6 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
In 1870 the late Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Eaciue, Wis., brought to public notice two 
apparently new species of whiteflsh, specimens of which were obtained while experi- 
mentally dredging’ in Lake Michigan, about 16 or 20 miles off Eacine, in water from 
60 to 70 fathoms deep. The fish were sent to the Smithsonian Institution and were 
named Argijrosomus lioyi and Argyrosonms nigripinnis by Dr. Theodore Gill, who, 
however, i^ublished no descriptions of them. In an important paper, entitled 
“Deep-water fauna of Lake Michigan,” read before the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences 
and printed in the Transactions of the Academy for 1870-72, Dr. Hoy recorded the 
results of his researches and referred to the former fish as follows : 
The Argyrosomus hoyi Gill is the saiallest of the whitefish so far found in any of the Great Lakes, 
it being only about 8 inches in length and weighing one-fourth of a pound. The moon-eye, as called 
by the fishermen, is an excellent panfish, but its small size renders it unsuitable for market. Trout 
devour large numbers of those little beauties, as they constitute a large share of their food. The 
moon-eye is only found in water over 40 fathoms. 
In a paijer by Prof. Milner, entitled “New Species of A rt/yrosowms and Core- 
gonus,’’ printed in the Report of the U. S. Commission of Pish and Fisheries for 
1872-73, Dr. Gill’s manuscript names, Argyrosonms hoyi and A. nigripinnis, are used. 
Eeferring to the former, Milner remarks : 
The cisco of Lake Michigan, not to be coufomided with the cisco of Lake Ontario, is a fish fre- 
quenting the deep waters. It is taken in considerable quantities, at depths of from 30 fathoms to 70, 
and is the principal food of the salmon or mackinaw trout. Specimens were sent to the Smithsonian 
Institution, in 1870, by Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Eacine, Wis., obtained in that vicinity, from which Dr. 
Gill made diagnostic notes, and adopted the name Argyrosomus hoyi. In a list of species of Lake 
Michigan, published in the Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Dr. Hoj^ included Dr. 
Gill’s manuscript name. 
Miluer further states that iu 1871, while eugaged in work for the U. S. Fish 
Commission, he collected numerous Sfiecimens of this species (locality not given, but 
presumably Lake Michigan), which were lost in the Chicago fire. In 1872 he obtained 
specimens in Lake Superior, oue of which, now in the H. S. National Museum (No. 
10576), from Outer Island, Wisconsin, he describes in detail; the fish, which is llj 
inches long, agrees perfectly with examples from Lake Ontario, a figure of oue of 
which accompanies this paper. There is no doubt that the fish collected by Dr. Hoy, 
for which Dr. Gill proposed the name Argyrosomus hoyi, are very difterent from those 
which Milner had iu hand when he prepared the article mentioned. It seems strange 
that in what purported to be the first published description of the fish Miluer should 
not have consulted the specimens on which the species was based. 
In a letter dated December 26, 1893, Prof. Jordan writes as follows regarding the 
true hoyi and the fish described as such by Milaer: 
It is evident that the hoyi of Gill is a very dift’ereut fish from the other, having no particular rela- 
tion to it. The description of hoyi, iu the Synopsis, was taken from the specimen sent by Dr. Hoy. 
I do not know whether any part of Milner’s account was mixed with it or not; I think not. The fish 
Hoy sent has the lower jaw included, the snout decurved, rather short gill-rakers, and is, I think, a 
typical Coregonus rather than an Argyrosomus. The other fish bears more or less resemblance to laurettce, 
but is probably a ueAV species. 
It will thus be seen that an interesting question of nomenclature, involving the 
two species, is raised, and its settlement becomes necessary. It would seem that if 
Milner’s use of the name hoyi iu tbe report referred to was the first appearance of the 
name iu j)riut, it must be retained for the fish described by him, notwithstanding the 
misapplication of Dr. Gill’s name. 
