Concerning the Genus Hybopsis of Agassiz

Abstract

FOR some time the writer has felt that the genus called Hybopsis by Jordan & Evermann was a composite group, and that the name Hybopsis does not belong to any of its members. In 1854, Professor Agassiz described a new genus of minnows under the name of Ilybopsis, his type being Hybopsis gracilis Agassiz. This species was identified by Jordan & Gilbert in 1882 with Ceratichthys hyalinus Cope, supposed to be the same as Rutilus amblops Rafinesque. But Agassiz's account applies equally to some one of the small minnows of the group called Alburnops by Girard. Of this group Alburnops blennius Girard is type. The two species, blennius and hyalinus, are much alike, except for the conspicuous barbel present in the latter. This character, undoubtedly of generic value, is not mentioned by Agassiz, and we cannot well suppose that he overlooked it. As Rafinesque did not notice a barbel in his Rutilus amblops, we should apparently not use his name or that of Agassiz for a species showing that character. The name Hybopsis, in my judgment, should be restored to the Alburnops group, in which the name gracilis has priority over blennius, stramineus, deliciosus, missuriensis, and other recognized synonyms. In the genus Hybopsis, as defined by Jordan & Evermann (I896), the various subgenera mentioned should all, besides some others, be regarded as distinct genera. We should, I think, recognize the following