, similar coloredmarking on ventral part of caudal peduncle justbelow ultimate saddle. Head with 4 narrow similar colored saddles. Dorsal fins light gray with abroad vivid yellow basal longitudinal stripe; thebasal yellow stripe has 1 or 2 light gray large oblong blotches, on first and second dorsal fins, respectively. Anal and pelvic fins light gray. Caudal
fin vivid yellow with 3 large hyaline blotches on
upper part of fin. Pectoral fin hyaline with pinkrays.
Color in alcohol. All yellow, lavender andpink colors faded. Ground color of head andbody light grayish brown ventrally.
Color when alive. Similar color when fresh,
except as follows: opercle and belly pinkish; 4
narrow lavender blue transverse bands on head,first of which on snout to upper lip; 7 saddles onhead and body, similar marking on ventral part ofcaudal peduncle, and ground color of pelvic finsand anal fin are lavender blue. Variations foundin body color (KPM-NR 21786 and 21787) as
follows: dorsal half of head and body grayish
olive green; ventral half of body except belly,base of dorsal fins; caudal fin light yellow green.
Distribution. Izu Oceanic Park of Shizuoka
Prefecture, Osezaki of Izu Peninsula, Kinkou
Bay of Kagoshima Prefecture, and Ie-jima Island
and Okinawa Group of the Ryukyu Islands,
Japan.
Etymology. The specific name, yanagitai,
refers to Mr. Mitsuhiko Yanagita, who provided
the holotype of the new species to us.
Remarks. Trimma yanagitai differs from allother congeners in having large body size (largest
specimen is 36.8 mm SL) and 7 grayish lavendersaddles on body when fresh.
T. yanagitai is similar to T. fraena Winterbottom, 1984, T. mendelssohni (Goren, 1978) and T.
unisquamis (Gosline, 1959), which have lightbars across the dorsum. But T. yanagitai differsfrom these 3 congeners in having no connecting
membrane between innermost pelvic-fin rays (vs.
present in other 3 species) (Goren, 1978;
Gosline, 1959; Greenfield and Randall, 2004;
Herler and Hilgers, 2005; Randall, 2005; Winter-179

bottom, 1984, 1995; Winterbottom and Villa,2003). Furthermore, T. fraena has 16–17 pectoral-fin rays (vs. 18–19 in T. yanagitai), a few ofthe lower rays of pectoral fin branched (vs. middle rays branched), fifth pelvic-fin ray subequal
to fourth ray (vs. 50–85% of fourth ray inlength), fraenum present (vs. absent), no scales
on cheek and breast (vs. present), well developed
postorbital trough (vs. absent or rarely shallow),and 8 light saddles in dorsal midline (vs. 7); T.
mendelssohni has no scales on cheek (vs. present
in T. yanagitai), well developed postorbital
trench (vs. absent or rarely shallow trough), and2 large spots on base of pectoral-fin rays and second dorsal fin with red dots arranged in 4 lines(vs. absent respectively); T. unisquamis has 6–7
second dorsal-fin rays (vs. 8 in T. yanagitai),fraenum (vs. absent), 6 anterior and 6 posteriortransverse scales (vs. 8–10 and 7–8), no scales onbreast and pectoral-fin base (vs. present), and adark band at caudal-fin base and both dorsal finswith a black border (vs. absent respectively).
Of the species of Trimma with predorsal
scales, except in body shape and color pattern, T.
yanagitai is similar to T. halonevum Winterbottom, 2000, which has 6–10 predorsal scales;
8–10, 8, 17–20 rays of second dorsal, anal andpectoral fins respectively; 23–25 longitudinalscales; 8–10 anterior and 7–8 posterior transverse
scales; middle pectoral-fin rays branched; fifth
pelvic-fin ray 50–85% of fourth ray in length; noscales on cheek; scales on opercle, nape, breastand pectoral-fin base; no postorbital trough; bony
interorbital width 33–50% of pupil diameter. But
T. yanagitai differs from T. halonevum in having
the following features: elongate second spine offirst dorsal fin (vs. second and third spines elongate in T. halonevum); unbranched or branchedfifth ray of pelvic fin (vs. branched); scales oncheek (vs. absent); 7 grayish lavender saddles onbody when fresh and no spots (vs. many red
brown and yellow spots and no saddles) (Winterbottom, 2000).

