NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. Ill 



"Fauna Italica" of the Prince of Canino; as it has been given by Cuvier aa 

 well as Canino, it is not necessary to more than refer to it here. 



As many names bad been given to the species before it was designated 

 Labrax lupus by Cuvier, that name cannot be retained if we are to be guided 

 by the rules of priority. A specific name given to it by Bloch is therefore 

 adopted. 



In the edition of the " Systema Naturre " by Gmelin, the European Lalraz 

 appears under the name of Perca punctata. Cuvier and Valenciennes have 

 shown that this name is only a misapplication of one by Linnaeus, who had 

 given it to a Scisenoid from North America, which he placed immediately before 

 the Perca labrax in his System. Gmelin, in his edition of the same work, 

 has by mistake omitted both the description of the Linnsean Perca punctata 

 and the name of Perca labrax, so that the name of the former is there ap- 

 plied to the description of the latter. Bloch has also applied the name of 

 Perca punctata to the young of Labrax diacanthus, but without allu- 

 sion to the names of Linnasus or Gmelin. As the name thus applied would 

 have at that time conflicted with the one of Linnasus, it should not be retained. 

 The name of Sciasna diacantha coming next in order, its specific part must 

 be adopted. Although the name of Lupus was bestowed on this species by the 

 ancient Romans, that does not appear to constitute a valid reason for accepting 

 it as a scientific name. 



II. DlCENTRARCHUS Gill. 



Synonymy. 



Perca sp. Geoffrey. 

 Labrax sp. Cuv. et Val. 



Genus Labrici Cuv. simile, sed preoperculo margine inferiore dentibus non 

 validis, et pinna analis solum spinis duabus. 



Dicentrarchus elongatus Gill. 

 Synonymy. 

 Le Bar alonge Cuv. and Val., Hist. Nat. des Poissons, vol. ii. p. TO. 

 This species I have never seen, but it evidently belongs to a distinct genu;. 

 and I have been, in a measure, compelled to give it a name in order to present a 

 perfect view of the classification of the Labraces. 



The species is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean sea. 



The synonymy of the species is given in the second volume of the " Hist<<ire 

 Naturelle des Poissons," to which reference is made. 



III. Roccus (Mitch.) Gill. 



Synonymy. 



Scicena sp. Bloch. 



Perca sp. Bloch, Schneid., Mitchell, 1818. 



Centropome sp. Lac. 



Poccus sp. Mitchell, Report in part on the Fishes of New York, p. 25, 1814. 



Le.pibema Raf. Ichthyologia Ohiensis, p. 23, 1820. 



Ijabrax sp. Cuv., et Vol. 



Corpus gracile vel oblongo-ovatum, dorso antice curvato. Dentes max- 

 illares, palatini etvomerini velutini ; dentes linguales velutini. in fasciis later- 

 alibus et ad basin in seriebus duabus longitudinalibus separatis vel coalescent- 

 ibus dispositi. Squampe a nucha ad nares et in gem's plerusque cycloidear 

 Preoperculum postice subtusque pectinatnm, operculum biaeuleatum. Pinna 

 dorsales ad basin non membrana elevata conjunctaj. Pinna dorsalis prima 

 numero radiorum non decern superante. Pinna analis spinis tribus in ma<jni- 

 tudine regulariter increscentibus. Linea lateralis rectilinearis. 



I860.] 



