184 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



tribution of genera of North American lishes and the isolation of the 

 genus AmNj/ojMis in a family he called "Hypsteida}."" We may pass 

 them without comment save that they were laudable attempts at least. 

 I have alluded to these defects of Storer's work because for a long 

 time they influenced our conceptions respecting the fishes of the coast 

 and were generall}^ adopted. The errors were repeated b}' Dekay in 

 1842 and (pardon the expression of personal experience) the discrep- 

 ancy between the facts and the print sadly perplexed my boyish studies 

 and for a time made me fear that failure to understand was the fault 

 of ui}" stupidity rather than Storer's and Dekay's errors. In fact, they 

 remained uncorrected till I had to demonstrate that the statements 

 were inconsistent with the facts and formulated the views now preva- 

 lent." 



VII. 



In 1872 was published an article which would not call for notice, 

 since it is devoted to a limited locality and covers a very short period, 

 were it not that the locality is very near Woods Hole and that it ema- 



a Mem. Am. Acad. Arts and Sci., n. s., II; Syn. Fishe.s N. A., pp. 4-8; 183, 184, 1846. 



b Five new specific names appeared for the first time (with descriptions) in the History, viz: 



Scomber Dekayi (Mem. Amer. Acad, v, 130; Hist. 52)=Scomber scombrus (LinnaMis, 1768). 



Thynnus secundo-dorsalis (Mem. Amer. Acad, v, 143; Hist. 6.'>)=Thiinnus tliynnns (Linnaeus, 1758). 



Blennius serpentinus (Mem. Amer. Acad, v, 257; Hist. 91)=Leptoblennius lampetraformis (Wal- 

 baum, 1792). 



Anarrhieas vomerinus, Agassiz, Ms. (Mem. Amer. .\ead., v, 205; Hist. 99)=Anarrhichas lupus (Lin- 

 nccus, 1758) . 



Phycis filamentosus (Mem. Amer. Acad.,vi, 417; Hist. 189)=Urophycis chuss (Walbaum, 1780). 



Before and between the periods covered by the publication of tiie Report and History, Storer pub- 

 lished, in the Boston Journal of Natural History and Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural 



History, descriptions of a number of nominal new species, viz: 



Ostracion Yalei (Boston Journal 1, 1830, 3.53) = Lactophrys trigonus (Linna;us, 1758). 



Hydraigira trifasciata (Boston Journal 1, 1837, 417)=Fundulus majalis (Walbaum, 1792). 



Gasterosteus mainensis (Boston Journal 1, 1837, 465)=Pygosteus pungitius (Linnteus, 1758). 



Myliobatis bispinosus (Proc. Bost. Soc. 1, 1841, 53) = Myliobatis freminvillei (Lesueur, 1824). 



Lota Brosmiana (Boston Journal 4, 1842, 58)=Lota lota (Llnnceus, 1758). — Described from "a beautiful 

 fresh specimen" " received from Lake Winnipissiogee," butthespecies also occurs in Massachu- 

 setts. 



Etheostoma Olmstedi (Boston Journal 4, 1842, 61)=Boleosoma nigra olmstedi.— Described from speci- 

 mens "found at Hartford," Conn., but the species is also a Massachusetts fish. 



Pomotis rubri-cauda (Boston Journal 4, 1842, 177)=Lepomis auritus (Linnreus, 17.58). 



Torpedo occidentalis (Amer. Jour. Sci. and Art, 45, June, 1843, 166)=Tetronarce occidentalis (Storer, 

 1843). 



Hydrargira formosa (Proc. Bost. Soc. 1, 1842, 76)=Fundulus majalis (Walbaum, 1792). 



Platessa glabra (Proc. Bost. Soc. 1, 1843, 130; not Rathke, 1837)-Liopsetta putnami (Gil! 1864). 



Leptocephalus gracilis (Proc. Bost. Soc. 2, 1845, 70)=Leptocephalus conger (Linna-us, 1758). 



Prionotus pileatus (Proc. Bost. Soc. 2, 1845, 77)=Prionotus carolinus (Linnaeus, 17.58). 



Alosa eyanonoton (Proc. Bost. Soc. 2, 1847, 242)=Pomolobus aestivalis (Mitchill, 1815). 



.Alosa lineata (Proc. Bost. Soc. 2, 1847, 242)=Pomolobns mediocris (Mitchill, 1S15). 



Platessa quadrocellata (Proc. Bost. Soc. 2, 1847, 242)=Paralichthys oblongus (Mitchill, 1815). 



Motella caudacuta (Proc. Bost. Soc. 3, 1848, 5)=Rhinonemus cimbrius (Linnaus, 1706). 



Blennius serpentinus (Proc. Bost. Soc. 3, 1848, 30; named only) = Leptoblennius lampetraformis 

 (Walbaum, 1792). 



Carcharias Atwoodi (Proc. Bost. Soc. 3, 1848, 72)=Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaus, 17.58). 



Zeus ocellatus (Proc. Bost. .Soc. 6, 1858, 386)=Zenopsis ocellatus (Storer, 1858). 



In the Memoirs of the .^.merican Academy of Arts and Sciences (2. ser., vol. 2), and in the "Synop- 

 sis of the Fishes of North America," reproduced from it, in 1846, two new names were introduced for 



Massachusetts fishes, viz: 



Monacanthus signifer (Mem. 497, Syn. 245; M. setifer DeKay, not of Bennett) =Monacanthus hispidus 

 (Linnaus, 1706). 



Acanthias americanus (Mem. 500, Syn. 251)=Squalus acanthias (Linnaus, 1758). 



