Five new species of the damselfish genus Chromis 2 (Perciformes 3 : Labroidei 4 : Pomacentridae 5 ) are described from specimens collected from deep (>60 m) coral-reef habitat in the western Pacific by divers using mixed-gas closed-circuit rebreather gear. Two of the five new species (C. abyssus and C. circumaurea) are each described from specimens taken at a single locality within the Caroline Islands (Palau and Yap, respectively); one (C. degruyi) is described from specimens collected or observed throughout the Caroline Islands, and two (C. brevirostris and C. earina) are described from specimens collected from several localities throughout the Caroline Islands, Fiji, and Vanuatu. All five species can easily be distinguished from other known Chromis, and from each other, on the basis of color and morphology. These new species represent the first five scientific names prospectively registered in the official ICZN ZooBank registry 6 . Moreover, the electronic online edition of this document has been specially formatted with many embedded links to additional resources available online via the internet to enhance access to taxonomically-relevant information, and as a demonstration of the utility of international standards for biodiversity informatics.
A half century ago the State of Hawaii began a remarkable, if unintentional, experiment on the population genetics of introduced species, by releasing 2431 Bluestriped Snappers (Lutjanus kasmira) from the Marquesas Islands in 1958 and 728 conspecifics from the Society Islands in 1961. By 1992 L. kasmira had spread across the entire archipelago, including locations 2000 km from the release site. Genetic surveys of the source populations reveal diagnostic differences in the mtDNA control region (d = 3.8%; / ST = 0.734, P < 0.001) and significant allele frequency differences at nuclear DNA loci (F ST = 0.49; P < 0.001). These findings, which indicate that source populations have been isolated for approximately half a million years, set the stage for a survey of the Hawaiian Archipelago (N = 385) to determine the success of these introductions in terms of genetic diversity and breeding behaviour.
Neoniphon
pencei, n. sp., is described from thirteen specimens, 132-197 mm standard length (SL) collected from mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) at Rarotonga, Cook Islands by divers using mixed-gas closed-circuit rebreathers. It differs from all other species of the genus in number of lateral line scales, scales above and below lateral line, elements of life color, and in COI and cytochrome b DNA sequences. Of the five other known species of Neoniphon, it is most similar to the Indo-Pacific N.
aurolineatus and the western Atlantic N.
marianus both morphologically and genetically.
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