Jordan and Starks: Fishes from Ceylon. 433 



Kner & Steindachner. The great body of tropical anchovies, dis- 

 tinguished from Engraulis by their fewer and stronger vertebrae, have 

 lately been placed in Anchovia. But these are not congeneric with 

 the type of Anchovia, having a more elongate form and a very much 

 smaller number of gill-rakers. 



The generic name Stolephorus Lacepede was based on two species, 

 Atherina japonica Houttuyn and Stolephorus commersonianus Lace- 

 pede. The latter species belongs to the genus which includes the 

 ordinary tropical anchovies. Bleeker calls these two species Stole- 

 phorus, as he supposed them to be congeneric. This use of the name 

 Stolephorus was continued by Jordan & Evermann, who employed the 

 name in the same way, mentioning Atherina japonica as type. But 

 investigation shows that Atherina japonica is not an anchovy at all, 

 but a species of Bleeker's genus Spratelloides. Jordan, Tanaka, & 

 Snyder in their recent "Catalogue of the Fishes of Japan" definitely 

 specify Atherina indica Houttuyn as the type of Stolephorus, making 

 the genus equivalent to Spratelloides Bleeker, one of the "round her- 

 rings," and not an anchovy. Bleeker supposed that Atherina japonica 

 and Stolephorus commersonianus were both anchovies and therefore 

 congeneric. As Lacepede drew his knowledge of " Stolephorus''^ from 

 the account given by Commerson of Stolephorus commersonianus and 

 not from the trivial notice of Atherina japonica furnished by Houttuyn 

 it is not strange that Bleeker followed him in thinking the two species 

 congeneric. In adopting the name Stolephorus for the whole body of 

 tropical anchovies Bleeker followed the rule taking the first species 

 named as the type. His type of Stolephorus, however, should have 

 been Atherina indica. Later this species was formally indicated as 

 type by Jordan and his colleagues. This species is a "round herring," 

 not an anchovy, and it belongs to Bleeker's genus ''Spratelloides.'' 



The genus Anchoviella Fowler {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 

 191 1, p. 211) type Engraulis perfasciatus Poey, is based on a species 

 of the same group, and would be tenable for this genus, if Stolephorus 

 and Eucrasicolus are ineligible. According to Fowler the type of 

 Anchovia Jordan & Evermann {A. macrolepidota) has from one hun- 

 dred and six to one hundred and thirty-five gill-rakers, while in An. 

 choviella {Eucrasicolus) there are only from thirty-five to fifty gill- 

 rakers, a generic character of undoubted value. 



It is possible that Thryssa may be found inseparable from Eti- 

 crasicolus, as the produced maxillary has all degrees of extension. We 



