Till'; riSlll'S OF PANAMA l]AV 



( II AKI.ICS II. CILHICkl" AND i;i)\VIN C. STAKKS. 



( 'oNTIATS. 



I'l.ATIS I-XXXIII. 



Introduction 3 



List of New Speciks ............ 5 



Systematic Account ok Sria iks ........... 5 



General Remarks on Disiriiution ......... 205 



Tahi.e of Distkiiuiion ............. 206 



HlHIJOGRAPHY . 219 



Explanation of I'i.aies ............ 228 



Index ................ 293 



iNTItODm^TION. 



Thk iclitliyoloi;'ie history of Panama Bay falls naturally into three periods. 

 The first, heginnini;' with LSdO, depended upon the activity of Captain John AT. Dow, 

 whose collections, forwarded to tlie Smithsonian Tnstitiilion and to tiie British ]\rnseum, 

 were reported upon by Dr. Theodore Gill and Dr. Albert Gilnther. This early work 

 culminated in 1809 through the publication of Giinther's " Fishes of Central 

 America," which contains an admirable summary of the state of our knowledge at 

 that ilale, with valuable discussions of the fauiial relations of both marine and fresh- 

 water forms. 



The second period was characterized by tbe work of Dr.' Franz Steindachner, 

 based in part upon liis own collections, in part upon material obtained through various 

 correspondents. No general summary was given by him, but the diagnoses of new 

 species, which ap[)eared in his series of "Notizen" and "Beitrage" (See Bibliog- 

 raphy), form a model of accurate and detailed work of that description. 



