G20 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [22] 



Lutjanus alberti Risso, 1. c, 277. 



Lutjanus varius Risso, 1. c, 277. 



Lutjanus cotta Risso, 1. c, 282. 



Labrus oculis-perdix Rafinesque, Icbth. Oh., 1810, 39. 



Crenilabrus tigrinus Risso, Enr. Mdrid., iii, 317, 1826 (and varieties semimacttlafus and 



rubiginosu3) (fide Bonaparte). 

 Labrus wruginosus Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat., iii, 1811, 2G4. 

 Labrus capistratus Pallas, 1. c., 269. 

 ?? Crenilabrus aurantiacus "Cocco." 



Habitat — Mediterranean fauna. 



Etymology : Oeellaris, having an eye-like spot. 



This brilliant little fish seems to be abundant in the Mediterranean. 

 Our specimens are from Palermo. Its great variations in color have 

 given it a long and complicated synonymy, and even the question as to 

 which is its oldest name must remain unsettled. 



Labrus oeellaris L. may be this species, but of this there can be no 

 certainty. The description only shows that the species is a Symphodus, 

 and that it has a black spot at the middle of the base of the caudal. It 

 is very likely a female of the present species, for the female of this spe- 

 cies is probably the only one with a black spot at the middle of the base 

 of the caudal and no distinct markings elsewhere. We have, however, 

 hesitated to adopt the name Symphodus oeellaris for the present species, 

 as Linnseus 7 fish might possibly have belonged to S. rostratus or possi- 

 bly to S. tinea. It is certain that Brtinnich's No. 76 belonged to the 

 present species, and scarcely less certain that this is his No. 73 also. 



In the year 1788 Bonnaterre gave to this Brunnich's No. 73 the spe- 

 cific name of cceruleovittatus, and to No. 76 a page later the name of 

 guttatus. In the same year Gmelin called No. 73 Labrus unimaculatus, 

 and No. 76 also Labrus guttatus. If the name oeellaris be set aside as 

 unidentifiable we must then choose between Labrus coeruleovittatus of 

 Bonnaterre and Labrus unimaculatus of Gmelin. We are unable to 

 find which of these two works, both now a century old, has priority. 

 Neither writer mentions the other. Gmelin's preface is dated March 

 16, 1788, while the page devoted by Bonnaterre to the u Privilege du 

 Boi," or copyright, bears date of May 16, 1788. Bonnaterre states 

 that there have been thirteen editions of the Systema Naturae, and Gme- 

 lin's edition is styled the thirteenth, but there is no evidence that he 

 had seen or used the thirteenth edition, or that the latter had appeared 

 when his own work was published. Most likely the two works were 

 nearly simultaneous in their appearance, a very slight probability 

 lying in favor of Gmelin, whose preface was written two months before 

 Bonnaterre obtained his privilege of publication. On the other hand, 

 Bonnaterre's namefor the present species is much preferable to Gmelin's, 

 which is irrelevant and misleading. A little later in date is Bloch's 

 name, quinquemaculatus, lately brought into use by Dr. Giinther. This 

 name is scarcely preferable to unimaculatus, and the figure of Bloch is a 

 caricature, though it can not refer to any other species. In any case 



