MKMOIKS OF THE NATIONAI, ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 10'.) 



ot'sucli ii comuM'tioii ;ilVc)nlc(l l)y coii'iciii'ric lishos is I'ortillfd by iiiiul()y:<iiis n-pn'srntiitiws ainoii;; 

 iiisi'cts, mollusks, ami vvvn aiupliiliiaiis. Tlic scparatinii of the siiViTal areas iimst. Imwi-vcr, 

 have oucuncd little later than the early Tertiary, iiiasmuiOi as the salt water llshc.s of eonesitond 

 ill"! isotlieniis fonnd alon^j the eoasts ol" the now widely seiiarated lands are to sueli a larpe extent 

 speeilieally dilVerenl. In licneral, chaniu'e seems In take place more rapidly amon;; marine animals 

 than fresh-water representatives of the .sanu' class. 



NdMKXCLATUUli. 



In decidin.tr on tlic^ iinmcnclature adopted, r)liedieiu;e has always hvvu \r.ui\ to tlic ]irc( cpts in- 

 cnhated by the Kritisii and American associations for the advancement of science, and Iat«dy 

 recnforccd by the Fn?ncli association anil the American Oriiitliolofijists' Union. The lawlessnesss 

 that lias long prevailed in this respect and the obtrusion of whims fojr laws have retarded the 

 progress toward a settled nomenclature, although the extent to which rules of nomenclature have 

 been violated has been hidden by a tacit couseusus of those unwilling or uuable to think for them- 

 selves. 



A cousiderable proportion of the si)ocies are involved in more or less doubt as to their correct 

 nomenclature, it being questio.iable whether .some are identical with the forms with which they 

 have been identified, and whether others are distinct from previously known ones. The exact 

 generic relations of a few remain also to be determined. It is partly in order to have a basis from 

 which to start anew for investigation that the present list is prepared. 



All the species enumerated in Prof, lluttou's "List of the New Zealand Fi.shes" are repeated 

 in the present catalogue; but nine of these species have very little claim to a place therein, and 

 should i)robably be eliminated. They are the following: 



19 (14) Rhiuob.itiis bauksii. I'M (40) Chilodactylus carpoiu-mus. 



20 (15) Trygonorhina fasciata. 140 (50) Cottapistiis cottoiiles. 

 55(203) Anguilla latirostris. 174(157) Gadopsis luarmor.itus. 

 99 (61) Teuthis triostegns. 224 (217) Ostracion foniasini. 



112 (135) Dascylhis aruanus. 



All of these, excei)ting Aiif/Killd and <raili>psis, were marked by Prof, lluttoii himself as doubt 

 ful members of the New Zealand fauna. IJut the most doubtful of all appear to me to be the 

 Anguillid and Gadopsid. 



AiKjuilla latirostris has been attributed to New Zealand because a specimen, described by Dr. 

 Gray as ^^Anjjuilla <lii'(f'c)th(irliii," nud supi)Oseil to have been taken in New Zealand, was identified 

 with that .species by Dr. Ciiiiitlier (Cat., IV, ."J.i). Dr. Gray, under the name Anguilla dicftnhacliii, 

 adds: "Inhabits the Hi ver Thames, New Zealand. — Dr. Dieffenbaeh." Inasmuch as no other speci- 

 men has been recorded fnmi that loiality, we may be permitted, till another specimen has been 

 found, to believe that there may have been some coiifusiiui or transposition of labels.* 



Gadopsis marmoratus is recorded by Prof. Ilutton as a New Zealand lish, and reference is 

 made to Richardson ("Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., .ser. 4, vol. i, p. 342"). No mention is made of the 

 fish on the i)age referred to, and Sir John Rich;irdson had died (June 5, 18(i.l) before the volume 

 cited was published (1S(j8). Some confusion of notes must have happened to the distinguished 

 New Zealand professor; but, whether Kichardson has elsewhere recorded the species as an inhab- 

 itant of New Zealand or not, it is extremely improbable that such a conspicuous fresh-water fish 

 should have been overlooked by other observers. 



Of the two numl)ers prefixed to almost every species, the former, of course, indicates the 

 sequence of the species adopted in the enumeration, and the latter (inclosed within parentheses) 

 the number attached to it in Prof, lluttou's list. 



ll.Mii-y Travurs brought three siieciiiieiis of this eel from the Chatham Ishiuds." lluttuii T. N. '/,. I. 

 271. 



