ON THE APPLICATION OF THE NAME TEUTHIS TO A 

 GENUS OF FISHES. 



By Theodoke Gill, LL. 1), 



Two SPECIES were originally referred to the geims Teuthls by Lin- 

 iijeus, one of which Wiis later referred to the genns ^Siganus or Atnpha- 

 canthus, and the other to the genns Acanthurns. There has beeii much 

 diversity of opinion among recent authors respecting this usage. Dr. 

 Giinther has taken Teutliin for Sif/annti, and I have adoi)ted the name 

 in place of Aatnthurus. Dr. Jordan has wavered between the two 

 systems. Immediately after the publication of articles by Gill/ and 

 Meek and Hoffiuan,- in which Tmthis was accepted instead of Acan- 

 ilmrus, he adopted tlie name with the same sense.' Later he dissented 

 and expressed the opinion that "the change of the name of this genus 

 from Acanthnrm to Teiithis, as made by Gill and Meek, seems unnec- 

 essary. The name Teuihls was based by Linna-us on T. hepatus and 

 T.jdVHs. Its first restriction was to the latter species, a representative 

 of tlie Teutliis of Giinther, the Si(/((nas of Forskal."^ He has adhered 

 to this opinion since. ^ 1 shall now proceed to demonstrate that this 

 opinion is the result of an imperfect view of the literature. 



I. 



The name Hepatus was introduced informally into ichthyology by 

 Artedi in 1738 and afterwards employed with a generic diagnosis by 

 Gronow (Latin, Ch-onoiuHs). Gronow, in his '^ Zoophylacium," recog- 

 nized twosi)ecies: (1) Heixitns vanda fronteqiie inermihns, and (2) Ucpa- 

 ins vincronerejfexo ntrinque prope eaudam ; the former is an Acanthnrid 

 and the latter a Siganid or Amphacanthid. Further, the Acauthurid 



iProc. U. S. Nat. Mas., VII, pp. 275-281, 18S4. 



■^Proc. Aead. Nat. .Sci. Phila. 1881, pp. 227-231 ( 1881). 



sProc. V. S. Nat. Mus., YIII, p. 386, 1885. 



^Pioc. U. S. Nat. Mu8., IX, p. 49, 1886. 



"Proc. r. S.Nat. Mus., XI, p. 5.52, 1888; XII, p. 650, lX8!t; XIII, p. 32S, ixHO; XIV, 



p. 113, 1891, etc. 



Proci'eiliiiirsof' the ruiled States National iluscuiii, \(il. .\\'III— No. U^^2. 



179 



