Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. A, Suppl. 6, pp. 67–77, March 30, 2012

Two New Species of the Gobiid Fish Genus Trimma (Actinopterygii:
Perciformes: Gobiidae) from Japan and Palau
Toshiyuki Suzuki1, Jiro Sakaue2 and Hiroshi Senou3
1

Kawanishi-midoridai Senior High School, 1–8 Kouyoudai, Kawanishi, Hyogo 666–0115, Japan
E-mail: trimma-toshiyuki@hop.ocn.ne.jp
2
Southern Marine Laboratory, P.O.Box1598 Koror, Republic of Palau 96940,
E-mail: sakaue01@sml-palau.co
3
Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History, 499 Iryuda, Odawara, Kanagawa 250–0031, Japan
E-mail: senou@nh.kanagawa-museum.jp

Abstract Two new species of the gobiid ¿sh genus Trimma, T. fasciatum and T. matsunoi aredescribed based on specimens from Japan and Palau. Trimma fasciatum (three specimens, 12.4–
21.9 mm SL, Kume-jima Island, Japan and Ngis Island, Palau) differs from all other congeners inhaving 8 predorsal scales; no elongate and ¿lamentous spine in ¿rst dorsal ¿n; all pectoral-¿n rays
unbranched; height of basal membrane between innermost pelvic-¿n rays about 23% of length of¿fth ray; shallow to moderate interorbital groove; interorbital space narrow and bony width
18–26% of pupil diameter; and body with 4 broad bright yellow bands when freshly collected andwhen alive. Trimma matsunoi (two specimens, 16.8–26.4 mm SL, near Kashiwa-jima Island, Shikoku, Japan) differs from all other congeners in having 6 predorsal scales; no elongate and ¿lamentous spine in ¿rst dorsal ¿n; ¿fth pelvic-¿n ray unbranched, basal membrane reduced; interorbital groove shallow; no opercle scales; interorbital space wide and bony width 75–77% of pupil
diameter; scale pockets with deep orange margins when fresh; 8 to 9 yellowish orange saddles
over the dorsal midline and six saddles on the ventral midline when alive.
Key words: Trimma, new species, Gobiidae, Japan, Palau.

Trimma is an Indo-Paci¿c gobiid ¿sh genus,
comprising cryptic, tiny (less than 40 mm SL),colorful, tropical species found on coral androcky reefs, usually at depths shallower than 80
m. According to Winterbottom (2011), Trimma
can be recognized by having the following combination of characters: lack of cephalic sensory
canal pores; much reduced cephalic sensory
papillae pattern; wide gill opening extending to
below the vertical limb of the preopercle or anterior to this; lack of bony spicules on the outer gillrakers of the ¿rst gill arch; fewer than 12 dorsaland anal-¿n segmented rays; and a ¿fth pelvic¿n ray that is equal to or more than 40% thelength of the fourth pelvic-¿n ray.
Trimma, established by Jordan and Seale(1906), may contain about 100 species (Winterbottom, 2011). Of these, 71 described species are

currently recognized as valid (Hagiwara andWinterbottom, 2007; Hoese et al., 2011; Suzuki
and Senou, 2007, 2008, 2009; Winterbottom andSouthcott, 2007; Winterbottom and Zur, 2007;
Winterbottom, 2009, 2011), while the others arestill unnamed (R. Winterbottom pers. comm.: T.
capostriatum (Goren, 1981) is a valid species).
Following 25 valid species of Trimma havebeen reported so far from Japan, as well as 4
undescribed species of Suzuki and Shibukawa in
Senou (2004): Trimma anaima Winterbottom,
2000, T. annosum Winterbottom, 2003, T. benjamini Winterbottom, 1996, T. caesiura Jordan
and Seale, 1906, T. caudipunctatum Suzuki andSenou, 2009, T. caudomaculata Yoshino andAraga, 1975, T. emeryi Winterbottom, 1985, T.
Àavatrum Hagiwara and Winterbottom, 2007, T.
grammistes (Tomiyama, 1936), T. halonevum

