Plate 1

Sciaena harak Forsskål, 1775: 52, Red Sea; Smith, 1959: 286, type; Klausewitz & Nielsen, 1965: 21, pl. 22, type.
Sparus harak; Bloch & Schneider, 1801: 276, compiled.
Lethrinus harak; Rüppell, 1840: 116, pl. 29, fig. 3, Djetta; Bleeker, 1850: 15, Batavia; Glinther, 1859: 458, Red Sea; Klunzinger, 1870: 755, Red Sea; Day, 1875-89: 137, pl. 33, fig. 3, India; Bleeker, 1876-77: 119, pl. 327, fig. 3, East Indies; Klun-zinger, 1884: 40, Red Sea; Day, 1889: 41, Andamans; Herre & Montalban, 1927: 413, pl. 3, fig. 2, Philippines; Fowler, 1928: 214, Oceania; 1933: 21, fig. 2, Philip-pines; Okada & Matsubara, 1938: 218, key; Hiyama, 1943: 58, pl. 10, fig. 27, Marianas; Smith, 1953: 264, pl. 43, 701, southern Africa; Fourmanoir, 1957: 126, fig. 93, Canal de Mozambique; Smith, 1959: 286, 288, pl. 20, fig. C, East Africa, type; Akazaki, 1962: 253, Amami; Silas & Toor, 1962: 211, Andaman; Shinohara, 1963: 43, fig. 5, Ryukyus; Sato, 1971: 127, fig. 1, Ryukyus, Guam, Palau; Masuda et al., 1975: 59, fig. G, 234, southern Japan.
Lethrinus azureus Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1830: 300, New Ireland.
Lethrinus rhodopterus Bleeker, 1852: 65, Singapore; Weber & Beaufort, 1936:450, Indo-Australian Archipel.; Schultz et al., 1953: 554, Guam; Marshall, 1964:199, Queens-land (key); Kamohara & Yamakawa, 1967: 8, Ryukyus; Munro, 1967: 329, pl. 43, New Guinea.
Lethrinus rhobdopterus (misspelled); Rashid & Qureshi, 1967: 90, fig. 2, East Pakistan.
Lethrinus bonhamensis Glinther, 1873-75: 65, Bonhams.
Lethrinus banhamensis (misspelled); Günther, 1873-75: pl. 47, type.
Lethrinus Papuensis Alleyne & Macleay, 1877: 276, pl. 8, fig. 1, Hall Sound (New Guinea).

Specimens examined.

Lectotype. —ZMK-P49348 (D, 148 mm standard length) from Red Sea, designated by Klausewitz & Nielsen (1965).
Paralectotype. —ZMK-P49349 (D, ca. 100mm total length without head) from Red Sea.
Holotype of L. azureus. —MNHN9087 (240 mm standard length) from New Ireland.
Holotype of L. rhodopterus. —RMNH5758 (1 of 10 individuals: 283) from Singapore.
Holotype of L. bonhamensis. —BMNH1873. 4. 3. 160 (207) from Bonham.
UMUTZ52515 (175), 52630 (210), 52628 (225), 52629 (240), 52509 (240), 52510 (285), 52546 (300) from Ishigaki I., Ryukyus.
UG1137 (120), 1137 (128), 1779 (128), 1783 (170) from Guam I., Marianas.
BPBM9702 (158), 14637 (215), ABE4022 (225) from Palau.
UMUTZ52749 (169), 52740 (173) from Cebu.
BPBM14641 (2 individuals: 98, 102) from Fiji Is.
UMUTZ53997 (146), BPBM8119 (206) from Samoas.
RMNH5758 (6 of 10 individuals: 87, 98, 180, 202, 202, 228) from East Indies.
SMF5565 (ca. 230) from Nicobar Is.
ZMHU1141 (D, 197), SMF2793 (D, 164), 3097 (D, 166), 3098 (D, 206) from Red Sea.

D, X, 9; A. III, 8; P₁. 13; P₂. I, 5; C. 8 + 7; L. lat. 46 to 48; Ltr. 6 or 7/i/14 or 15. Proportional measurements of some speciemens are shown in Table 1.

Head length about equal to or less than body depth. End of jaws usually on the vertical through anterior nostril. Interorbital area moderately convex. Forth or fifth dorsal spine longest. 6 scale rows between lateral line and median dorsal spines, the uppermost scales sometimes vestigial or lost (5 scale rows in this case). Inner base of pectoral densely covered with scales. Lateral teeth of jaws include molars in adults.

Color. —Olive-green above, paler below. A persistent large black blotch on side of body. Individual scales on the back sometimes with white center. Vertical fins mottled or striped with pink to red, brighter red on their margin and on soft portions. Pectoral pale orange. Pelvic still paler.

Attains 60 cm.

Distribution. —Red Sea, East Africa to Amami Is., Polynesia, Australia. One of the most widely distributed and common species of this genus.

Remarks. —There remains some doubt about the identity of L. azureus with the present species, because the type of that species seems not to have the black blotch on the flank which is characteristic of the present species, though it agrees well with the present species in many other characters.