1884.] NATURAL SCIENCES OE PHILADELPmA. 167 



ON THE ANACANTHINE FISHES. 

 BY THEODORE GILL. 



Under the name Anacanthini have been grouped those Teleost 

 fishes which have " vertical and ventral fins without spinous 

 rays; the ventral fins, if present, are jugular or thoracic; air- 

 bladder, if present, without pneumatic duct " (Giinther, Int. to 

 Study of Fishes, p. 537, 1880). These characters are not re- 

 inforced by any others, but nevertheless the fishes so character- 

 ized have been segregated by most ichthyologists into an "order." 

 The propriety of such valuation was disputed by the present 

 writer in 1861 (Cat. Fishes E. Coast N. Am., p. 7 ), and the group 

 degraded to the rank of a suborder, and subsequently (Proc. 

 Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila., 1863, p. 255), the genus Zoarces was trans- 

 ferred to it and associated with the Lycodinse and Gymnelinae in 

 the same family. The American ichth3-ologists have generally 

 acceded to the propriety of this degradation of the Anacanthini 

 to subordinal rank. Most have also conceded the propriety of 

 the association of Zoarces with the forms indicated, as has also 

 Prof. Collett of Norway (Den Norske Nordhavs Expedition 

 1876-1878; Ficke, p. 78-79, 1880), although Prof. Cope has still 

 retained Zoarces among the Blenniidae. The subordinate rank 

 of the Anacanthini appears indeed to be too evident to need 

 further emphasis in this place, and its value as a suborder, or 

 even as a natural and homogeneous group,may be justly questionad 

 and denied. Nevertheless, for the sake of convenience at least, 

 the collection ma}'^ be provisionally (and only provisionally) pre- 

 served. The group under various names has been adopted by 

 European authors, and the following are synonyms, exclusive of 

 those pertaining to the Heterosomatous types. 



JUGULARES OR ANACANTHINI. 



Synonymy. 



X [Holobranches'\ Jngulaires, Bumeril, Zoologie Analytique, p. Ill, 1806. 

 X [Solobranches] Apodes, Dumeril, Zoologie Analytique, p. 117, 1806. 

 X Chorizopia, Rafine:-que, Analyse de la Nature, p. — , 1815. (Suborder.) 

 X [.Tetr apodes] Jugulaires, De Blainville, Journal de Physique, t. 83, p. 



255, 1816. (Suborder.) 

 X [Apodes] De Blainville, Journal de Physique, t. 83, p. 255, 1816. 