68

T. Suzuki, J. Sakaue and H. Senou

Winterbottom, 2000, T. hayashii Hagiwara andWinterbottom, 2007, T. imaii Suzuki and Senou,
2009, T. kudoui Suzuki and Senou, 2008, T. macrophthalmum (Tomiyama, 1936), T. maiandros
Hoese, Winterbottom and Reader, 2011, T. marinae Winterbottom, 2005, T. milta Winterbottom,
2002, T. naudei Smith, 1956, T. nomurai Suzuki
and Senou, 2007, T. okinawae (Aoyagi, 1949), T.
sheppardi Winterbottom, 1984, T. taylori Lobel,
1979, T. winchi Winterbottom, 1984, T. yanagitai
Suzuki and Senou, 2007 and T. yanoi Suzuki andSenou, 2008 (Hagiwara and Winterbottom, 2007;
Hoese et al., 2011; Suzuki and Senou, 2007,2008, 2009; Suzuki and Shibukawa in Senou,
2004; Suzuki et al., 2007a, 2007b, 2008; Winterbottom, 2005a, 2005b, 2011).
In this paper, we describe 2 new species ofTrimma collected from Japan and Palau. One ofthese was ¿rst reported by Suzuki and Shibukawa in Senou (2004) as “Trimma sp. 13.” Theother one was recently collected from near
Kashiwa-jima Island, Shikoku, Japan.
Materials and Methods
Type specimens of the new species are deposited in Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural
History (KPM), the National Museum of Natureand Science, Tsukuba (NSMT) and the Osaka
Natural History Museum, Osaka (ONHM).
Methods of counting and measurements follow Suzuki and Senou (2007). Pectoral- and pelvic-¿n ray branching, squamation, and groove
around orbit were described from preserved
materials stained with a cyanine blue solution.
The methods of Akihito (1984) were used in
describing the pattern of the interdigitation of thedorsal-¿n pterygiophores between the neuralspines (“P–V”). The P–V and vertebrae counts
were obtained from radiographs. Cephalic sensory papillae were observed on holotype stainedwith cyanine blue, and notations follow Miller(1986), Iwata et al. (2007) and Winterbottom(2011). Information about tooth morphology andgill-raker counts were obtained from a paratype
stained with alizarin red. Description of the color

when fresh was based on color slides of eachspecies. Color descriptions when alive werebased on the underwater photographs in Yano in
Senou (2004), and/or the Image Database of
Fishes in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of
Natural History (KPM-NR). The names of colors
follow the recommendations of the Japan Color
Research Institute (1995). Measurements are
given in Table 1. In each description, data for theholotype are given ¿rst, followed by data for theparatype(s) in parentheses where different. Specimens from Palau were collected under permit
RE09-02 (2009) and exported to Japan under an
export permit 47710-B (2009).
Trimma fasciatum sp. nov.
(New Japanese name: Dokutsu-shima-benihaze)(Figs. 1 and 2)
Trimma sp.: Hayashi and Shiratori, 2003: 45 (No. 074
underwater photograph, Saipan Island, 4 m depth,
photo by H. Kimura).
Trimma sp. 13: Suzuki and Shibukawa in Senou, 2004:
116 (underwater photograph, Kume-jima Island, theRyukyu Islands, Japan, 25 m depth, photo by T. Kawamoto).

Holotype. OMNH-P 35167, male, 21.9 mm
SL, Ngemlis Reef, Ngis Island, Palau,
07°08ƍ17.0Ǝ1, 134°13ƍ18.5ƎE, 30 m depth, 8 May
2009.
Paratypes. NSMT 106482 (ex OMNH-P
34795), male, 20.0 mm SL, cleared and stained,
12 Jan. 2008, same locality and collector as theholotype. KPM-NI 10995, juvenile, 12.4 mm SL,
Kume-jima Island, the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 25
m depth, 22 Nov. 2001.
Photograph Records from Image Databaseof Fishes. Ngemlis Reef, Ngis Island, Palau, N
07°08ƍ17.0Ǝ, E 134°13ƍ18.5Ǝ, 30 m depth, Jiro
Sakaue, 18 Jan. 2008: KPM-NR 44892 and
44893. Kume-jima Island, Okinawa Islands, theRyukyu Islands, Japan: KPM-NR 16411, 30 m
depth, Arimasa Sakamoto, 2 June 1997; KPMNR 54680, a fresh specimen of KPM-NI 10995,
Hiroshi Senou; KPM-NR 63439, 28 m depth,
Tsuyoshi Kawamoto, 24 Oct. 2001.

Two New Species of Trimma

69

Fig. 1. The cephalic sensory papillae and squamation of head, and basal membrane of pelvic ¿ns in Trimma fasciatum,
holotype, OMNH-P 35167, male, 21.9 mm SL. Dorsal (top), lateral (middle) and ventral (bottom) views of head.
Dots represent the sensory papillae. AN and PN indicate anterior and posterior nares, respectively. Arrows show position where gill membrane is attached to isthmus.

