898 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST.  [Vor. XXXIV. 
first anal spine and the lack of notch on the spinous dorsal. 
Dr. Gilbert reduces the list of doubtful species by relegating Æupo- 
macentrus dienceus to the synonymy of Æ. fuscus, Zridio kirschi to 
the synonymy of Z. poeyi, and Gerres embryx with Gerres brasilianus 
to the synonymy of Gerres lineatus. Chloroscombrus ectenurus and 
Labrosomus xanti, species hitherto considered doubtful, are regarded 
as well established. 
In the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada (1899, p. 141), 
Dr. Philip Cox presents a list of the fishes and Batrachians of Gaspé, 
Quebec, with notes on their distribution. He finds the species known 
as Couesius plumbeus, C. dissimilis, and C. greeni very closely related, 
and suggests their probable identity, at. the same time describing 
two forms of C. p/umbeus, which he calls varieties. These species 
will bear further study, the present arrangement being wholly 
provisional. 
In the Records of the Australian Museum (1900, p. 193), Mr. Edgar 
R. Waite makes a number of interesting additions to the fish fauna 
of Lord Howe Island. These species are described as new: Amphi- 
prion latezonatus, Holacanthus conspicillatus, Holacanthus semicinctus, 
and Luchilomycterus quadradicatus. Euchilomycterus is a new genus 
of Diodontidz, having the anterior dermal spines four-rooted. The 
name Acanthocaulus is suggested as a substitute for Prionurus, pre- 
occupied by Prionurus Ehrenberg, 1829, a genus of spiders. The 
original date of Prionurus Lacépède is set down as 1830, but its 
original publication dates from prior to 1828, when it was men- 
tioned by Cuvier. It is therefore earlier than Prionurus Ehrenberg, 
which is given as 1829. The interest shown by Australian natural- 
ists in their rich fish fauna is most commendable. It is to be hoped 
that it may crystallize soon in a general manual of Australian 
ichthyology. I may note that the description of Gempylus serpens 
by Jordan and Evermann, noted by Waite (p. 199), was copied from 
previous authors, the authors having no specimen in hand. 
In the Records of the Australian Museum (1900, p. 210), Mr. Edgar 
R. Waite, of Sydney, records a collection of fishes, mostly from 
Fremantle, Western Australia, in the Museum of Perth. A new 
species of Oplegnathus is described under the name of Hopleg- 
nathus woodwardi, with an interesting discussion on the difficulties 
which a man in the field encounters in dealing with scanty literature, 
