1884.] NATURAL SCIENCES OE PHILADELPmA. 167 ON THE ANACANTHINE FISHES. BY THEODORE GILL. Under the name Anacanthini have been grouped those Teleost fishes which have " vertical and ventral fins without spinous rays; the ventral fins, if present, are jugular or thoracic; air-bladder, if present, without pneumatic duct " (Giinther, Int. to Study of Fishes, p. 537, 1880). These characters are not re-inforced by any others, but nevertheless the fishes so character-ized have been segregated by most ichthyologists into an "order." The propriety of such valuation was disputed by the present writer in 1861 (Cat. Fishes E. Coast N. Am., p. 7 ), and the group degraded to the rank of a suborder, and subsequently (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila., 1863, p. 255), the genus Zoarces was trans-ferred to it and associated with the Lycodinse and Gymnelinae in the same family. The American ichth3-ologists have generally acceded to the propriety of this degradation of the Anacanthini to subordinal rank. Most have also conceded the propriety of the association of Zoarces with the forms indicated, as has also Prof. Collett of Norway (Den Norske Nordhavs Expedition 1876-1878; Ficke, p. 78-79, 1880), although Prof. Cope has still retained Zoarces among the Blenniidae. The subordinate rank of the Anacanthini appears indeed to be too evident to need further emphasis in this place, and its value as a suborder, or even as a natural and homogeneous group,may be justly questionad and denied. Nevertheless, for the sake of convenience at least, the collection ma}'^ be provisionally (and only provisionally) pre-served. The group under various names has been adopted by European authors, and the following are synonyms, exclusive of those pertaining to the Heterosomatous types. JUGULARES OR ANACANTHINI. Synonymy. X [Holobranches'\ Jngulaires, Bumeril, Zoologie Analytique, p. Ill, 1806. X [Solobranches] Apodes, Dumeril, Zoologie Analytique, p. 117, 1806. X Chorizopia, Rafine:-que, Analyse de la Nature, p. — , 1815. (Suborder.) X [.Tetr apodes] Jugulaires, De Blainville, Journal de Physique, t. 83, p. 255, 1816. (Suborder.) X [Apodes] De Blainville, Journal de Physique, t. 83, p. 255, 1816.
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