Lethrinus hypselopterus Bleeker, 1873a: 326, Benculen (Sumatra), Batavia (Java), Obimajor, Lawajong (Solor), Waigeu, ?Singapore; 1876-77: 114, pl. 330, type; Herre, 1936: 199, Solomon Is.; Weber & Beaufort, 1936: 443, type; Kyushin et al., 1973: 70, East Burma Sea; 1977: 162, East Burma Sea.
Lethrinus mahsena (not of Valenciennes); Herre & Montalban, 1927: 417, pl, 8, fig. 1, Philippines.
Lethrinus crocineus (part) Smith, 1959: 290, pl. 20, fig. A, northern Mozambique.

Specimens examined.

Syntypes. —RMNH24412 (3 individuals: 170, 188 and 192mm standard length), 5767 (184) from East Indies.
UMUTZ40974 (102) from ?loc. (?Philippines).
UMUTZ42302 (103), 42349 (114) from Philippines.
BPBM7486 (110) from Truk I., Caroline Is.
UMUTZ52556 (165), 52668 (190), 52557 (200) from Nuguria Atoll.
HUMZ-A2429 (380) from Andaman Sea.

D. X, 9; A. III, 8; P₁. 13; P₂. I, 5; C. 8 + 7; L. lat. 44 to 47; Ltr. 5 or 6/i/13 to 15.

Proportional measurements of some specimens are shown in Table 5.

Head length less than body depth. End of jaws usually on the vertical through posterior nostril. Interorbital area flat or a little convex. Fourth to sixth dorsal spines longest. Soft anal base distinctly shorter than the longest anal ray. 5 scale rows between lateral line and median dorsal spines. Inner base of pectoral densely covered with scales. Lateral teeth of jaws include strong molars in adults.

Color. —Yellowish-brown, paler below. A red stripe from eye to tip of snout. A red line backward from corner of mouth. A red spot on upper half of pectoral base. Posterior rim of operculum red. Fins uniformly red.

Distribution. —Mozambique to Philippines, Solomon Is.

Remarks. —The present species resembles L. mahsena in many characters and seems to be closely related to it. However, it is very easy to distinguish the present species from L. mahsena on the basis of different color patterns or shape of anal fin.