180

T. Suzuki and H. Senou

Trimma nomurai sp. nov.

NR 66265, Ie-jima Island, Okinawa Group, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 54 m depth, 3 Aug. 2002.

(New Japanese name: Kataboshinishiki-benihaze)(Figs. 3, 4)
Trimma sp. 14: Suzuki, 2004: 116 (Kochi Prefecture, Okinawa Group and Kume-jima Island of the Ryukyu Islands; underwater photograph and brief description).
Trimma sp. 3: Kuiter and Tonozuka, 2001: 704 (Bali Island, Indonesia; uunderwater photograph and brief description).
Holotype. KPM-NI 4109, male, 19.2 mm SL,
Nakanose-higashi, Ie-jima Island, Okinawa Group,
Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 40 m depth, T. Nomura, 19 June
1997.
Paratype. NSMT-P 73058 (ex. KPM-NI 4101), female, 16.0 mm SL, stained, same locality and date as
holotype, K. Yunokawa.
Non-type. ROM 64407, young, 10.4 mm SL, New
Caledonia.
Image Database of Fishes. KPM-NR 11428–11431,
Kume-jima Island, the Ryukyus, Japan, 70 m depth, 1 and5 Sep. 1995. KPM-NR 15799, Okinawa-jima Island,
Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 55 m depth, 22 June 1997. KPMNR 29591, Ie-jima Island, Okinawa Group, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 55 m depth, 19 July 1999. KPM-NR 30579
and 30589, Ie-jima Island, Okinawa Group, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 35 m depth, 19 June 1997. KPM-NR 32933,
Okinawa-jima Island, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 35 m depth,
18 July 1999; KPM-NR 27685, Bali Island, Indonesia,
30 m depth, July 1998. KPM-NR 36046, Minna-jima Island, Okinawa Group, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 45 m depth,
2000. KPM-NR 36820, Ie-jima Island, Okinawa Group,
Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 44 m depth, 3 July 2000. KPM-

Diagnosis. Trimma nomurai differs from theother described species of the genus in the following combination of characters; 5 to 6 predorsal scales; second spine of first dorsal fin elongate and filamentous; middle 9–15 (of 19) rays ofpectoral fin branched; fifth pelvic-fin ray
branched, 72–90% of fourth ray in length; heightof connecting membrane between innermost
pelvic-fin rays 28% of length of fifth ray; deep
interorbital and postorbital trenches; 22–23 longitudinal scales; no opercular scales; groundcolor of head and body pale lilac, 3 vivid yellow
longitudinal stripes on body, a large rounded darkbrown blotch posterodorsally to base of pectoral
fin when fresh.
Description. In the following description,
data for the holotype are given first, followed bythat for the paratype in parentheses when different.
Dorsal-fin rays VI-I, 8 (VI-I, 9); anal-fin rays I,
8 (I, 9); pectoral-fin rays 19; pelvic-fin rays I, 5;
segmented caudal-fin rays 98; branched caudal-fin rays 65; longitudinal scales 23 (22); anterior transverse scales 6.5 (6); posterior transverse scales 6.5 (5); predorsal scales 6 (5); P-V
3/II II I I 0/9; vertebrae 101626, gill rakers(411).

Fig. 3. Trimma nomurai, fresh specimen, KPM-NI 4109, male, holotype, 19.2 mm SL, Nakanose-higashi, Iejima Island, the Okinawa Islands, the Ryukyus, Japan, Photo by H. Senou.

