REPORT OK COMMISSIONER OK KISII AND KISRERIES. 141 



meal. They bi-ing tliree or four potatoes, tul)erH, ii liaudfiil or two of rice, or a few 

 copper pennies, and in exchange receive about a pint of fish. In the kitchen the fish 

 are made up with peppers or other spiced herbs, and they do not taste bad. The 

 soldiers have become quite fond of this food, and Uberally patronize tlie little native 

 restaurants where it is served. 



Tliis Hsli proved to bo of an iinde.scribccl ^onus and .species, and its 

 diagnostic features were given in an article in Science (January 8, 

 1902), where the name Mistlchthys luzonensis was applied to it. The 

 maximum length of the species is only 0.6 inch and the average slightly 

 over 0.5 inch. It is the smallest known fish and probably the smallest 

 known vertebrate. 



Through the courtesy of the Surgeon-General of the Army, the 

 Commission was enabled to place three collecting outfits in the hands 

 of medical oflicers located in various parts of the archipelago, and it is 

 expected that additional specimens of interest will thus be obtained. 



SHAD OP THE OHIO RIVER. 



Prof. B. W. Evermann concluded his study of the shad of the Ohio 

 River, referred to in the annual report for 1898, and submitted a paper 

 thereon which was published in May, 1902. Publication of this article 

 was delayed in the hope that opportunity might be afi'orded for obtain- 

 ing further information on this fish, especially its migration from the 

 Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi and its tributaries. 



This shad proves to be an indigenous species, and is not, as some 

 have supposed, the transplanted shad from the Atlantic coast. It lias 

 appropriately been named Alosa oJdensis. It is an excellent food-fish, 

 probably not inferior to the common shad, but is not highly regarded 

 by the people of the Mississippi basin, the price received by fishermen 

 being only 2 cents a pound. Its abundance and distribution are not 

 yet known, and the annual catch is quite small and localized. 



FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES, ST. LAWRENCE RIVER, AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 



The extensive collections of fishes from these waters obtained ])v the 

 Commission during a series of years have been reported on by Prof. 

 Barton W. Evermann and Dr. W. C. Kendall, in four annotated 

 lists published in March and April, 1902. The number of species and 

 subspecies known from the Great Lakes and their tributary waters 

 is 152, of which 27 are peculiar to Great Lakes basin. Erom Lake 

 Ontario 73 species are recorded, and from the St. Lawrence River 71. 

 The fish fauna of Lake Champlain includes 54 species'. 



SILVERSIDES OF THE EAST COAST. 



The silversides are among the most abundant of the small fishes 

 inhabiting the salt, brackish, and fresh waters of the Eastern and 

 Southern States. Their maxinuim length is but little over 6 inches, 

 and most of them are hardly half so large; they are, therefore, only 

 sparingly eaten by man, but they constitute one of the most important 



