THE CHARACIDAE. 29 



the present; Berg 1895-1901; Lahille 1895 to the present; Ulrey 1895; Regan 

 1900 to the present; Meek 1885-1916; Fowler; Nichols; Hildebrand and Mrs. 

 Marion Durbin Ellis. 



The discovery of the numerous species and genera since 1864 are too com- 

 plicated for detailed enumeration. Reinhard and Liitken considered chiefly 

 the species inhabiting the basin of the Rio das Velhas a tributary of the Rio 

 San Francisco, Central America and Trinidad. Cope, 1870-1878, dealt largely 

 with species of the Upper Amazons, and later with species from Rio Grande do 

 Sul. Steindachner has published descriptions of numerous new species, col- 

 lected by Agassiz and his associates during the Thayer Expedition and in part 

 by himself and correspondents. Boulenger has reported on numerous collec- 

 tions received by the British Museum from different parts of South America. 

 Eigenmann and Eigenmann have reviewed the Erythrininae and Curimatinae; 

 Carman has published critical revisions of a few genera; Ulrey has reviewed 

 parts of the Tetragonopterinae. Perugia reported on various collections re- 

 ceived by the Museum of Genoa. Regan is describing species from the collec- 

 tions of the British Museum and Holmberg, von Ihering, Senior and Junior, 

 Berg, Lahille, Ribeiro, and Goeldi were the first of a group of resident naturalists 

 who have made important observations on their own faunae, chiefly eastern 

 Brazil and Argentina. While many of the authors suggest modifications in 

 parts of the system proposed by Gunther, only Eigenmann and Regan con- 

 cerned themselves with the broader questions of the classification of the 

 Characins. 



In 1884 Sagemehl demonstrated the close relationship of the catfishes, 

 electric eels (Gymnotidae), Cyprinidae, and Characidae, all of which he grouped, 

 on account of the common possession of the complicated Weberian apparatus, in 

 the superorder Ostariophysi. Further studies on the anatomy of the Characins 

 were published in 1903 by Rowntree. 



Gill, in 1893, (Families and subfamilies of fishes) admitted the two families 

 of Heterognaths, Characinidae, and Erythrinidae. He had defined these in 

 1858 and redefined them in 1895 (Proc. U. S. N. M., 18) when he intimated the 

 existence of a third family, the Citharinidae. Together with Muller and Troschel 

 and Kner he considers that the Characinidae, even after the exclusion of the 

 Erythrinidae, "constitute a heterogenous group." Gill recognizes the sub- 

 families Erythrininae, Pyrrhulininae, Lebiasininae, Tetragonopterinae, Ser- 

 rasalmoninae, Hydrocyoninae, Myletinae, Distichodontinae, Anostominae, 

 Curimatinae, and Citharininae. 



