NO. 4 OPINIONS 91 TO 97 9 



Garman (Pla<;lostoinia^ 1913) rejects the name Mitstclus altogether, be- 

 cause of its similarity to Miisicla. But Mnstcla is a weasel and Mustchis a 

 shark, a case parallel to that of Pica and Pictis. 



[Apstein, 1915a, 188: Musfdiis Cnv., 1817, tj-pe z'uhjaris J. Miill. & Hcnle, 

 1841.] 



PoLYNEMUS Linnaeus, 1758: type PoIyncDitis paradisaciis L. 



The first real restriction seems to be that of Giinther, Cat. Fishes, II, i860, 

 319. No type is specified, but the non-congeneric species, P. quinquarius L., 

 is removed to form the genus Pcntanemus, a name originally employed by 

 Artedi, but changed to Polyncitnis by Gronow. As this species, quinquarius, 

 was the only one known to Artedi or to Gronow, Dr. Gill, with numerous 

 writers, ourselves included, has regarded it as the type of Polyncnius. But 

 common usage with the formal selection of P. paradiscus L. as type by the 

 first reviser, Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis Fishes, 1882, should prevail. 



SciAENA Linnaeus, 1758: type Sciacna umbra h.=^ ClicHodiptcrus aijiiila 

 Lacepede, as restricted by Cuvicr, ' 1815. 



Sciacna umbra of Linnaeus was a complex species made up of the later 

 Sciacna aqnila Lacepede and Corvina nigra (Bloch) ; umbra is the natural 

 type of Sciacna, but its component parts are not congeneric. The two species 

 were confused until Cuvier (IMeni. du Museum, 1815, and later in the Regne 

 Animal, Edition II, 1829) made clear the difference and definitely chose 

 aqnila as the type of Sciacna. Jordan & Evermann have adopted Corvina 

 nigra, under the name of Sciacna umbra, as type of Sciacna. An argument 

 can be made for either arrangement, but convenience is best served and prob- 

 ably justice also by accepting the name umbra for the species called aquila and 

 recognizing this as type of Sciacna. The two species concerned should then 

 stand as Sciacna umbra L. and Corvina nigra (Bloch). Bleeker has chosen 

 as type Sciacna cirrosa, the species placed first as the type of Unibrina Cuvier, 

 but this arrangement is not the first revision. 



[Apstein, 1915a, 189: Sciacna L., 1758, type aqnila Risso, 1826.] 



Serranus Cuvier : type Pcrca cabrilla L. 



In proposing the generic name Serranus, Cuvier speaks of the species of 

 the genus as " les scrrans," " leur nom sur plusieurs cotes du Mediterranee." 

 " La Mediterranee en produit beaucoup, dont les plus communes s'y confon- 

 dent sous les noms vulgaires de pcrclic dc mcr, de scrran, etc., et sont fort 

 remarquablcs par la vivacite de leurs couleurs surtout a I'epoque de I'amour." 



These Scrrans thus designated are obviously the species still called by that 

 name, Serranus cabrilla and Serranus scriba of authors. But Cuvier neglects 

 to mention either by its scientific name. In a further paragraph he mentions 

 in Serranus, another species "beaucoup plus grand," Jloloccnirns gigas 

 Schneider, which is a species of Epincplichis. Vor th.is reason, b'owler (I'roc. 

 Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1907, 266) has taken gigas as the type of Serranus, thus 

 replacing Epinephclus of authors, which name he leaves to Alphcstcs afcr. 

 No other writer has taken this view of the case, and I recommend the ap- 

 proval of the current nomenclature, regarding Pcrca cabrilla L. as the geno- 

 type of Serranus. 



[Apstein, 1915a, 189: Serranus Cuv., 1829, type scriba L., 1758.] 



