202 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



tion of the "Imberbe" Ophidion imberbe, the colors as well as very low dor- 

 sal fin from Rondelet, but at the same time described the dorsal with Schone- 

 velde as a very stiff, rigid one still considering it a Malacopterygian! Also 

 stating that, according to Gronovius, there were 147 dorsal rays and 101 anal, 

 among which the caudal were included, he recalled that Linnaeus distin- 

 guishes the three fins, assigning to the dorsal 79 rays, to the anal 41 and to 

 the caudal 18, and the combination of these, according to our author, forms 

 238 (sic !) rays, 10 less than that which results from the enumeration of Gro- 

 novius ! He concludes by giving with Gronovius quite large, lanceolate pec- 

 torals with 26 rays ; and, finally, with remarks on its habitat from Rondelet. 

 The description is thus based only on three species belonging certainly to as 

 many very distinct families ; but, in his synonymy, he includes references to 

 the Sea snail of Petiver* and the Congrus of Aldrovandi,f the one represent- 

 ing a Liparis, and the other a true Conger, representatives of two more fami- 

 lies. It must, however, be added, somewhat in extenuation for Haiiy, that 

 the last two, singularly enough, originated with Gronovius, perhaps the most 

 sagacious and learned ichthyologist of the past century. 



Bonnaterre,J engaged on the same great work, followed Haiiy, and con- 

 cluded his notice with the radial formula B. 7. D. 238. P. 26. V. 0. A. 

 0. C. 0., which is evidently the result for the dorsal of the sum so singu- 

 larly obtained by Haiiy from the combination of the numbers attributed by 

 Linnasus to the dorsal, anal and caudal fins, while the numbers of the pectoral 

 and brauchiostegal rays are derived from Gronovius; the negation of the 

 anal and caudal fins is peculiar to the author himself. 



Gmeling included in the synonymy of the Linnaean species the references 

 to the Ophidion of Gronovius, placing the radial formula of the latter im- 

 mediately under that of Linnajus, as if to draw attention to the remarkable 

 difference between the two which he could not himself appreciate, and also 

 referred to Pennant's figure. 



Walbaum,|| in his edition of the " Genera of Artedi," simply added the 

 notices from the Fauna Suecica and Schonevelde, as well as a reference to 

 the figure of Pennant, with the opinion of Broussonet concerning the same. 



Lac6pede1[ obtained from Linnaeus, for his notice, the rounded caudal fin 



and radial formula, aud from Rondelet the yellow color and its Mediterranean 



habitat, while his information regarding the delicacy of its flesh in common 



with that of the O. barbatum is orginal, and serves well to open a paragraph. 



Shaw** copied his notice from Gronovius. 



Bloch, or his editor, Schneider, gave to the species the name Ophidium 

 " Chinense''' 7 at the same time depending entirely on the Fauna Suecica of Lin- 

 naeus for information relative to its habitat, (" Habitat in mart baltico et oceano, 

 reperitur ssepe intra ostrearum testas,") ; and, while also deriving his knowledge 

 of its characters for his text from the same source, copied Pennant's figure 

 as illustrative at once of the species and the genus. ff 



Cuvier arising, dispelled the obscurity which involved the history of so 

 many of the most common European Fishes in his remarkable series of Mem- 

 oirs on the Fishes of the Mediterranean. In that on the Ophidium imberbe, 

 (De la Donzelle imberbe,) he demonstrated that the Ophidium imberbe of Ron- 

 delet, and his copyist Willoughby, was distinct from that of Schonevelde, 

 Schelhammer and Linnasus ; that the first was related to Ophidium barbatum, 

 and the second identical or very closely allied with the Blennius gunnellus of 

 Linnasus ; that the O. imberbe of Gronovius was a true Ophidium deprived of 



* Petiver, Gazophylacium, tab. 51, fig. 3. 



t Aldrovandi, Pise, lib. iii. cap. 25, fig. p. 349. 



| Bonnaterre, Tab. Encyc. et Meth., Ichthy., 1788, p. 41 . 



| Linnasus, Syst. Nat., Gmelin's ed., 1788, p. 1147. 



jj Artedi, Gen. Pise, Walbaura's ed., 179-', p. 157. 



% Laeepede, Hist. Nat., ii. 1800, p. 279. 



** Shaw, Gen. Zjol.,.iv. 1803, p*. 70. ft Bloch, Syst. Ichth., Schneider's ed. p. 4%. 



[Sept. 



