Diagnosis: The modal fin-ray count of D-XXII-XXIII,13-14 sA-23-24 P-13 with 35 or 36 total dorsal-fin elements indicates Acanthemblemaria maria and overlaps several other Acanthemblemaria and Emblemaria species. Only a rare A. spinosa or A. aspera would reach XXII dorsal-fin spines and only a rare A. maria would share XXI,14. The presence of cryptic species with differing fin-ray counts in various regions requires that the precise locality and the fin-ray counts of sympatric chaenopsids (or DNA sequencing) be known for species-level identification among this large group of species. (DNA) Description: u8630 111
