CHGERODON IN PLACE OF CHCEROPS FOR A LABROID 

 GENUS OF FISHES. 



By Theodore Gill, 

 Associate in Zoology, I . S. National Museum. 



President Jordan, of Stanford University, having asked me lo as- 

 certain the relative claims of Cossyphodes and Chcerops to priority, I 

 devoted some time to the inquiry. My surprise was great to find that 

 a name unrecorded by late ichthyologists had been the first proposed. 

 The earliest reference to the name Cossyphodes that I have been able 

 to find is by Bleeker himself, who mentions it as a synonym of 

 Chcerops; in his "Conspectus generum Labroideorum Analyticus" 

 he merely records "Chmrops Riipp.=Hypsigenys Giinth. — Cossij- 

 phodes Blkr." No reference is made to Cossyphodes by Giinther in 

 the following year 6 nor by Bleeker in his Atlas Echthyologiqile more 

 specific than the " Syn. Choirodon c et Cossyphodes Blkr. olim," 

 further than a mention of "Choerodon sp." in the synonymy of 

 li Choerops macrodon." Nevertheless, in is IT'' Bleeker published his 

 Overzigt der te Batavia voorkomende gladschubbige Labro'ieden in 

 the Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en 

 Wetenschappen (deel XXII). The first two species are "Cossyphus 

 macrodon Blkr." (=Labrus macrodontus Lacepede) and "Cossy- 

 phus mesothorax Cuv. Valenc, XIII. p. 93." ( The former has been 

 universally named Chcerops macrodon or macrodontus since 1861. 

 This has been on the assumption that the name Ghmrops was the 

 earliest generic designation for the type. Bleeker, however, in the 



" Proe. Zool. Sue, 1861, p. 4 in. 

 6 Cat. Fishes, IV. 1863, p. !>:;. 



'' Choirodon was ;i new form in 1861, the more correel form Choerodon having 

 been used in 1845 .Mini 1847. 



'' L847 is the date indicated ai the bottom of the page; the monograph is not 

 noticed in the Aivhiv l'iir Naturgeschichte tor any year ( L847 L850). 



'Het li.jdt dns wel geeh' twljfel, da1 deze soorl moel gerangschikl worden 

 onder het geslaeht Cossyphus. Vroeger, toen mij het 13de deel van de 

 Histoire naturelle des Poissons nog ontbrak, had ik van deze soorl ecu oieuw 

 geslachl gevormd en hetzelve Choerodon genoemd, naar de groote aaar buiten 

 uitstekende kromme buitenste slagtanden van de onderkaak. Dil genus behoort 

 echter buiten gebruik te blijven. Bleeker, p. 10, 11. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXXV-No. 1638. 



155 



