2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.99 



and make collections of fishes in the Maracaibo Basm of Venezuela. 

 This work continued from February through May of 1942. I pro- 

 ceeded to Venezuela under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution 

 and of the United States Department of State and was a guest there 

 of the then Standard Oil Co. of Venezuela, and of the Lago Petroleum 

 Corp., Lago de Maracaibo. To the officials of these companies I 

 again express my gratitude for their full cooperation. 



My first report on these collections was entitled "The Catfishes of 

 Venezuela, with Descriptions of Thirty-eight New Forms," published 

 February 11, 1944, in the Proceedings of the United States National 

 Aluseum, volume 94, pp. 173-338, 5 figs., 14 pis. In this report is 

 given an itinerary of my travels in Venezuela along with a Ust of col- 

 lecting stations. The second report, "The Fishes of the Family 

 Characinidae from Venezuela, with Descriptions of Seventeen New 

 Forms/' was published September 6, 1944, in the same Proceedings, 

 volume 95, pp. 235-367, 27 figs. 



A summary of my Venezuelan collections during 1942 reveals that 

 the largest number of species taken in one locality was 45 from the 

 Rio Negro. The next largest collection numbered 35 from the Rio 

 San Juan (Motatdn system), 33 from the Rio San Pedro, and 33 from 

 the Rio Socuy. In the stream systems where fairly representative 

 collections were made the following number of species were preserved: 

 Rio Motatdn, 54; Rio Negro, 45; Rio Palmar, 41; Rio Socuy, 33; Rio 

 Ap6n. 31; Rio Machango, 31; and Rio Chama, 10. There were 56 

 species from Lago de Maracaibo and along the coast of Gulf of Vene- 

 zuela to Cafio de Sagua. Altogether my collections contained 140 

 species from the Maracaibo-Gulf of Venezuela Basins; 25 from Rio 

 Gudrico and Rio Torbes; 1 from Rio Tuy system; and 3 species com- 

 mon to the first two basins, a total of 169 species and subspecies that 

 I collected. 



The present report is not intended to be comprehensive in scope, 

 since there are not yet sufficient collections of fishes from Venezuela 

 to justify the writing of a descriptive catalog. It is rather a report on 

 several collections of Venezuelan fishes, with descriptions of new 

 species, and represents only the beginning in the study of the fish 

 fauna of Venezuela. It is highly desirable that much more extensive 

 collections be made in all the stream systems and lake basins of the 

 country. 



Unless otherwise indicated all collections were made in 1942 by 

 L. P. Schultz in the Maracaibo Basin. Abbreviations used to indicate 

 museum catalog numbers are as follows: 



A. N. S. P. = Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 

 C. N. H. M. = Chicago Natural History Museum. 

 U. M. M. Z. = University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 

 U. S. N. M. = United States National Museum. 