Diagnosis. Trimma fasciatum differs from theother described species of the genus in the following combination of characters: 8 predorsal
scales; no elongate and ¿lamentous spine of ¿rst
dorsal ¿n; all pectoral-¿n rays unbranched;height of basal membrane between innermost
pelvic-¿n rays about 23% of length of ¿fth ray;shallow to moderate interorbital groove; interorbital space narrow and bony width 18–26% of

pupil diameter; nape with 1 or 2, and body with 4
broad bright yellow bands when fresh and when
alive.
Description. Dorsal-¿n rays VI-I, 8; anal-¿nrays I, 8; pectoral-¿n rays 16 (14 in one; 15 inone); pelvic-¿n rays I, 5; segmented caudal-¿nrays 8＋7 (9＋8 in one), branched caudal-¿nrays 6＋5; longitudinal scales 24 (23 in two);anterior transverse scales 7; posterior transverse

70

T. Suzuki, J. Sakaue and H. Senou

Fig. 2. Trimma fasciatum, Ngemlis Reef, Ngis Island, Palau. A: fresh specimen, holotype, photo by J. Sakaue. B: alcohol preserved specimen, holotype, photo by T. Suzuki. C: KPM-NR 44892, live (not preserved), 30 m depth, photo by
J. Sakaue, 18 Jan. 2008.

scales 6; predorsal scales 8; P-V 3 /II II I I 0 / 9;vertebrae 10＋16＝26.
Second and third spines of ¿rst dorsal ¿n longest (second spine in one; third spine in one), but
not elongate and ¿lamentous, not reaching posteriorly to second dorsal-¿n origin when adpressed(reaching to ¿rst segmented ray base of second
dorsal ¿n in one juvenile paratype); ¿rst dorsal¿n separate from second dorsal ¿n. All pectoral¿n rays unbranched; ¿n not reaching posteriorly

to above anal-¿n origin. All pelvic-¿n rays eachwith two terminal tips; ¿fth ray 53% (48% in
one; 59% in one) of fourth ray in length; fourth
ray longest, reaching posteriorly to base of third
segmented ray of anal ¿n when adpressed (anal¿n origin in one juvenile; forth segmented raybase of anal ¿n in one). No pelvic-¿n frenum.
Basal membrane between innermost pelvic-¿nrays about 23% of length of ¿fth ray (broken intwo) (Fig. 1).

Two New Species of Trimma

Cheek with two embedded cycloid scales dorsally (absent in two). Opercle with 5 embedded
cycloid scales dorsally (2 in one; absent in one
juvenile). Pectoral-¿n base with 3 cycloid scalesin 2 vertical and 2 horizontal rows (2 scales in 1
vertical and 2 horizontal in two), preplevic area
scaled in 8 longitudinal and 4 transverse rows ofcycloid scales (5 longitudinal rows in one; absent
in one juvenile), and anterior half of midline of
belly with small cycloid scales (cycloid scales on
midline in one; absent on midline in one juvenile). Nape with ctenoid scales, extending anteriorly to orbit. Other parts of body with large ctenoid scales. Gill opening extending below a
vertical line just slightly posterior to the middleof the pupil (middle of pupil in one; between
anterior edge and middle of eye in one). Anteriornaris with a short tube; posterior nasal opening asimple pore, 2 naris diameter from anterior naris
and 9 naris diameter from eye. Interorbital
groove shallow (moderate in one), postorbital
groove absent. Interorbital space narrow andbony width 18% of pupil diameter (26% in one
juvenile) (Fig. 1). The cephalic sensory papillae
are depicted of the holotype in Fig. 1.
Inwardly curved conical teeth in both jaws.
Upper jaw with two-three irregular inner rows ofsmall teeth, grading to a single row on center andposterior parts; an anterior part with an outermost row of 4 large, spaced teeth; center andposterior parts with an outermost row of medium
teeth. Lower jaw with 2–3 irregular medial rowsof small teeth, grading to a single row on centerand posterior parts; anterior part with an outermost row of 7 large, spaced teeth; center partwith a single innermost row of 12 medium,spaced teeth.
Color of holotype when fresh (Fig. 2A). Background color of head and body white. Scalepockets of nape and dorsal sides of body withbeige margins. Nape with 2 bright orange saddles. Body with 4 broad bright yellow bands. The¿rst band below the ¿rst dorsal ¿n, the second
below the second dorsal ¿n, the third on anterior
part of caudal peduncle, the last on posterior partof caudal peduncle and anterior part of caudal

