12 THE CYPRINODONTS. 
HISTORY. 
It is only in tracing the origin of a couple of the generic names, Fun- 
dulus and Peecilia, that the history of the Cyprinodonts is carried back 
farther than the time of Artedi, 1738. Fundulus was originally applied to 
species of the Cyprinide, 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 Cépede. 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 Linné, 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 Rzaczynski, 1721, speak of Fundulus as a 
name for Cobitis fluviatilis, or an allied fish. Artedi, 1738, places “ Fundulus 
sew Grundulus Figul. f 1b,’ 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., [V., 60, under one of his species of 
Enchelyopus mentions the name as applied to Gobio fluviatilis. Wulff, 1765, 
and Miiller, 1774, bring the name within the Linnean period. In all these 
cases it has been used as a vernacular or common name. La Cépede, 1803, 
first made it the name of a genus, transposing it from the Cyprinide to the 
Cyprinodonts, from fishes of the bottom to those of the surface. 
Peecilia also has a pre-Linnean history. As Peecilias 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 cerulescens (Misgurnus fossilis LaC.) 
“ Pecilia 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. 
