Cirrhilabrus blatteus and Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis, new species, are described from the northwestern Red Sea, Gulf of Elat (= Gulf of 'Aqaba). C. blatteus, the largest species of the genus (up to at least 114 mm SL), is distinctive in color, particularly the purple of its bones, which persists in preservative, and in the biserial pairing of some of the suborbital pores. C. rubriventralis differs from all known species of the genus in having a single row of scales on its cheek, as well as a marked prolongation of the interspinous membranes at the anterior end of the dorsal fin of males.
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Springer et al. (2013) studied this question.
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