218 XOMENCLATURE OF RACHICEXTROX—CILL. vol. xviii. 



Kaup now further identified the Scomber niger of Bloch, Centronotus 

 gardenii of T.acepede, and Contronotus spinosus of Mitchill with his 

 si)ecies. 



In 1820 Cuvier tir.st proposed tlie generic name with the French phi- 

 ral form ^'lea Elacates^' for the same genus, basing on the "Pedda 

 niottah" the species ^' El. niotta,'^ and for the Centronotus spinosus sub- 

 stituting the new name '-'■E}. americana.^' The ^'■Geixnpira'''' or Scomber 

 niger was retained in tlie same genus with the pilot-lish, as in the first 

 edition, although those names ace mere synonyms of the typical Elacafe, 

 as had been recognized in 1827 by Kaup. 



In view of these facts, it will be obvious that adherence to the rules 

 of priority compels us to take up Kaup's name for the genus iu ques- 

 tion, and for the family name, if the including group Eachicentrid^ 

 should be employed. Those who adhere strictly to rules of iniority 

 and will retain all errors and slips because they were iu the earliest 

 names, will prefer Rachycentrida> and Rachycentron, although the latter 

 was merely a slip in Kaup's original memoir and was speedily corrected. 

 I prefer to regard it as a typographical error and to take the later and 

 correct form. 



The history of the nomenclature is epitomized in the following 

 synonymy: 



Genus R ACHICENTRON. 



:^Cent)-o)iotiis, Mitchill, Traus. Lit. Phil. Soc. N. Y., I, p. 490, 1814. 



=Rachycentron, Kaup, Isis, XIX, col. 89, 1826. 



^liachicentron, Kacp, Isis, XX, col. 624, 1827. 



=Le8 Elacates, Cuvier, Regne Animal, 2. ed.,' II, p. 203, 1829. 



=Elacate, Cuvieu and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., VIII, p. 328, 1831. 



=Eh(cate, Swainson, Nat. Hist. Fishes, etc., II, pp. 176, 243, 1839. 



<^MeI(tderma, Swainson, Nat. Hist. Fishes, etc., II, pp. 176, 243, 1839. (Type 



" ^f. nigerrima'' = •' Pedda mottah.") 

 GiXHterostenn, sp., Linn.evs et .al. 

 Centronotus, sp., LACEPfi^DE. 



The only now recognizable species rejoices in a very large number of 

 names, as the following synonymy will show. This synonymy expresses 

 the general belief of all recent ichthyologists. Nevertheless, it may 

 well be that two or more si)ecies have been confounded, and at least a 

 renewed critical and comparative examination of sufficient material is 

 very desirable. 



RACHICENTRON CANADUM. 



Gasterosteitf! canadtis, Linx.ki s, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, I, p. 491, 1766. 

 Scomher niger, Bloch, Ichthyologie, X, p. 48, pi. cccxxxvii, 1797. 

 Centronotus gardenii, Lackpkde, Hist. Nat. Poiss., Ill, pp. 310, 318, 1802. 

 [Centronotus] niger. CrviER, Rt'gne Animal, II, p. 320, 1817. 

 Centronotus si)inosns, Mitchill, Trans. Lit. Phil. Soc. N. Y., I, p. 490, pi. 3, fig. 

 9, 1815. 



•Les Centronotus (Centronotus) sp., Cuvier, Regne Animal, II, p. 321, 1817. 



