2 BULLETIN 189, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



(see p. 503). This total number represents an increase of 106 

 species over the last, then complete, list published by Evermann and 

 Radcliffe in 1917. 



An effort was made to make the catalog so complete that no other 

 books will be required for the identification of the shore fishes of Peru. 

 The general biologist, who will want to identify fishes occasionally, 

 the beginner, and the especially interested layman have always been 

 kept in mind, and for them the work was made as simple as possible. 

 Technical terms were avoided, if practicable. Definitions of the ones 

 used are supplied (see p. 10), and most of the external characters 

 commonly mentioned in descriptions are illustrated and named 

 in figure 3. The use of internal characters, especially in the keys, 

 was avoided as far as practical to eliminate the necessity of 

 dissections. In brief, the catalog is intended to provide practical 

 yet scientifically accurate means for the identification of the fishes 

 in the area included. 



LITERATURE ON THE FISHES OF PERU 



The most important and comprehensive work on the classification 

 of the fishes of Peru is the bulletin entitled "The Fishes of the West 

 Coast of Peru and the Titicaca Basin," by Evermann and Radcliffe 

 (1917), in which 158 species of marine fishes are listed and 38 are 

 illustrated. This work was based chiefly on a collection made by 

 Dr. R. E. Coker, who, as an employe of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, 

 made an investigation of the fishery resources of Peru for the Peruvian 

 Government in 1907 and 1908. That collection contained somewhat 

 over 500 specimens, among which Evermann and Radcliffe recognized 

 120 species, 29 of which were from fresh water, and 12 (all marine 

 forms) of the 120 were described as new. The authors gave descrip- 

 tions of species of which specimens were included in Dr. Coker's 

 collection, but not of other species recorded from Peru. 



Other papers, based wholly or in part on the marine fishes of Peru, 

 which were used freely in the preparation of this catalog, are the 

 following: 



"The Marine Fishes of Peru," by Abbott (1899), based chiefly on a 

 small coflection made at Callao in 1896 by Rear Admiral L. A. Beards- 

 ley, U. S. N., though all the marine fishes recorded from Peru, so far 

 as knowm to the author, were listed. Also one new genus and five 

 new species were described. 



"On a Collection of Marine Fishes from Peru," by Nichols and 

 Murphy (1922), based on a collection made in 1919 and 1920 by 

 Dr. R. C. Murphy, the junior author, at various points between 

 Lobos de Tierra Island (6°23' S.) and Independencia Bay (14°18' S.). 

 In this collection 64 species were recognized, of which 2 were described 

 as new. This paper also contains a discussion of the distribution and 

 characteristics of the marine fishes of Peru, as well as fishes in general. 



