PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 567 



Bonaparte, in 1832, revived the uame Sparus — "Spams N. (Aurata 

 Eiss., Chrysoplirys C.)," for the iSpartis aurata. 



For the Sparus aurata and its relations, the Linnsean name must there- 

 fore be retained and the subsequent applications of the name in no wise 

 affect the legitimacy of this application. 



Whether the groups designated as Fagrus and Chrysoplirys are, or are 

 not, geuerically distinct is not a matter for present consideration. It is 

 certain, however, that the group as proposed by Cuvier, and adopted 

 by later writers (e. g., Giinther), is artificial and heterogeneous, and 

 doubtless the typical species of Chrysoplirys and Fagrus are more nearly 

 allied to each other than are such types to forms with which they have 

 been associated. For tlie present, the genus Sparus may be retained as 

 distinct from Fagrus and with the eliminations required. 



SPARUS. 



Synonymy. 



<Sparus IJanceus, Syst. Nat., 10. ed., t. 1, p. 277, 1753; 12. ed., t. 1, p. 467, 1766 



Gmelin, ed., t. 1, p. 1270. 

 <Sparus Block, Systema Ichthyologiaj, ed. Schneider, p. 269, 1801. 

 <Sparus Lac^pede, Hist. Nat. des Poissons, t. 4, p. 26, 1803. 

 <Le8 Spares (Sparus Cuv.) Cuvier, R^gne Animal, t. 2, p. 271 (genus), 1817. 

 <Le8 Daurades Cuvier, R^gne Animal, t. 2, p. 272 (subgenus of Spartis), 1817. 

 <Aurata Bisso, Hist. Nat. de I'Europe Merid., t. 3, p.—, 1827. 

 <^Les Daurades (Clirysophrys,) Cuvier, R^gne Animal, 2. ed., t. 2, p. 181, 1829. 

 <]Sparus Bonaparte, Giorn. Acad, di Scienze, t. 52 (Saggio Distrib. Metod. Animali 



Vertebr. a sangue freddo, p. .33), 1832. 

 =Chrysophrys Swainson, Nat. Hist, and Class Fishes, etc., v. 2, pp. 171, 221, 1839. 



OX THE PROPER IVAME OF THE RLTTE FISH. 



BY THEODORE OIEE. 



The propriety of the substitution of the name Fomatomus in place of 

 Temnodon for the blue-fish of the Americans has been questioned by (1) 

 those who contend that a generally accepted name should not be dis- 

 turbed, and by (2) those who would go to an extreme in the applica- 

 tion of the law of priority. A brief history of the nomenclature of the 

 genus seems therefore to be desirable. 



The blue-fish had been referred to genera with which it has little 

 affinity (to Gasterosteus by Linnaeus and Scomber by Bloch) till the close 

 of the last century. 



In 1802 Lacepede described as a new species, and as the first of a new 

 genus, a form which was evidently identical with the Gasterosteus salta- 

 trix of Linnseus and the blue-fish of the United States, but which was 

 obtained by Commerson in the " Oc6an Equatorial." With this species 



