58 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



DEPARTMENT Ol'^ FISHES. 



Tlie number of accessions to the department of fishes during the 

 year was not so great as during the preceding year. Their scientific 

 value was also somewhat less. A collection of fishes from Nebraska, 

 Wyoming, and South Dakota was received from the United States 

 Fish Commission 5 also from the same source a collection of types of 

 fishes froni the Albatross collections in the North Pacific, as well as 

 some material obtained by the same vessel in that locality and in 

 Bering Sea in 1890 and 1891. A collection made by Dr. Leonhard 

 Stejnegeriu Bering Sea and the vicinity of Kamchatka deserves special 

 notice. A few specimens obtained from the Island of Yesso by Mr. 

 Cirebnitzki were also received. 



The honorary curator of the department, Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, is 

 still in New York City, as superintendent of the New York Aquarium. 



Mr. Barton A. Bean, the assistant curator, states that during the 

 year the collections have been carefully attended to, the bottled speci- 

 mens having been kept covered with alcohol, and the old labels replaced 

 by new ones where necessary. The collections on the shelves in the 

 fish hall have been condensed by placing several specimens of the 

 same species in one jar. Considerable additional shelf space was thus 

 secured. Some large and valuable collections resulting from exjilora- 

 tions in the North Pacific by the steamer Albatross were installed 

 during the year. An unusually large number of specimens were dis- 

 tributed, including several sets of deep-sea fishes, which were sent to 

 some of the principal museums in Europe. 



Tlie honorary curator and assistant curator have prepared reports 

 upon the fishes collected in the vicinity of the Commander Islands by 

 Dr. Leonhard Stejneger and Mr. N. Grebnitzki ; also npon the fishes 

 collected by the latter in Kamchatka and Japan. At the close of the 

 fiscal year Dr. Bean had in course of preparation a report upon the 

 fishes collected in 1887-88 by the Albatross, in South American waters. 

 Mr. Barton Beau is assisting in this work. 



In January, 1890, Messrs. B. W. Evermann and W. A. Wilcox, of 

 the United States Fish Commission, and Mr. Barton Bean, made au 

 investigation of the fish and fisheries of Indian Eiver, Florida. A 

 report upon these investigations was made to the United States Senate. 



Among the explorations which have resulted in enriching the collec- 

 tions, those already referred to indirectly were probably of the most 

 importance, namely, those of the steamer Albatross, in the North 

 Pacific, of field ])arties sent out by the Fish Compiission to the western 

 portion of the United States, and the expedition to Florida. A small 

 collection was also made by Eev. P. H. Sorensen, in Greenland. 



Material has been sent out for study on a number of occasions, and 

 several ichthyologists have examined the collections in the Museum 

 laboratory. 



