o Jl P£OCEEDI.\GS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1663. 



larger collections were sent by Captain Dow to the British jMusenin. 

 These lislies, and others collected by Dr. Oscar Salvin about Chiapam, 

 were made the sul)jects of several papers by Dr. Giinther, and in ISGO 

 they formed the basis of his general work on the fishes of Central 

 America. 



Still later, Dr. Franz Steiudachner visited various points along the 

 coast, making collections of fishes. Various local collectors have since 

 sent specimens to the Vienna ])rofessor. Ilis various treatises on the 

 fishes of different regions contain many references to the fishes of the 

 Pacific coast of tropical America, and a very large number of the species 

 were first made known by him. The figures i)ublished by Dr. Steiu- 

 dachner arc the best in ichthyological literature. 



A very valuable collection was made by Professor Bradley in the 

 vicinity of Panama in 1SG6, and by him sent to the museum of Yale Col- 

 lege. Unfortunately this collection was allowed to suffer from neglect, 

 and before it was finally studied by Dr. Gilbert and the writer in 1882, 

 most of the species which were new to science when the collection was 

 made had been already described. 



Smaller collections have also been obtained by Dr. Bocourt, about 

 La Union, by Dr. Streets, by Mr. Lockington, and by Mr. Belding, in the 

 Gulf of California, antl by Lieutenant Nichols at various ])oints on the 

 Mexican co.ist. The first named collection has formed the rather insuf- 

 ficient basis for an elaborate memoir by Professor Vaillant and Dr. 

 Bocourt; the last mentioned has been studied by Dr. Gilbert and the 

 writer. 



The most extensive collections yet made on the Pacific coast of 

 Mexico and Central America, in number of specimens exceeding all 

 the others combined, are those obtained by Professor Gilbert at Mazat- 

 lan and Panama in 1881, and about Panama in 18S3. 



These collections have formed the subject of numerous papers by 

 Professor Gilbert and the waiter in the publications of the United States 

 National Museum. 



We had prepared a descriptive catalogue, giving the full synonymy 

 and <letailed descriptions of all the known species. In the fire which, 

 in 1883, destroyed the museum of the Indiana University our manuscripts 

 (then ready for the printer) were all burned, and with them about two- 

 thirds of Professor Gilbert's entire collections. All the specimens ob- 

 tained at Panama in 1883 were destroyed, but most of the collection of 

 1881 had then been returned to the National Museum. 



Among the si)ecimens destroyed were twenty species from Panama 

 which still remain without names. 



The present paper is the result of the joint studies of Professor Gil- 

 bert and the writer, but for its details the present writer is alone re- 

 sponsible. 



I have given a list of the species ascribed on good authority to the 

 region in question. Those species, three hundred and sixty-two in 



