Apogon selas,a new cardinalfish from the western Pacific

A new species of cardinalfish,Apogon selas, is described from 27 specimens from New Guinea, Ryukyu Islands, and Philippines; also known from photographs taken in the Solomon Islands and Indonesia. It is a species of the subgenusOstorhinchus Lacepède, distinctive in having a first dorsal fin of VII spines, 13 pectoral rays, 14–19 gill rakers, smooth preopercular ridge, body depth 2.9–3.6 in SL, and a color pattern of a black spot as large as the eye centered on the caudalfin base and two dusky stripes (mainly red or golden in life), one midlateral and the other from tip of lower jaw across cheek to thorax.A. selas appears to be most closely related toA. endekataenia Bleeker which differs in having 14 pectoral rays, 18–21 gillrakers, and six dark stripes on the body.