Two New Species of Trimma

Second spine of first dorsal fin elongate andfilamentous, longest reaching posteriorly to baseof last ray of second dorsal fin when appressed(to base of 8th ray). Middle 15 rays of pectoral
fin branched (8 rays); pectoral fin reaching posteriorly to a vertical with second ray of anal fin(base of first to second ray). First 4 rays of pelvic
fin with 2–4 sequential branch points (2–3); fifth
ray deformed (with 5 sequential branch points
and 6 terminal tips); 72% (90%) of fourth ray inlength; fourth ray longest, reaching posteriorly tobase of first to second ray of anal fin when appressed (not reaching to anal fin). No pelvic
fraenum. Height of connecting membrane between innermost pelvic-fin rays 28% (broken) of
length of fifth ray.
Cheek and opercle without scales. Pectoral-finbase with cycloid scales (2 rows of 2 large and 2
small cycloid scales in cleared and stainedparatype). Breast with large cycloid scales. Midline of belly without scales (small ctenoid scales
except anterior part with small cycloid scales incleared and stained paratype). Nape with large
cycloid scales, scales extending anteriorly toabove dorsoposterior margin of preopercle. Remainder of body with large ctenoid scales. Gill

Fig. 4. The cephalic sensory system of Trimma
nomurai, KPM-NI 4109, holotype. Anterior
part of dorsal (left top) and lateral views ofhead. Dots represent the sensory papillae. AN
and PN indicate anterior and posterior nostrils,
respectively. Arrows show position where gillmembrane is attached to isthmus.

181

opening extending anteriorly to below middle ofpupil. Anterior naris a short tube, posterior naris
pore-like, without rim. Interorbital and postorbital trenches deep (moderate). Bony interorbital
width 26% of pupil diameter. The cephalic sensory system as in Figure 4.
Tooth morphology in a stained paratype: inwardly curved conical teeth in both jaws; upper
jaw with outermost row of eight enlarged, spaced
teeth, three irregular anterior inner rows of small
teeth, grading to single posterior inner row ofsmall teeth; anterior and outer teeth of inner rows
larger than posterior and inner ones; anterior partof lower jaw with outermost row of 5 enlarged
teeth, 2 irregular inner rows of small teeth; middle and posterior parts of lower jaw with an inner
row of enlarged teeth and an outer row of small
teeth; single large tooth on midlateral part ofupper jaw and 2 large teeth on anterolateral partof lower jaw.
Color when fresh. Ground color of head andbody pale lilac. Snout and jaws pale yellow;
cheek grayish white; nape and opercle light yellowish brown. Iris bright vivid yellow orange. A
large rounded dark brown blotch (slightly larger
than pupil), broadly encircled by yellowish whitejust posterodorsal to upper base of pectoral fin. A
large white blotch dorsal to base of pelvic fin.
Two vivid yellow longitudinal stripes dorsallyand mid-laterally. An interrupted vivid yellow
longitudinal stripe ventrally. These 3 stripes start
below posterior part of first dorsal fin and continue onto caudal fin. Ground color of vertical finspale lavender. First dorsal fin with 3 vivid yellow
longitudinal stripes; second dorsal fin with four
vivid yellow longitudinal stripes; distal part of
dorsal fins hyaline. Anal fin with basal and submarginal vivid yellow longitudinal stripes and alongitudinal series of 4 vivid yellow blotches medially. Caudal fin with 8 vivid yellow longitudinal stripes. Pectoral fin hyaline. Pelvic fin hyalinewith light yellow blotch on posterior part of fin.
Color in alcohol. All yellow, orange andlavender colors faded. Ground color of head andbody yellowish white. A large grayish brown
blotch just posterodorsal to base of pectoral fin.

