PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 103 



Malakozoologiscbeii Gesellschaft, 8° Franlifurt am Main, M. Diesterivegy 

 1883 ; vol. XV., pp. 58, 59. 

 Pisidium arcticum West. p. 58. 

 Pisidhini nivale West. p. 59. 

 Pisidium glaciale West. p. 59. 



All collected by the Vega expedition at Port Clarence, Alaska, near 

 Bering" Strait. 



LIST OF FISHES COLLECTED AT KEY WEST, FLORIDA, WITH 



NOTES AND DESCRIPTIONS. 



By DAVID !^. JORDA.X. 



Three weeks of the month of December, 1884, were spent by the writer 

 on the island of Key West, in making collections of the iishes in the 

 interest of the United States Fish Commission and of the Indiana Uni- 

 versitj'. 



The following is a catalogne of the species obtained, with color notes 

 and other descriptive items. One hundred and seventy-one species in 

 all were obtained. None others are included in the list, and the vernac- 

 ularnames here given are those only which are in use among the English- 

 speaking fishermen of Key West. These fishermen are mostlj' from the 

 Bahamas, where essentially the same nomenclature of the different spe- 

 cies has long prevailed. Spanish names are also heard at Key West, 

 but as these have been very exactly given by Professor Poey, I have 

 not thought it best to introduce them here. 



The general character of the fisheries of Key West has been elsewhere 

 discussed by me (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1884). 



All the fishing is done with the hook and line. Most of it is for bottom 

 fish (groupers, snappers, grunts, porgies, &c.,)in the channels between 

 the Keys, at moderate depths. In the season the larger scombroid fishes 

 (notably the king-fish) are caught by trolling. The bottom fishes are 

 brought to the market alive in the wells of the smacks, and killed to 

 suit purchasers. Of these, the grunt, Himiulon jjhimieri, far exceeds in 

 numbers all others. 



In collecting, I made all possible use of the aid of the fishermen. 

 About half the species obtained, and all those new to science, were taken 

 with a large " Baird seine," of fine mesh, which was worked by the 

 writer and his volunteer assistant, Mr. William H. Dye, of Indianapolis, 

 Indiana. Every portion of the shore of the island suitable for seining 

 was thoroughly examined. At no other i)oint on the coast of the United 

 States has the writer found small fishes so numerous and varied. 



The character of the fauna is in general similar to that of Cuba, but 

 there are numerous differences. Several northern fishes occur at Key 

 West, which do not cross the channel, and many of the most abundant 

 of the Iluvaua market fishes are still not known from Key West. There 