71¿n. Anterior parts of head pinkish. Dorsal part of
opercle with a bright orange round mark. Iris
bright red and surrounding of purple gold. Snout,cheek, opercle, pectoral-¿n base with many minute reddish brown dots. Fins hyaline. Dorsal ¿ns
with a bright orange, broad, longitudinal, medial
stripe. Caudal ¿n with a large bright yellow andbright orange mark. Anal and pelvic ¿ns pinkish
medially. Base and anterior part of pectoral ¿nwhite.
Color of holotype in alcohol (Fig. 2B). Pink,
red, white and yellow colors faded. Head andbody pale yellow. Scale pockets of nape and dorsal sides of body outlined with reddish brown.
Color when alive. Similar to fresh coloration,
except as follows: head and body semi-translucent; the scale pockets on the dorsum lack dark
margins; gill and aorta deep red; snout, base andanterior part of pectoral ¿n, interspaces of yellow
bands on dorsal side of body pale sky blue; irisand interorbital space bright blue; lacks the yellow bar below the middle of the second dorsal¿n, and the bars across the nape are yellowish in
Fig. 2C, but the bar below the middle of the second dorsal ¿n present, and the bars across the
body are reddish in Figure of Yano in Senou(2004).
Distribution. Kume-jima Island, the Ryukyu
Islands, Japan; Ngis Island, Palau; Saipan Island(photograph only, Hayashi and Shiratori, 2003).
Etymology. The speci¿c name is the Latinfasciatum meaning “bands”, in allusion to theyellow bands of body of the new species.
Comparisons. Trimma fasciatum is most similar to T. Àavatrum and T. randalli Winterbottom
and Zur, 2007. It differs from T. Àavatrum inhaving: height of basal membrane between innermost pelvic-¿n rays about 23% of length of ¿fth
ray (vs. no basal membrane in T. Àavatrum); and4 broad bright yellow bands on body (vs. usuallyno band but sometimes 2 white bands and one
saddle when alive, see Hagiwara and Winterbottom, 2007). Trimma fasciatum differs from T.
randalli in having: no elongated spine of the ¿rst
dorsal ¿n (vs. second spine elongated in T. randalli); and 4 broad bright yellow bands on body

72

T. Suzuki, J. Sakaue and H. Senou
Table 1.

Measurements (% SL) for Trimma fasciatum and T. matsunoi.
T. fasciatum
Holotype

T. matsunoi

Paratypes

Holotype

OMNH-P 35167 NSMT-P 106482 KPM-NI 10995

Paratype

NSMT-P 106483 OMNH-P 23885

Sex

male

male

juvenile

femalemaleStandard length (mm)Head length (exclude gillmembrane)
Snout to ¿rst dorsal-¿noriginSnout to second
dorsal-¿n origin
Snout to anal-¿n origin
Caudal peduncle length
Caudal peduncle depth
Snout length
Upper jaw length
Eye diameter
Bony interorbital width
Pupil diameter
Longest ¿rst dorsal spine
length4th pelvic-¿n ray length
5th pelvic-¿n ray length
Pelvic connecting
membrane length

21.9

20.0

12.4

26.4

16.8

30.3

broken31.9

28.8

broken

37.7

40.0

39.2

36.0

38.4

55.0

55.7

55.4

55.8

57.1

56.7
30.3
11.3
7.8
11.9
11.5
1.5
8.2

58.1
29.5
9.5
7.1
12.4
12.9
1.7
9.5

63.1
24.2
10.0
7.5
12.8
13.1
1.8
6.9

59.0
28.8
14.0
5.8
11.9
9.4
3.6
4.7

58.8
27.1
13.6
7.9
12.7
10.5
4.2
5.6

14.5 (II & III)12.6 (III)16.2 (II)19.4 (II)20.3 (II)

26.0
13.9

29.5
14.3

26.9
15.9

25.2
11.5

28.5
16.9

3.2

brokenbrokenreducedreduced(vs. one white band on caudal peduncle, see Winterbottom and Zur, 2007).
Trimma matsunoi sp. nov.
(New Japanese name: Kashiwa-benihaze)(Figs. 3–5)

