THE TYPES OF BLEEKER'S INDO-PACIFIC ELOPOID AND CLUPEOID FISHES by P. J. P. WHITEHEAD, British Museum (Natural History), London, M. BOESEMAN, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, and A. G. WHEELER, British Museum (Natural History), London CONTENTS Introduction 4 The Bleeker collections 5 Type designations 14 Bleeker's classification 15 Figures 17 Bleeker's localities 18 Measurements, abbreviations, dating 21 Elopidae Elops 22 Megalopidae Megalops 23 Albulidae Albula 26 Chirocentridae Chirocentrus 26 Dussumieriidae Dussumieria 29 Etrumeus 33 Spratelloides 33 Clupeidae Herklotsichthys 39 Sardinella 46 Escualosa 70 Clupeoides 73 Corica 76 Clupeichthys 77 Hilsa 79 4 ZOOLOGISCHE VERHANDELINGEN 84 (1966) Anodontostoma 88 Pellona 91 Ilisha 93 Opisthopterus 103 Engraulidae Engraulis 108 Stolephorus 112 Thrissina 116 Thryssa 119 Setipinna 128 Lycothrissa 133 Coilia 135 References 146 Index 153 ABSTRACT Pieter Bleeker described 72 new species and 10 new genera of elopoid and clupeoid fishes from the Indo-Malayan Archipelago. From amongst the Bleeker material in the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden and the British Museum (Natural History) in London, it has been possible to find the holotypes or designate lectotypes or putative neotypes for almost all these species. The types are fully described, with notes on synonymies and affinities. Of the species listed, 24 are considered senior synonyms, and 5 Bleeker genera are accepted. INTRODUCTION The growing economic importance of elopoid and clupeoid fishes in the Indo-Pacific region has generated an increasing number of publications dealing with systematic as well as biological problems in these two groups. To stabilize the nomenclature there is urgent need to fix and describe the types of the several hundred nominal species from this area. The present work deals with one of the most important (and prolific) writers in this respect, Pieter Bleeker (1819-1878). In a series of papers between 1848 and 1872, Bleeker described 72 new species (plus two manuscript names) and 10 new genera (plus two manuscript names) of elopoid and clupeoid fishes from numerous localities throughout the Indo-Malayan Archipelago (map, fig. 1). Fowler (1941), whose work stands as the most comprehensive recent review of all Indo-Pacific species, recognised in these groups 3 Bleeker genera and 28 Bleeker species as senior synonyms; we recognise 5 genera and 24 species (see Table III). However, considerably more revisionary work is required before the number can be stated with complete certainty. Bleeker did not designate types, but nevertheless he appears to have attached more importance to those specimens on which his original WHITEHEAD ET AL., BLEEKER'S TYPES 5 descriptions were based, retaining these in his personal collection and selling or donating duplicates (but apparently also rejecting type material when he had acquired better preserved specimens -Mees, 1962: 81). The only contemporary reference to Bleeker types' was made by Günther (Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum, 1862-1870) following the purchase by the British Museum of a part of Bleeker's personal collection. However, Günthern 'selections' are often doubtful since he did not have access to Bleeker's main collection. Subsequent 'selections' (e.g. Bertin, 1940; Whitley, 1958) have usually suffered the same drawback. The present work results from a thorough examination of Bleeker material in the British Museum (Natural History) and the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden. Keys and notes on synonymies have been added here, both to aid future revisions and to establish the basis on which the Bleeker species have been identified. Certain genera are particularly unsettled, but will remain so until at least the Valenciennes clupeoid type specimens have been subjected to a similar intensive study. THE BLEEKER COLLECTIONS In order to clarify the methods by which types have been recognised or designated, a short account must be given of the history of the Bleeker col• lections !). The Leiden and London collections will be dealt with separately, as also collections in other museums. a. Leiden. After two unsuccessful attempts to join the staff of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden, Bleeker joined the Army and spent 18 years in Batavia (1842-1860) as Army Surgeon, making extensive collections of fishes in his spare time. Between 1852 and i860 he sent twelve shipments (over 11,000 specimens) to Leiden. The correspondence between Bleeker and Schlegel (who succeeded Temminck as Director of the Leiden Museum in 1858) strongly suggests that Bleeker sent only duplicates, keeping the typical series in his own personal collection. In a letter to Bleeker in i860, Schlegel refers to Bleeker's personal collection, which must "contain the types of your works". The earlier Bleeker specimens (i.e. duplicates) are in Leiden and the labels (copied from old labels) give a date prior to 1879. 