181 



GONOKHYNCHUS. 



The formation of this genus is due to Gronovius (ZoopTiylacion) , 

 but the sort on which it was established was placed by Gmelin and 

 Bloch with Cyprinus. It is to Cuvier, in the first edition of the 

 " Eegne Animal," that we owe the first modern notion of this fish; 

 but he leaves it with his Cyprinoidce. In the nineteenth volume 

 of the " Histoire des Poissons," Mr. Valenciennes places it in the 

 Malacopterygii, between Chanos and Mormyrus. Dr. Gunther, 

 in his " Catalogue of the Fishes of the British Museum," formed 

 for it a separate family (Gonorhynchidce) , between Scombresocidce 

 and Osteoglossidoe. The typical species was from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, but Dr. [Richardson described and figured a second 

 one from New Zealand and Western Australia, under the name 

 of Ryncliana Greyii (Erebus and Terror). I believe, also, that 

 my genus Gnathendalia " Memoire sur les Poissons de l'Afrique 

 Australe," p. 56, comes very near to this genus, which was 

 unknown to me at the time ; but I have not the speci- 

 mens with me; it was formed on a small fish I found in 

 great numbers near the Moravian Mission of Gnadenthal, in the 

 Cape of Good Hope colony. I considered it also to belong to the 

 Cyprinidce. In reference to this fish I beg to add, that it is on 

 this subject that Dr. Gunther quotes, for the first time in 1868, 

 my paper on the fishes of South Africa, written by me in 1858, 

 and published in 1861 ^and he does it, of course, in an abusive way. 

 Considering this sort as a Cyprinidce, I tried, in a short notice, 

 to distinguish it from the other groups then known. He pre- 

 tends not to perceive that it is by a misprint that the river, which 

 feeds it, is called Genadendal ; " evidently,' says he, " meaning 

 the well known Gnadenthal." It is likely that this locality is 

 better known to me who have been there several times, than to 

 Dr. Gunther ; and the name given to the fish is a sufficient proof 

 that the mistake belongs to the printer. As to the name itself, I 

 gave it the French pronunciation in a French work. I must 

 also add, that in the excellent map of South Africa, published by 

 Henry Hall, the mountains where it is situated are called 

 Genadendal. No one, of course, expects any indulgence from 

 Dr. Gunther on icthyological subjects, but on geographical ones 

 he might be more lenient, as he could hardly attribute to others, 



