IDENTIFICATION OF MAINE FISHES 



The average fisherman pursuing the sport of fishing for pleasure 

 is httle inchned to burden himself with the details of fish identification 

 as practiced by the professional ichthyologist. Unknown animals or 

 plants are identified through the use of keys defined as, "a tabulation 

 of those characteristics which will most readily and reliably distinguish 

 the form." An efi'ort has been made to provide easily observed char- 

 acteristics and to illustrate these characteristics whenever possible with 

 line drawings emphasizing important features. 



A great deal of confusion exists over common names of fishes. 

 Common names used in this book are those proposed by the American 

 Fisheries Society. Scientific names have been included as they are gen- 

 erally standardized throughout the world. 



Before attempting an identification it is suggested that the reader 

 acquaint himself with the drawing on page 9 representing a generalized 

 fish and showing the location of the principal characters used through- 

 out the keys. 



The keys are designed to provide the observer with two choices. 

 One of these choices will fit the fish you are trying to identify. Follow- 

 ing the choices which fit the fish at hand will lead to the name of the 

 specimen. First determine the family to which the fish belongs by con- 

 sulting the key to families on page 10. Some families of fish found in 

 Maine have only a single representative so that once the family is deter- 

 mined the name of the fish will be known. Other families may have 

 several representatives. In this case determine the family to which the 

 fish belongs and then turn to the page indicated and proceed through 

 the key to the members of that family until correct identification is 

 reached. Good practice in learning to identify fishes correctly would be 

 the "keying out" of a specimen familiar to the observer. 