1) A fuller account has been prepared by Dr. Robert R. Rofen but is still in manuscript; we are indebted to him for permission to use this manuscript. See also Mees (1962: 80). Other details derived from Hubrecht (1879), Bleeker (1878, 1881) and material in the archives of the Leiden Museum. 6 ZOOLOGISCHE VERHANDELINGEN 84 (1966) Bleeker returned to Holland in 1860, and on his retirement in 1863 he lived in The Hague, housing his enormous collection of some twenty-six thousand specimens in the attic of his house. Apart from the sale of specimens to the British Museum (see below) Bleeker's personal collection appears to have remained complete until after his death in 1878. Prior to his death, Bleeker negotiated with Schlegel (March 1877) for the disposal of his collection to the Museum. Hubrecht, Curator of the ichthyological and herpetological collections at Leiden, conferred with Bleeker but it is not known to what extent the subsequent splitting of the collection into series was done in collaboration with Bleeker before the latter's death in 1878. Hubrecht was certainly mainly responsible for the subsequent division of the 26,500 specimens (2,287 species) into fifteen approximately systematic groups, and into five series (A-E). The specimens were sold by public auction in Leiden at 10 a.m. on the ist December 1879 at the Café Zomerzorg. Series A was believed to contain the types of the species, and all fifteen A series were bought by the Leiden Museum. Of the Β series, groups VI, XIV and XV were bought by the Amsterdam Museum and the remainder went unsold. The C and D series were bought by E. Gerrard for the British Museum, and the Ε series remained unsold. Possibly all unsold lots went eventually to the Leiden Museum. A printed Auction Catalogue was issued with a brief foreword by Hubrecht. A copy is in the Leiden Museum and a photocopy in the British Museum (Natural History). The important A series specimens are now in Leiden, and in the first instance type specimens should be found amongst them. The A series jars are now recognisable by the following criteria: ι. Most have pasted on the outside a thin strip bearing the auction number and the name of the species snipped from the Auction Catalogue. 2. Most have a large external label in Bleeker's hand. 3. Most are still in the original jars used by Bleeker. 4. All have an internal (modern) label bearing the date 1879. The elopoid and clupeoid fishes were placed by Hubrecht in Group XII, the Β series of which were not sold to Amsterdam and may therefore have eventually been given to Leiden. There appears to be no method of recognising Β series jars at Leiden except that they would not bear the snipped catalogue name but might otherwise resemble the A series. The same might be true of the unsold Ε series. During examination of the Leiden material no Β or Ε jars were positively recognised as such, but some were suspected. WHITEHEAD ET AL., BLEEKER'S TYPES 7 The number of specimens in the A series jars does not always agree with the number stated in the Auction Catalogue. This may be attributed to external counting of specimens in very dark preserving liquid, or to later removal of deteriorating specimens (of which no contemporary record exists for the groups presently discussed). Within the jars the state of preservation often varies so that specimens can be sorted into different lots depending on their degree of flexibility, colour and general condition. Bleeker evidently combined batches from different localities, presumably to conserve storage space. But owing to the division of the material at the time of the auction, the number of specimens in each 'preservation lof does not usually tally with the number of specimens recorded by Bleeker from each locality. Further clues to the identification of type material are provided by the condition of certain specimens. In some fishes the right side of the head has been cut longitudinally through the maxilla and across the operculum. Often the first gill arch has been severed. These seem to have been specimens which were more thoroughly examined by Bleeker. It is curious that, having done this, Bleeker did not discover the importance of gillraker counts as a systematic character in clupeoid fishes. A second, much rarer, indication that a particular specimen was one on which Bleeker based his description is the occurrence of definite tears in the anal fin membrane at every tenth ray in species with a long anal fin, e.g. in Harengula hypselosoma, p. 52; see also p. 131, 145. Some specimens bear traces of pencil marks and in such cases the fish so exactly corresponds in size with the illustration in the Atlas that the specimen must be presumed the model for the drawing. The pencil marks are usually vertical lines at the origins of the dorsal and anal fins and tips of pelvic fins.