Var. canosus. 1836-Silurus (Pimelodus) cœnosus RICH. Fauna, Bor.-Amer. Fishes, p. 132. Amiurus cœnosns JORDAN & COpeland (1876), Check List, 159. 1859-Pimelodus antoniensis GRD. Pac. R. R. Expl. x, 291. Amiurus antoniensis GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 44. Var. analis. 1877— Amiurus natalis subspecies analis JORDAN (1877), Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. x, 87. Several young specimens of the Southwestern variety (antoniensis) of this most widely diffused species. The differences separating this form from the variety cupreus are very slight. ART. XVIII.-A CATALOGUE OF THE FISHES OF THE FRESH WATERS OF NORTH AMERICA. BY DAVID S. JORDAN, M. D. The following catalogue embraces all those species of fishes thus far known to inhabit the fresh waters of North America, including that part of Mexico which is similar in its faunal characteristics to neighboring portions of the United States. It may be considered as a new edition of Jordan and Copeland's Check List,* as it covers essentially the same ground. The work has been, however, entirely recast, and brought up to date, so as to include the results of the author's own studies, and those of other writers so far as the latter have been made known. The classification, as regards the families and higher groups, is throughout that of Professor Gill. It has seemed best to adopt this arrangement, rather than that of any other author, if for no other reason, that the present catalogue may be readily compared with Professor Gill's Catalogue of the Fishes of the East Coast of North America. The order of the forms has, however, been reversed, as it seems decidedly more philosophic to arrange them in an ascending series, beginning with the most generalized forms, and ending with those "higher", or more specialized. I have included all the species of Salmonidæ, Cyprinodontidæ, Gasterosteidæ, and of some other groups, members of which inhabit both salt and fresh waters, and I have excluded the Gobiida, Belonidæ, etc., some of which ascend fresh waters from the sea. Any line drawn between fresh-water and salt-water fishes must be an arbitrary one, and I have preferred to draw it between the Cyprinodonts and the Gobies. This list includes all those species which have proved, on full examination, to be valid, in our present understanding of "valid" species, and also such of the dubious or unverified species which appear to have, on balancing the chances, a reasonable probability in their favor. Species against which the balance of probabilities appears to lie have been generally omitted. In certain genera, chiefly Southwestern, e. g. Cyprinella, Gila, Notropis, where many species were originally described in a loose fashion, and where no examination of typical exam * Check List of the Fishes of the Fresh Waters of North America, by David S. Jordan and Herbert E. Copeland. <Bulletin Buffalo Society of Natural History, 1876, pp. 133-164. ples has been made, it has been necessary to include all the species described, in spite of the probability that not half of them are valid— as we have no means of determining which half. I hope, however, soon to be able to examine the original typical specimens, or, still better, to make further collections in the same localities. In case of species which are for various reasons considered doubtful, the nature of the doubt has been indicated as follows: d. s., a doubtful species; d. a. s., doubtful as to species, i. e., doubt as to correctness of identification; d. g., doubtful as to genus. Species so loosely described as to be of uncertain genus are, however, generally omitted. Varieties or subspecies have been generally omitted. There can be no doubt that a full study of our fishes will necessitate the recognition by name of varieties or subspecies, whatever called, in the case of nearly every widely diffused form. In very few cases, however, have these received names, except incidentally when described as new species, and in still fewer have they been properly limited and defined. Their study and definition are therefore a matter for future work. The number of nominal species included in this catalogue is 665, which are distributed in 157 genera. In Jordan and Copeland's Check List, the number of species is about 670, arranged in 150 genera. The total number of admitted species therefore has been slightly diminished (the ground covered in this list being greater), although upward of forty new species have been added since the publication of the first list. The reduction has been chiefly in the Salmonida, Silurida, and Catostomida. A considerable number of species doubtless remains to be discovered in the Southern and Southwestern parts of the United States, particularly in the ponds and bayous of the lowlands, while the number of species of Cyprinidæ and Cyprinodontida must be further reduced. The total number of species will therefore not vary far from 680. The number of genera admitted has been steadily increasing, and will probably in time reach about 200, unless succeeding ichthyologists adopt a different standard of generic values from that which at present obtains. Subgenera have been recognized for the more strongly marked sections, and several new ones have been here indicated, most of which, however, need no distinctive name. |