ICHTHYOLOGY OF VENEZUELA — SCHULTZ 11 



HISTORY OF ICHTHYOLOGY IN VENEZUELA 



As far as I have been able to find the fresh-water stingray of the KIo 

 Meta in Venezuela, one of the most dreaded aquatic inhabitants, is 

 the first fish of that country to be figured and described. It appeared 

 in a paper by Rouhn (1829), but it was not given a scientific name. 

 The first scientific contribution appears to be that by two other 

 Frenclimen, Cuvier and Valenciennes, who included in their famous 

 work "Histoire Naturelle des Poissons" descriptions of new fishes, 

 published from 1828 to 1849. M. Plee apparently sent specimens to 

 the Paris Museum from the vicinity of Maracaibo and Lago de Mara- 

 caibo, Puerto Cabello, and La Guaira, as well as from other locahties 

 in the West Indies. The few species described by these French 

 authors represented the known ichthyological fauna of the Maracaibo 

 Basin for a period of 75 years, until after the turn of the century. 



Although Boulenger in 1903 and Regan in 1903 and 1905 described 

 a few new fishes from the Maracaibo Basin and from Venezuela, no 

 extensive collecting of fresh-water fishes was done in the Maracaibo 

 Basin until Dr. Franklin F. Bond took fair series during 1938 and 

 1939, and I made extensive collections during February tlu-ough May 

 of 1942. 



Numerous authors have reported on small collections of Venezuelan 

 fishes from outside the Maracaibo Basin, but the fish fauna of the 

 Basin itself has remained an ichthyological incognito until the present. 

 Even now it cannot be said that the fish fauna of Venezuela is well 

 known; perhaps it is only half known, for there are no extensive collec- 

 tions from any of the major tributaries of the Orinoco system. The 

 coastal rivers from the Gulf of Paria to the Ivlaracaibo Basin are 

 practically unknown ichthyologically. New and unusual forms of 

 fishes should turn up as experienced collectors begin to work in these 

 and other rivers of Venezuela. Even with the collecting in the 

 Maracaibo Basin the two major rivers, the Catatumbo and the 

 Santa Ana of that Basin, as well as the lake itself, remain practically 

 untouched. My work and that of others should be considered only 

 preliminary, for years of collecting must be done before the fishes of 

 Venezuela are well kno"\vn. 



The following minor contributions on Venezuelan fishes should be 

 mentioned: Rudolph Kner m 1854 and 1859 and Wilhehn Peters in 

 1860, 1868, and 1877 reported on early studies. Peters's 1877 report 

 was based on specimens collected by Dr. Carl Sachs in Venezuela on 

 his trip from September 27, 1876, to June 28, 1877. Albert Giinther, 

 1859-1866, recorded a few species of fishes from Venezuela, mostly 

 from Puerto Cabello, La Guaira, and the vicinity of Caracas. An- 

 other early author, Adolfo Ernst (1877), pubhshed a book that devoted 

 three pages to fishes. Two other early authors, Charles Liitken 