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T. Suzuki and H. Senou

Color when alive. Similar color when fresh,
except as follows: snout with a bright yellow line
on midline; iris bright red with a bright yellow
circle around pupil; dorsal side of eye with 3
bright yellow transverse lines; a large, triangulardeep pink blotch on head, and a bright red to dark
red, large rounded blotch just posterodorsal tobase of pectoral fin; a series of 7 bright white
blotches that diminish in size posteriorly, fromcheek to ventral surface of caudal peduncle; a series of 6 small bright white blotches on dorsalside of body; base of pectoral fin with 2 brightwhite blotches.
Distribution. Kochi Prefecture, and Ie-jimaIsland, Okinawa-jima Island and Kume-jima Island, the Ryukyus, Japan. In addition, Bali Island, Indonesia (KPM-NR 27685; Kuiter andTonozuka, 2001) and New Caledonia (ROM64407).
Etymology. The specific name, nomurai,
refers to Mr. Tomoyuki Nomura, who provided
the holotype of the new species.
Remarks. Trimma nomurai differs from allother congeners in having the vivid yellow longitudinal stripes on body and vertical fins, and thelarge dark blotch posterodorsally to the base ofpectoral fin when fresh.
Trimma nomurai is similar to T. striatum(Herre, 1945), both of which have longitudinal
stripes. T. striatum differs from T. nomurai inhaving no predorsal scales (vs. five to six predorsal scales in T. nomurai); and six longitudinal red
stripes on head (vs. absent) (Herre, 1945; Randall, 2005; Randall and Goren, 1993).
Trimma nomurai is similar to T. perclarum
Winterbottom, 2006, both of which have threeyellow longitudinal stripes on body. T. perclarum
differs from T. nomurai in having a red or cerise
iris with four large, irregularly-spaced yellow
spots (vs. iris bright vivid yellow orange without
spots in T. nomurai); and no large dark blotch
posterodorsally to the base of pectoral fin (vs.
present, see Winterbottom, 2006).
Of the species of Trimma with predorsal
scales, except in body shape and color pattern, T.
nomurai is similar to T. squamicana Winterbot-

tom, 2004, which has 8–9, 8–9, 17–20 rays ofsecond dorsal, anal and pectoral fins respectively;
23–26 longitudinal scales; 7–9 anterior and 6–8
posterior transverse scales; elongate second spineof first dorsal fin; middle pectoral fin rays
branched; fifth pelvic-fin ray 50–70% of fourth
ray in length; no scales on cheek and opercle;
scales on breast, nape and pectoral fin base; deep
interorbital trench; bony interorbital width 25–
33% of pupil diameter. T. nomurai differs from T.
squamicana in having the following features(Winterbottom, 2004): 5 to 6 predorsal scales(vs. 8–9 predorsal scales in T. squamicana);
branched fifth ray of pelvic fin (vs. unbranched);
height of connecting membrane between innermost pelvic-fin rays about 28% of length of fifthray (vs. vestigial); 3 vivid yellow longitudinal
stripes and no saddles on body (vs. 8 red to reddish brown saddles and no longitudinal stripes).
Trimma sp. 3 of Kuiter and Tonozuka (2001)
photographed in Bali Island, Indonesia, was identified as T. nomurai by its characteristic color pattern, elongate second spine of first dorsal fin andpredorsal scales.
A specimen (ROM 64407, 10.4 mm SL) from
New Caledonia resembles T. nomurai in countsof second dorsal, anal- and pectoral-fin rays respectively, counts of longitudinal and transverse
scales and a color pattern, although it lacks
scales on the head. We believe that this is a reflection of the immature nature of the specimen,
and we identified it as T. nomurai.
Acknowledgments
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to S.
Dewa (Diving Service Umiannai, Kagoshima), Y.
Ikeda (BLIH), M. Morita (Dive Dream, Ito,
Shizuoka), T. Nomura (Volunteer of Fish Division, KPM), R. Orita (Izu Oceanic Park, Ito,
Shizuoka), R. Winterbottom (ROM), M. Yanagita(NASO Dive, Ito, Shizuoka) and K. Yunokawa(Iejima Diving Service, Ie-jima Island, Okinawa)in their cooperation in the present study. We also
thank K. Shibukawa (NSMT) for his criticalcomments on the manuscript.

Two New Species of Trimma

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Manuscript received 22 February 2006; revised 4 December 2006; accepted 14 December 2006.
Associate editor: K. Matsuura.