Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 



■ <3 



■ _D 

 - CO 



— - ^ 1-0 



■ o 



This series of volumes, several of which are now available, presents authorita- 

 tive studies of the anadromous, estuarine, and marine fishes presently known 

 to frequent the western North Atlantic from Hudson Bay southward to the 

 Amazon. For many years to come, these studies will rank as primary references 

 for both amateur and professional persons interested in fishes and as significant 

 working tools for students of the sea. a^^;^^ o 



Shortly after Part One was published, the eminent ichthyologist, Carl ^= 

 Hubbs, said, "The first volume of Fishes of the Western North Atlan- ^= 

 TIC sets a very high standard — perhaps so high a standard as to render diffi- 

 cult the completion of subsequent volumes by authors less well equipped than , 

 Henry Bigelow and associates in courage, energy, time, meticulousness, ex- i 

 perience, library facilities and willingness to sacrifice much else for this one j 

 grand task. ... In several ways this volume has been successfully adapted, j 

 in line with the policy set for the series, for the use and interest of sportsmen | 

 and general naturalists as well as ichthyologists. Features that lead to this ;: 

 desirable end ... include the excellent summaries of natural history informa- | 

 tion, the limited treatment of internal and particularly microscopical anatomy, ] 

 the 'simplified keys, the complete coverage of the species in the clear-cut , 



illustrations." I 



The over-all arrangement accords with our present knowledge of system- 

 atics, and each account is comprehensive in treatment, excellently illustrated, 

 fully documented, and completely indexed. In addition to the descriptive 

 details and discussion of orders, suborders, families, genera, and species, the 

 keys and synopses relate distinguishing characters that facilitate identification. 

 Details, aside from the description itself, include (when known) the color, j 

 size, development, habitat, general habits, food, parasites, predators, sporting 

 qualities, range, abundance, and commercial importance. The accurate de- i 

 tailed illustrations, which aid particularly in identification, have been pre- 

 'pared by competent zoological artists, and for many species the indispensable 

 illustration of the adult is supplemented by figures of developmental stages 

 and by enlarged drawings of diagnostically important characters. 



This series is especially useful as it brings together much information 

 usually found only in many inaccessible publications. The annotated References 

 direct the interested reader to more detailed information. 



These volumes are published by the Sears Foundation at Yale University, 

 with an editorial board composed of prominent students of the sea. Contribu- 

 tors of the individual sections have been selected as recognized authorities on 



their various groups. ■ 



.(■■■■^ 



