398 Dr. A. Gunther on the History of Eclieneis. 



anything new to the history of the fish ; and we know nothing 

 of the mode of its propagation or its development in the earliest 

 stage of life. They state merely its occurrence in the different 

 seas of the temperate and tropical regions. Guichenot* has 

 found it in the Mediterranean, Webb and Berthelot f in the sea 

 of the Canary Islands, llamon de la Sagra J in the tropical parts 

 of the Atlantic, Cantor§ in the Sea of Pinang, Bleekcr in almost 

 every part of the East Indian Archipelago, Siebold || in the 

 Japanese Sea. 



3. Echeneis lineata. 



The third species of Echeneis was described fifty years after 

 Linnaeus, in the year 1791, by two naturalists simultaneously, 

 Menzies ^ and Euphrascn **. There is at least not the slightest 

 reason for considering them to be different ; they are both 

 distinguished by the small number of laminae in the buckler (10), 

 and by a somewhat slender body. Both descriptions have been 

 taken from apparently immature specimens, the caudal fin being 

 very convex and produced. Menzies, who has the priority, calls the 

 species E. lineata ; Euphrasen names it E. tropica. Schneider ft 

 also gives a figure of the fish, but he erroneously considersEuphra- 

 sen's fish to be identical with E. squalipeta, Dald. LacepedeJJ 

 and Shaw§§ merely reproduce the account of Menzies. 



4. Echeneis squalipeta. 



The next species which we have to record is E. squalipeta of 

 Daklorf II 1| ; it has not been recognized again. The specimens on 

 which the species was founded are little more than two inches 

 in length ; nevertheless they appear to be adult, having the 

 caudal fin emarginate. The principal character of the species is 

 the continuation of the dorsal and anal fins to the caudal ; the 

 buckler has seventeen laminae. The fishes have been found in 

 the Atlantic between the tropics. 



5. Echeneis osteochir. 

 Cuvier ^^ has added to the preceding species a fifth, which he 



* Guichen. Explor. Alger. Poiss. p. Ill (if this is not Eclieneis Hoi- 

 brookii). 



t Hist. Nat. lies Canar., Poiss. p. 87- 

 J Hist, de File de Cuba, Poiss. p. 1/0. 

 § Catal. Malay. Kept. p. 199. 



II Sehleg. Faun. Japon., Poiss. p. 270, pi. 120. f. 1 (var.). 

 «1T Trans. Linn. Soc. 1791, i. p. 187, tab. 17. f. 1. 

 ** Nya Handl. 1791, xii. p. 317. 

 tt Bl. Schn. p. 240, tab. 53. f. 1. 



XX Hist. Nat. Poiss. iii. pp. 146, 167. §§ Zool. iv. p. 211. 



nil Skrivt. af Naturhist. Selsk. ii. p. 157. 

 . IIH Cuv. Regne Anim. and edit. 111. Poiss. pi. 108. f. 3. 



