A poorly known polynemid fish, Polynemus astrolabi Sauvage, 1881, a juniorsynonym of Galeoides decadactylus (Bloch, 1795)

A poorly known polynemid fish. Polynemus astrolabi Sauvage, 1881, was origi nally described on the basis of a single specimen. Examination of the holot ype of P. astrolabi showed it to correspond closely with the holotype and o ther specimens of Galeoides decadactylus (Bloch. 1795), a species endemic t o the west coast of Africa. A redescription of tf;e former is given here an d its status as a junior synonym of G. decadactylus is confirmed. Furthermo re, a lateral line squamation character and the supraneural bone number are described as newly recognized disgnostic characters for the species. It is also found that the number of gill rakers of the species tended to decreas e with overall fish growth.