PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 577 



a name not tenable under the rules of nomenclature 

 followed by us. 



In 1839 the genus Psettawds proposed by Swainson (Kat. Hist. Classn. 

 Fishes, etc., ii, 302) in the following words : 



" Psetta Aristotle,* Guv. — Body rhomboidal ; dorsal fin commencing at 

 the edge of the upper jaw, and extending, as well as the anal, almost to 

 the caudal ; eyes approximating, with a short, crest-like cirrus. 



" P. MAXiMUS, Bloch, pi. 49." 



This name Psetta is adopted by Bonaparte (Catalogo Metodico di 

 Pesci Europei, 1846, 49) for the entire group called Rhombus by Cuvier, 

 while the name Bothus is transferred to a different genus which had 

 been previously called Platoplirys by Swainson, and later Rliomhoidich- 

 thys by Bleeker. The name Scophtkahnus is likewise diverted from its 

 original meaning, and is used for the genus previously named Zeugop- 

 terus by Gottsche. 



In 1862 (Proc. Acad. ISTat. Sci., Phila. 1862, 216) an American species 

 {Pleuronectes maculatvs, Mitchill) which, from any point of view, is strictly 

 congeneric with Pleuronectes rhombus L., was recognized by Professor 

 Gill as the type of a distinct genus {Lophopsetta Gill). In 1882 (Syn. 

 Fish. N". Am., 815) the present writers have referred this species to the 

 genus Bothus, recognizing as the type of Bothus, Bothus rumolo Eaf., 

 = Pleuronectes rhombus, L. 



Whether the extremely rudimentary or obsolete condition of the scales 

 of Pleuronectes waajiwwsL., justifies its separation from Bothus as a dis- 

 tinct genus we are not yet prepared to say. At present we may regard 

 it as the representative of a distinct subgenus, for which the name 

 Psetta must apparently be retained. The three species noticed in the 

 present paper may therefore stand as 



1. Bothus fBothusJ rhombus (L.). 



2. Bothus (Bothus) maculatus (Mitch.). 



3. Bothus (Psetta) maximus (L.). 

 Indiana University, October 9, 1882. 



DESCRIPTIOIV OF A IVE^V .«>«PECIE8 OF ARTFDIVS (ARTEDIUS 

 FFIVESTRAl^BS) FROITI PIJC^ET 80CJ:>]>. 



BY DAVID S. JOKDAN AIVD CHARLES H. GILBERT. 



Artedius feuestralis sp. iiov. 



Closely allied to Artedius notospilotus Girard. 



Head, 2f in length to base of caudal; depth, 4.'^. D. IX-17. A. 12. 

 Lat. 1. 36. 



Length (27206), 5 iuches. 



* " I see no reason for substitnting Rhombus Cuv., for the more ancient and claaaic 

 name of Psefta imposed by Aristotle npon this group."— SirafHsoH. 



I'roc. IT. S. ^^at. Mus. 82 37 April E», 1883. 



