Table 1. Comparison of four Trichonotus species from Japan

Characters	T. elegans	T. filamentosus	T. setiger	T. sp.
Dorsal fin-rays	III-IV, 43-46	IV-V, 41-45	IV-VII, 38-42 (46)	IV-VII, 39-43
Anal fin-rays	I, 38-45	I, 35-39	I, 34-37 (31)	I, 34-38
Pectoral fin-rays	12-15	11-14	11-15 (6)	12-15
Pelvic fin-rays	I, 5	I, 5	I, 5 (10)	I, 5
Gll rakers on first arch	5-7+20-23	4-6+17-21	5-9+18-25	5-7+19-23
Vertebrae	53-55	51-53	48-50	48-51
Scales just above and below lateral line	absent	present	present	present
Dorsal fin-spines in male	elongated	not elongated	elongated	elongated
Brownish spots on dorsal fin in male	absent	absent	absent	present
Black blotch on dorsal fin in female	present	present	present	absent
Infraorbital and suborbital canals	separated	connected	separated	connected

　Counts from Bloch and Schneider (1801) in parentheses.