23 G REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Lycodonus mirabilis; Cryptacanthodes maculatus; Centroscymnus sp., 

 the last two being the first of their kind from so far south. 



U. S. Fish Commission steamer "Albatross," N. lat. 35° 37' 30" ; W. 

 long. 74°. Accession 13134; catalogue, 32782-32798, 32804-32820. 

 The collection was made during April and May. It contains many 

 interesting species, and the following apparently new ones: Raia, 

 32793 ; Ly codes, 32813. 



U. S. Fish Commission steamer u Albatross, v off Chesapeake and Delaware 

 Bays,&c. Accession 13247; catalogue, 33006-33061. This collection 

 is particularly rich in the following species: Haloporphyr us viola, 

 Glyptocephalus cynoglossus, Scylliorhinus retifer, Alepoccphalus agassizii, 

 Macrurus bairdii. 



Dr.H. C. Yarrow, Washington, B. C. Accession ; catalogue, 33076. 



A fine large specimen of Tylosurus caribbccus (52 inches in length). 



Work done upon the fishes during 1883. 



In arranging the collection of fishes for exhibition and study, as well 

 as for the ordinary purposes of preservation, I have tried to transfer 

 the contents of tanks as far as possible into glass jars. Powder tanks 

 are so liable to become leaky and the tin lining wears off so quickly 

 that we need to be continually overhauling them in order to save the 

 contents from deterioration and destruction. It would be very hard to 

 tell the number of such transfers made during the year, but some idea 

 of the work may be gained from the fact that almost the entire stock of 

 jars purchased for the year was used. 



Most of the fishes are now identified and labeled and collected in their 

 proper families, though not yet in zoological sequence, for want of a hall 

 sufficiently large to hold the entire collection. 



A card catalogue of the fishes in jars has been completed, filling at 

 least 20,000 cards and representing more than three times that number 

 of individuals. This does not include undetermined collections and tank 

 specimens. 



A collection was prepared for exhibition at the International Fish- 

 eries Exhibition in London. This included 450 species and represented 

 pretty fully the following subjects : Alaska, Gulf of Mexico, and East 

 Florida, Salmonoids of North America, exclusive of Greenland, and the 

 genera of fresh- water fishes. Of the Alaskan species, 81 were exhib- 

 ited ; of the Salmonoids, 38 species ; of the fishes of the Gulf of Mexico 

 and East Florida, 173 species ; and of the fresh-water fishes, 183 species 

 were shown. Section F of the London Fisheries Catalogue relates to the 

 collections of fishes exhibited. In this section there is a general survey 

 of the regions represented, and the common names, maximum size, food 

 qualities, and spawning habits of the species are treated upon. This 

 collection of fishes was made the basis in London of some exchanges 

 with the British Museum, to which institution a large part of it was 

 presented at the close of the exhibition. 



In the review of the important accessions during the year, it will be 



