20 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY II. 



CENTRAECHIDJE. 



10. EUPOMOTIS. 



JEupomotis, Gill & Jordan, Field and Forest, 1877, v. 2, p. 190. 



In the Journal de Physique, June, 1819, page 420,* Eafinesque first 

 proposes the name Lepomis for the American Sunflshes, the type to be 

 Lahrus auritus of authors. The genus Lepomis he then proposes to 

 divide into two subgenera, Pomotis and Apomotis, the former having the 

 body rounded and the opercle auriculated, the latter having the body 

 rounded or oblong and the opercle without auricle. 



Of auriculated species, only one, auritus, is mentioned. This species 

 is then obviously the type of Pomotis ; but it had been already indicated 

 as the type of Lepomis. Pomotis then is typical Lepomis, and is a sim- 

 ple synonym of the latter name. 



In the Ichthyologia Ohiensis, in 1820, Rafinesque characteristically 

 changed some of these nasnes; Lepomis here becomes Icthelis, and 

 Apomotis, Telipomis. Pomotis is still used in the same sense as before. 

 In 1829, Cuvier and Valenciennes revived the name Pomotis of Rafi- 

 nesque in precisely the same sense in which Rafinesque used it, but in- 

 cluding several additional species. Cuvier does not credit the name 

 Pomotis to Rafinesque, but, in accordance with a custom then as now 

 too prevalent, in modifying the characters assigned to the genus, allowed 

 his own name to supersede that of the earlier author. That Cuvier 

 accepted the name Pomotis from Rafinesque is evident from the fact 

 that he quotes Rafinesque's descriptions in a foot- note. Pomotis and 

 Bryttus of Cuvier and Valenciennes are practically equivalent to Po- 



*"13. Zepomrs(Thoraciqne). Corps arrondi, ovale ou oblong, trfescomprimd. T6te et 

 opercales 6cailleux, ceus-ci mutiqnes, le post^rieur flexueux, membraneux, quelquefois 

 auricule. Boucho petite, machoire a petits deuts, levre sup^rieure a peine extensibJe. 

 Uue nageoire dorsale ; nageoire thoracique a 6 rayons dont 1 ^pineux sans appendices. 

 Anns an milieu. Ce genre est nombreux en esp&ces, je'n connois 7 a 8 des iStats-Unis; 

 son type est le Labrus auritus des auteurs, sons le nom duquel il y a 4 on 5 esp^ces con- 

 fondues. II difif^re particuliferement du Spams par son opercule 6cailleux et le d6fauL 

 d'appendice thoracique. II se devise en deux sous-genre : 1. Pomotis. Corps arrondi, 

 opercule auricula. 2. Apomotis. Corps arrondi ou oblong, opercule sans auricule ; mais 

 tous ont le corps tachetd et une tache noire sur I'opercule. J'en ai ddcouvert deux 

 nouvelles espfeces dans I'Ohio. 1. L. cyanellus. Corps oblong, tout convert de points 

 bleus, jaues a lignes fiexueuses bleues, opercule sans auricule; tache oblongue, queue 

 bilob^e. 2. L. macruohirus. Corps ovale, points bruns, point d'auricule ; tache ob- 

 longue, toute noire; pectorales tr^s longues atteignant Tauale ; queue fourch^e." — 

 (Rafinesque.) 



