Submersible diving in the 1980/90s in the Bahamas and Cuba and 2013–2018 at Curaçao, Dominica, and Roatan resulted in the collection of a new species of Polylepion, a genus of wrasse previously known only from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The new species, which inhabits the rariphotic reef-fish faunal zone at depths of 219–457 m, is another example of a deep-reef species belonging to a largely shallow-reef family, in this case the family Labridae. Here, we describe the new species and provide a phylogenetic placement for it by adding new sequence data from 12 genetic markers for the new species and one of its two congeners (P. cruentum from the eastern Pacific Ocean) to a previously published dataset comprising 336 species of wrasses that includes the other congener, P. russelli, from the Indian and West/Central Pacific Oceans. Our results resolve the phylogenetic history of the species of Polylepion and provide the first molecular support for the monophyly of the genus.

The new anchovy Stolephorus meteorum, formerly confused with Stolephorus indicus, is described on the basis of 19 specimens collected from the southern Red Sea. Four other species, previously confused with or placed in the synonymy of S. indicus, have been either redescribed (Stolephorus commersonnii), described as new (Stolephorus belaerius), or resurrected from its synonymy (Stolephorus balinensis and Stolephorus scitulus). The new species shares with the latter four species, plus S. indicus, a relatively short maxilla and pelvic fins, and six or fewer prepelvic scutes but differs from them in the combination of some other characters, including intermediate numbers of gill rakers (total gill rakers on first gill arch 40–43, modally 41), 41 vertebrae, a large head and narrower interorbital area, and longer pelvic fins. A genetic analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) of S. meteorum, new species, S. balinensis, S. belaerius, and S. indicus revealed each species to be genetically divergent from the others by 2.5–3.6% uncorrected distance.

The Stripetail Darter, Etheostoma kennicotti (Putnam), is widely distributed in tributaries of the lower Ohio River, the upper Green River system, the Clarks River system, throughout the Tennessee River system, the Laurel River system, and the upper Cumberland River system. Etheostoma cumberlandicum Jordan and Swain was described in 1883 from a population sampled in the Clear Fork system that drains to the upper Cumberland. A previous morphological analysis led to the placement of E. cumberlandicum into the synonymy of E. kennicotti. Results from molecular phylogenetic and relaxed molecular clock analyses, genetic variation at 25 microsatellite loci, morphological disparity in meristic traits, and variation in pigmentation from specimens sampled throughout the geographic distribution of E. kennicotti (s.l.) indicate E. cumberlandicum is a distinct species and there are multiple undescribed species masquerading as E. kennicotti. We elevate Etheostoma cumberlandicum out of synonymy and propose Moonbow Darter as the common name for the species. The results of the phylogenetic analyses are discussed in the context of the historical biogeography of rivers draining the Eastern Highlands of North America.