II. History of Rhode Island Ichthyology 



Very little has been published on the classification of marine 

 fishes of Rhode Island. The first systematic contribution was "List 

 of Fishes of Narragansett Bay" by H. C. Bumpus (1900). This 

 list laid the groundwork for H. C. Tracy's "Annotated List of 

 Fishes Known to Inhabit the Waters of Rhode Island" (1910). 

 This list has not been revised since that time. With reference to 

 adjacent waters Linsley (1844) published a catalogue of the fishes 

 of Connecticut. Storer (1839) reported on the ichthyofauna of 

 Massachusetts. T. H. Bean (1901) compiled a catalogue of the 

 fishes of Long Island Sound. The fishes of New Jersey were recorded 

 by Fowler (1906). Nichols and Breder (1927) published "The 

 Marine Fishes of New York and Southern New England." Hilde- 

 brand and Schroeder (1928) followed with "Fishes of Chesapeake 

 Bay." "The Fishes of the Gulf of Maine," Bigelow and W T elch 

 (1925) has been revised by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953). The 

 latter two publications cover areas removed from Rhode Island, 

 but provide useful data relating to species inhabiting the waters 

 of Rhode Island. 



The commercial fishery of Rhode Island is discussed by Goode 

 (1884); McFarland (1911); and Ackerman (1941) and traces the 

 development of the New England fisheries including Rhode Island's 

 part in their growth. Recently, "Studies on the Marine Resources 

 of Southern New England" published by the Bingham Ocea- 

 nographic Laboratory of Yale University contains excellent life 

 history details of certain fishes indigenous to Block Island Sound. 

 Discussion of the trash fishery and pelagic fish eggs were also made. 

 Publications by Morrow (1951), Warfel and Merriman (1944), 

 Sanders (1952) and Merriman and Sclar (1952) are of special 

 interest. Notes on unusual southern species occurring in Rhode 



