'MAR 1 8 iQfls HARVARD B R E V I'U'R A Miiseiim of Comparative Zoology us ISSN ()()()() 9G9S Cambridge, Mass. 30 June 1982 Ni:mhir472 FISHES OF THE SUBORDER LABROIDEI (PISCES: PERCIFORMES): PHYLOGENY, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANCE Leslie S. Kaufman' and Karel F. Liem-Abstract. We postulate that the Pomacentridae, Cichlidae, Embiotocidae, Labridae, Odacidae. and Scaridae comprise a monophyletic assemblage: the Labroidei. Four groups within the Labroidei can be defined as monophyletic assemblages on the basis of shared derived characters: the Pomacentridae, Cichlidae, Embiotocidae, and Labridae (which includes the Scaridae and Odacidae). The Pomacentridae is considered the primitive sister group of all other Labroidei; the Cichlidae is a sister group of embiotocids and labrids, and the Embiotocidae is a sister group of the Labridae. Labroids are characterized by (I) united or fused fifth ceratobranchials resulting in the formation of one functional unit: (2) a true diarthrosis between upper pharyngeal jaws and the basicranium without an inter\ening part of the transversus dorsalis anterior muscle: and (3) the presence of an undivided sphincter oesophagi muscle forming a continuous sheet. It is proposed that ( I ) the ecological and functional versatility of the trophic apparatus is correlated with a characteristic structural design, and that (2) this design has contributed to the dominant position of labroids in diurnal communities of tropical marine and lentic fresh waters. INTRODUCTION Liem and Greenwood (1981) have recently reviewed the compara-tive functional morphology of the pharyngeal jaw mechanism in acanthopterygian fishes. On the basis of functional considerations they have proposed that the Cichlidae, Embiotocidae, Labridae, Odacidae, and Scaridae comprise a monophyletic assemblage. '-Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massa-chusetts 02138.
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