284 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



by the broad naked preorbital, a character well shown in Giinther's plate. The blue or whitish spots 

 are generally conspicuous, especially on the sides of the head. 



We can not see that Pomacentrus vitianus Sauvage differs in any respect from Pomacentrus lividus. 



Life colors of various specimens were noted as follows: 



(1) From Pago Pago. Violet-black, with three obscure black cross-bands; eye bluish; a violet 

 stripe below eye to snout; a violet shade on opercle; a faint dark blotch at base of pectoral; no spot, 

 either black or white, in axil of dorsal; fins all black. 



(2) Same locality. Black body and fins; axil with a black spot extending on base of pectoral; 

 anal edged with violet-blue; fins all black. 



(3) From same locality; specimen called i'u sina (white tail). All black, unspotted; axil and 

 broad bar across base of pectoral black; edge of dorsal, anal, and caudal dull whitish. 



(4) From Apia. Grayish black mottled with sooty gray; a round black opercular spot; no other 

 markings; ventral black. 



(5) From Apia. Dull olive brown, each scale posteriorly with a black spot; dorsal dusky, the 

 soft dorsal dull yellow at base, with a curved black bar behind it; anal similarly marked; caudal dull 

 yellow at base; pectoral dull orange; ventral brownish. 



(6) From Apia; fins low. All grayish black; base of dorsal, anal, and caudal golden washed; 

 axil dark. 



833. Pomacentrus devisi Jordan & Seale, new name. South Seas. 



Pomacentrus trifasciatus De Vis, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. 1884, 452, South Seas; name preoccupied. 



834. Pomacentrus onyx De Vis. South Seas. 



Pomacentrus onyx De Vis, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. 1884, 451, South Seas. 



ABUDEFDUF" Forskal. 



( Glyphisodon Lacepede; Stegastes Jenyns; Chrysiptera Swainson; Euschislodus Gill; Paraglyphi- 

 dodon, Glyjihidodontops, Hemiglyphidodon, and Amblyglyphidodon Bleeker. ) 



835. Abudefduf sordidus (Forskal). Ulavapua. Samoa; Hawaii; Tahiti; Baiatea; Bonham I.; 



Fate and Makatea (Seale); East Indies. 

 This species, recognizable by its large size, by faint dark cross-bands, and the black spot below 

 the axil'of the dorsal, is common throughout the tropical Pacific. It is abundant both at Hawaii and 

 Samoa, but is found among lava rocks only, not about the coral reefs. A specimen from Apia in life 

 had six dark cross-bands and the usual spot at base of last dorsal ray. 



a We have referred the question of the propriety of the use of Abudefduf instead of Glyphisodon, and of the rejection of 

 Abuhamrur, Farer, and other quasi subgeneric names of Forskal, to our friend Dr. Leonard Stejneger. From a letter dated 

 November 23, 1904, we quote his view of the matter, with which we fully concur: 



" Forskal, we are informed, based his nomenclature and systematic arrangement principally on Linnaeus, 10th ed., 

 probably the only systematic work he had with him. It is therefore of importance to examine into the "subdivisiones" 

 of genera which Linnaeus employed. He has four kinds, for instance: 



1. Perea, p. 289. 3. Salmo, p. 308. 

 X. Pinnis dorsalibus 2 distinctis. X. Truttee. 



XX. Dorso monopterygio, etc., etc. XX. Osmeri. 



2. Cimex, p. 441. XXX. Coregoni. 



a. Apteri. 4. Gryllus, p. 425. 



6. Scutellati. X. Mantis, 



c. Coleoptrati, etc. XX. Acridia. 



XXX. Bulla, etc. 



Only the fourth kind of subdivision corresponds exactly to our subgenus, but the names of subdivision 3 are by common 

 consent treated as subgenera and used as such in the singular (thus by yourself and Dr. Evermann in Fishes of North 

 and Mid. America). Of course the names of the second division have never been used in this sense, and in No. 1 there 

 are no names. 



The question as to Forskal's names then resolves itself to which of these categories they are to be referred. If they 

 are used as subgenera, or in a subgeneric sense like category 3, we must accept them. 



It seems then to me that Abudefduf comes within' category 4. Both C/i&todon and Acanlliurus are in the singular, and 

 Abudefduf is in no manner distinguishable from them. 



On the other hand, Perca dentibus Louti, Daba, Scarus denlibus Sidjan, Abu djubbe, Harid, fall under category 1 . 



The subdivisions of Scfeena (p. 44) seem to me to be very much of a similar character, or, rather, ihey correspond 

 almost exactly to the modern way of subdividing "commode" such large genera according to groups of species, which we 