Holotype. NSMT 106483, female, 26.4 mm
SL, near Kashiwa-jima Island, Itsusai, Otsukicho, Kouchi Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan, 56 m
depth, Jiro Sakaue, 19 Aug. 2010.
Paratype. OMNH-P 23885, male, 16.8 mm
SL, cleared and stained, near Kashiwa-jimaIsland, Tsutomezaki, Otsuki-cho, Kouchi Prefecture, Island, Shikoku, Japan, 53 m depth, 20 Aug.
2010.
Photograph Records from Image Database of
Fishes. KPM-NR 44894, same data as the holotype: KPM-NR 44895, same data as the paratype.
Diagnosis. Trimma matsunoi differs from theother described species of the genus in the following combination of characters: 6 predorsal
scales; no elongate and ¿lamentous spine of ¿rst

dorsal ¿n; ¿fth pelvic-¿n ray unbranched, basal
membrane reduced; interorbital groove shallow;
interorbital space wide and bony width 75–77%
of pupil diameter; no opercle scales; scale pockets with deep orange margins when fresh; 8 yellowish orange saddles over the dorsal midline
and 6 saddles on the ventral midline when alive.
Description. Dorsal-¿n rays VI-I, 8; anal-¿nrays I, 8; pectoral-¿n rays 17; pelvic-¿n rays I, 5;
segmented caudal-¿n rays 8＋7 (9＋8); branchedcaudal-¿n rays 6＋6 (6＋5); longitudinal scales
22 (23); anterior transverse scales 7; posteriortransverse scales 7; predorsal scales 6 (0, see theremarks); gill rakers (2＋11, stained paratypeonly). P-V 3 /II II I I 0 / 9; vertebrae 10＋16＝26(10＋15＝25).
Second spine of ¿rst dorsal ¿n longest but notelongate and ¿lamentous, not reaching posteriorly to second dorsal-¿n origin when adpressed;
sixth spine reaching posteriorly to second dorsal¿n origin when adpressed; ¿rst dorsal ¿nattached to second dorsal ¿n via low membrane.
Pectoral-¿n rays unbranched except eighth ray

Two New Species of Trimma

73

Fig. 3. The cephalic sensory papillae and squamation of head, and basal membrane of pelvic ¿ns in Trimma matsunoi,
NSMT 106483, holotype, female, 26.4 mm SL. Dorsal (top), lateral (middle) and ventral (bottom) views of head.
Dots represent the sensory papillae. AN and PN indicate anterior and posterior nares, respectively. Arrows show position where gill membrane is attached to isthmus.

(all rays unbranched); ¿n not reaching posteriorly to above anal-¿n origin. First four pelvic-¿nrays each with 2 terminal tips; ¿fth ray
unbranched and 46% (59%) of fourth ray inlength; fourth ray longest, not reaching posteriorly to anal-¿n origin when adpressed (reachingbase of ¿rst segmented ray). No pelvic frenum;basal membrane reduced but present, hidden
under the posteriormost scale between pelvic ¿ns(Fig. 3).
Cheek and opercle without scales. Pectoral-¿nbase with 2 weak ctenoid scales and 5 cycloid

74

T. Suzuki, J. Sakaue and H. Senou

scales (six cycloid scales) in 2–3 (2) vertical and
2–3 (4) horizontal rows, preplevic area with aweak ctenoid scale and 12 cycloid scales in 5

longitudinal and 5 transverse rows (damaged),
and anterior belly with small cycloid scales.
Nape with ctenoid scales, extending anteriorly to

Fig. 4. Trimma matsunoi, holotype. A: fresh specimen, photo by J. Sakaue. B: alcohol preserved specimen, photo by T.
Suzuki. C: KPM-NR 44894, live, 56 m depth, photo by J. Sakaue, 19 Aug. 2010.

Two New Species of Trimma

orbit (no scales on predorsal midline and left sidebase of the ¿rst dorsal ¿n: see the remarks).
Remainder of body with large ctenoid scales.
Gill opening extending below a vertical line justslightly posterior to the middle of the pupil.
Anterior naris with a short tube; posterior nasal

75

opening a simple pore, 3.3 naris diameter fromanterior naris and 8 naris diameter from eye.
Interorbital groove shallow (absent), postorbital
groove absent. Interorbital space wide and bonywidth 78% of pupil diameter (77%) (Fig. 3). The
cephalic sensory papillae of the holotype are

Fig. 5. Trimma matsunoi, paratype, OMNH-P 23885, male, 16.8 mm SL, Tsutomezaki, Otsuki-cho, Kochi Pref.,Shikoku, Japan. A: fresh specimen, photo by J. Sakaue. B: alcohol preserved specimen, photo by T. Suzuki. C: KPMNR 44895, live, 53 m depth, photo by J. Sakaue, 20 Aug. 2010.

