Common Name: Samoan Melanopus Anemonefish
Scientific Name: Amphiprion cf melanopus
Distribution: Samoa, American Samoa, Wallis & Futuna, possibly Tuvalu
Type Locality: n/a
Identification: Single stripe. Ventral fins black. Black well-developed along body.
Similar: Essentially identical to A. melanopus, A. cf melanopus from Micronesia, and A. monofasciatus Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and is separated here only because of its biogeography. The Australian A. verweyi is typically brighter in color and with the caudal peduncle and posterior anal fin orange (though this varies within the population). The Vanuatu and New Caledonian A. arion is much brighter and has relatively little black along the body, as well as having sexually dichromatic pelvic fins and an orange anal fin.
Notes: This is a very poorly documented species that is seemingly identical to the nearby Micronesian and Melanesian Melanopus Anemonefishes, but is distinguished here based on its biogeographic location in Western Polynesia. Assuming that the melanopus group speciated in the same manner as the perideraion group, it can be expected that this fish is occupying the same distribution seen in A. pacificus.
Amphiprionology 