12 THE CTPRINODONTS. 



HISTORY. 



It is only iu tracing the origin of a couple of the generic names, Fun- 

 dulus and Poecilia, that the history of the Cyprinodonts is carried back 

 farther than the time of Artedi, 1738. Fundulus was originally applied to 

 species of the Cyprinidag, the habits of which kept them near the bottom 

 and made the name more appropriate than it is in its present use among 

 the " Top minnows," as placed by La Cepede. The earliest mention is that 

 of Albertus Magnus, 1478, lib. 7, tract. 1, cap. 8, who applies Fundula to a 

 fish that is probably Cyprinus gobio of Linne, Gobio fluviatilis of Fleming. 

 Figulus, 1540, and Gesner, 1556, connect the name Fundulus with species 

 of Gobio or Cobitis (Misgurnus). Gesner, 1558, refers both forms, Fundula 

 and Fundulus, to Cobitis barbatula. Schwenckfeld, 1603, gives Fundulus 

 seu Fundula a similar connection, and in this is followed by Aldrovandi, 

 1613. Schonevelde, 1624, presents the Italian form, Fondola, under Cobitis 

 fluviatilis, and the Latin, Fundulus, under Gobio fluviatilis. Charleton, 1677, 

 has "Gobio fluviatilis, Fundulus (quia, degit in fundo:) the Gudgeon, aut 

 Pink." Willughby, 1686, and Rzaczjmski, 1721, speak of Fundulus as a 

 name for Cobitis fluviatilis, or an allied fish. Artedi, 1738, places " Fundulus 

 scu Grundulus Figul. f 1 b," among the synonyms of Cobitis barbatula, Syn. 

 Pise, p. 2, and again has Fundulus among those of Gobio fluviatilis, p. 11, 

 and in the Philosophia, p. 65, he notes it as an instance of diverse application 

 of vulgar names. Klein, 1744, Miss., IV., 60, under one of his species of 

 Enchelyopus mentions the name as applied to Gobio fluviatilis. Wulff, 1765, 

 and Mliller, 1774, bring the name within the Linnsean period. In all these 

 cases it has been used as a vernacular or common name. La Cepede, 1803, 

 first made it the name of a genus, transposing it from the Cyprinidse to the 

 Cyprinodonts, from fishes of the bottom to those of the surface. 



Pcecilia also has a pre-Linnaean history. As Poecilias it served 

 Schwenckfeldt, 1603, as a name for a fish, probably Cobitis fossilis (Mis- 

 gurnus). Rzaczynsky, 1742, makes a similar use of it. Schonevelde, 1624, 

 applies Poecilia to a form possibly the same. Artedi, 1738, Syn., p. 3, puts 

 at the end of his synonymy for Cobitis ccerulescens (Misgurnus fossilis LaC.) 

 " Pcecilia Schonev., p. 56, forte ? " Referring to Schonevelde, Klein, 1744, 

 Hist. Pise. Miss. IV., 59, remarks upon the name under a species of his 

 Enchelyopus, possibly Cobitis fossilis of authors. The name is first used as 

 that of a genus, by Bloch, Schneider, 1801, among the Cyprinodonts, and 

 there is nothing on which to base a claim for priority in other or earlier 

 usage. 