76

T. Suzuki, J. Sakaue and H. Senou

depicted in Fig. 3.
Inwardly curved conical teeth in both jaws.
Upper jaw with 2 irregular inner rows of small
teeth, grading to single posterior row; anteriorand center parts with outermost row of 7 large,
spaced teeth. Lower jaw with 3 irregular innerrows of small teeth, grading to single posteriorrow; anterior part with an outermost row of 6
large teeth; center part with a single innermost
row of 5 large teeth.
Color of types when fresh (Figs. 4A and 5A).
Background color of head and body grayish
white. Belly white. Scale pockets with deeporange margins (pale brown) except for those on
belly. Dorsal and ventral most part of body andposterior most part of tail yellowish (nape with 2,
the dorsal midline of body with 7, and the ventral
midline of belly and tail with 6 light yellow saddles). Snout and interorbital space grayish, andnape orange. Lower half of head and posterior
margin of eye light yellow. Iris with red, yellow,
and black marks (iris yellow). Cheek, opercle
and pectoral-¿n base with many minute yellowish brown dots. Fins hyaline. Dorsal ¿ns with alight yellow, broad, longitudinal, basal stripe.
Pectoral and anal ¿ns light yellow except margins. Anterior part of pelvic ¿n and pectoral-¿nbase grayish white. Caudal ¿n light yellow
except upper and lower margins (a yellow bandon base of the ¿n).
Color of types in alcohol (Figs. 4B and 5B).
Red, orange, white and yellow colors faded.
Head and body yellowish white. Scale pockets
outlined with yellowish brown. Lower half of
dorsal ¿ns, anal and caudal ¿ns with many minute yellowish brown dots.
Color of types when alive (Figs. 4C and 5C).
Similar to fresh coloration except as follows:
head and body semi-translucent; nape with 1 (2)and the dorsal midline of body with 7 bright yellowish orange saddles; interspaces of those saddles pale sky blue; a broad, light yellowish
orange stripe from snout to caudal peduncle; thisorange stripe interrupted by 3 pale sky blue
marks below the second dorsal ¿n; a dark graystripe along upper margin of orange stripe; dorsal

part of belly with 2 pale sky blue marks; the ventral midline of belly and tail with 6 light yellowish orange saddles; iris vivid orange with threestrong blue marks (upper part of eye and interoribital space bright greenish blue); upper andlower margins of caudal ¿n with a pale pink
stripe respectively (a light yellow band on baseof the ¿n).
Distribution. Near Kashiwa-jima Island,
Otsuki-cho, Kouchi Prefecture, Island, Shikoku,
Japan
Etymology. The speci¿c name, matsunoi, honors Mr. Kazushi Matsuno, who ¿rst discovered
the new species.
Remarks. The paratype lacks scales on the predorsal midline and on the left side of the base ofthe ¿rst dorsal ¿n, and has the malformation ofsome of the neural spines beneath the ¿rst dorsal¿n.
Comparisons. Trimma matsunoi is most similar to T. caudipunctatum and T. maiandros in
overall morphology. However, T. matsunoi differs from T. caudipunctatum, in having: no opercle scales (vs. some cycloid scales dorsally in T.
caudipunctatum); interorbital space wide andbony width 75–77% of pupil diameter (30–36%);
8 saddles over the dorsal midline and six saddles
on the ventral midline when alive (vs. no saddles,
see Suzuki and Senou, 2009). The new species
differs from T. maiandros, in having: 5 predorsal
scales in midline (vs. usually naked in T. maiandros); no blue zigzag line on semi-translucent
body (vs. a blue zigzag line on red body, see
Hoese et al., 2011).
Acknowledgments
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to T.
Kawamoto, A. Sakamoto, and K. Matsuno(AQUAS Kashiwajima Diving Service) for theircooperation in the present study. We also thank
R. Winterbottom (ROM) for his critical comments on the manuscript.

Two New Species of Trimma

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Manuscript received 22 July 2011; revised 20 September
2011; accepted 15 October 2011.
Associate editor: K. Matsuura