INTRODUCTION. 



By Edward W. Nelson. 



The notes aud collections upon which the present paper is based were secured at intervals, 

 and whenever opportunity offered, during my entire residence in the north. They cover a period 

 from May, 1877, to October, ISSl. Through my own work and the cooperation of the fur traders 

 I secured specimens from various parts of the interior, extending from Bering Sea to Fort Yukon 

 and from the Kuskoquim Eiver north to Point Barrow. Unfortunately lack of time and means 

 forced me to be satisfied with such results as could be obtained in the intervals of the main work 

 in which I was engaged. These circumstances rendered anything but superficial results impos- 

 sible and good results should repay a thorough reworking of this region. These remarks refer 

 more particularly to the fresh and brackish water area, since I can claim to have examined very 

 little beyond that. Owing to unavoidable circumstances I have been forced to place the identiflca 

 tion and description of my alcoholic material in other hands. I have been fortunate in securing 

 the co-operation of Dr. T. H. Beau, whose familiarity with many of the species in their native 

 waters gives him a peculiar advantage in dealing with this material. 



EDWARD W. XELSON. 



Saint John's, Ariz., February 12, 1887. 



By Tarleton H. Bean. 



Mr. Nelson was prevented by ill health from carrying out his intention of making an exhaustive 

 report upon his Alaskan fishes. His collections, color sketches, and notes were, therefore, left in 

 my hands, with the request that I would identify the species and prepare a paper for publication. 

 I have made some remarks upon certain of the fishes, which represent especially interesting addi- 

 tions to the fauna or to our knowledge of the development of a species. There are fifty species 

 in Mr. Nelson's collection, one of which has recently been named in his honor.* 



Notwithstanding the small number of new species in Mr. Nelson's collections, they contain 

 numerous fishes of quite as much importance, representing, as they do, elements of the fauna which, 

 for a long term of years, have failed to appear or have not been certainly known to exist within 

 the Territory. In the first category may be mentioned Coitus a.rillaris and Coitus quailrifiUs of 

 Gill, which have been practically lost sight of for nearly thirty years. Of species new to the 

 Alaskan fauna Mr. Nelson took Parophrijs ischyrus, whose range is thus extended from Puget 

 Sound to Unalaska; Murcmoides ruberrimiis,^'\ii(i\i was knowu from Kamchatka; Chirolophus poly- 

 actocephalus, another Kamchatkau species of doubtful relationship, and Braehyopsis dodecaUdrus, the 

 third of a series of little known and rare Kamchatkau fishes. Another valuable specimen is a 



* An expedition in 1880, under the auspices of the U. S. Coast Survey, brought back several new fisliea 

 Mr Nelson had in his collection. These species were described while Mr. Nelson was still in the field. 



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