Revision of Egglestonichthys and of Priolepis species possessing a transverse pattern of cheek papillae (Teleostei; Gobiidae), with a discussion of relationships
We recognize seven species in this group, five of which are described here. Priolepis profunda (Weber) occurs in central Indonesia and western Australia; P. anthioides (Smith) is known only from Zanzibar; P. aithiops n.sp. and P. sticta n.sp. are known only from Flores, Indonesia; P. fallacincta n.sp. occurs fairly widely in the western Pacific from Taiwan to Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef; P. randalli n.sp. is present in the Persian Gulf (and probably the Red Sea); and Priolepis RW sp. 8, to be described by other workers, is known from Japan through to western Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, and New Caledonia. The monotypic Egglestonichthys (known from a single specimen from the South China Sea) exhibits all the defining characteristics of Priolepis, and represents the plesiomorphic sister-group of either Priolepis, if the latter proves to be monophyletic, or of a monophyletic group composed of Priolepis, Trimma, Trimmatom, Paratrimma, and possibly some other genera. The entire clade is defined by two autapomorphies: loss of the cephalic sensory canals and associated pores, and a broad gill opening extending anteroventrally to below at least the vertical limb of the preopercle.