A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOG OF THE SHORE 

 FISHES OF PERU 



By Samuel F. Hildebrand 



INTRODUCTION 



In 1941, upon the request of the Government of Peru, the United 

 States Fish and WildUfe Service sent a delegation of three men — 

 R. H. Fiedler, N. D. Jarvis, and M. J. Lobell — equipped with a 

 fishing vessel and other essential apparatus, to Peru to explore the 

 fisheries of that country. This survey was a part of the United 

 States Government's program for cooperation with the other American 

 republics authorized by an act of Congress. The expenses were 

 defrayed by the Peruvian Government. The "Mission," as the 

 delegation hereafter will be called, had as its chief assignments an 

 investigation of the abundance of the fishery resources, the appro- 

 priate development of the fisheries, and the proper handling and 

 utilization of the catch. The Government of Peru was interested 

 chiefly because it seemed highly desirable to provide nourishing 

 food for the population at a low cost if possible. This seemed es- 

 pecially desirable at the time because economic conditions were 

 greatly distm-bed by the wars raging elsewhere in the world. The 

 Peruvian Navy was interested in the development of the fisheries, 

 because a fishing fleet would provide additional coastal defense (see 

 Fiedler, Jarvis, and Lobell, 1943, p. 1). 



During the course of the explorations a collection of fishes, con- 

 sisting of about 2,148 specimens, now deposited in the United States 

 National Museum, was obtained. The work that resulted in the 

 preparation of this descriptive catalog of the shore fishes of Peru had 

 its inception when the study of that collection was undertaken. The 

 desirability of examining other specimens from Peru and making the 

 catalog as comprehensive as possible became apparent immediately. 

 The study of all the specimens from Peru in the United States National 

 Museum and a few borrowed from other museums (often involving a 

 comparison of them with examples from other countries) and an 

 examination of the literature have resulted in the recognition of 

 264 species of shore fishes from Peru, 51 of which appear to be new 



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