Synonymy and Life History of the North Pacific Pelagic Armorhead, Pseudopentaceros wheeleri Hardy (Pisces: Pentacerotidae)

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Abstract
Specimens of the nominal species Pseudopentaceros wheeleri Hardy and P. pectoralis Hardy were examined morphologically and electrophoretically to test the validity of the two species. Samples were collected primarily from the Hancock Seamounts of the southern Emperor-northern Hawaiian Ridge as well as from the North Pacific open ocean and northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Morphometric results indicate continuity between P. wheeleri and P. pectoralis. No evidence of species separation was revealed in analyses of meristic and electrophoretic data. We conclude that the North Pacific pelagic armorhead consists of a single, metamorphic species, which we, as first revisers, elect to call P. wheeleri. A hypothesis is proposed that attributes morphological variation to different life-history stages.

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