59.7(72.2) 



Article XVI.— SHORE FISHES COLLECTED BY TI 



TROSS' EXPEDITION IN LOWER CALIFORNIA WITH 

 DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. 1 



By Raymond G. Osburn and John Treadwell Nichols. 



[Published by Permission of the U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries.] 



The 'Albatross' expedition to Lower California in the spring of 1911 was 

 unusually successful in the number and variety of the fishes taken in the 

 shore waters of that region. The present list contains 185 species taken 

 between the dates of March 2 and April 26, inclusive. Of this number 

 fourteen species and one variety appear to be new and are here described. 



Besides these, there is much of interest in the collection, as numerous 

 rare species known only from one or two, often more or less distant, localities 

 were obtained, thus adding to our knowledge of their distribution. Also 

 one well known Atlantic species, Hemirhamphus balao Le Sueur, is here 

 recorded from the Pacific for the first time, and the range of a number of 

 the common western species extended. 



Undoubtedly the richness of the collection, accumulated within so short 

 a time, is due in large part to the fact that various methods for the capture 

 of fishes were constantly employed side by side wherever possible. Seining 

 naturally produced the best results. Hand-line fishing was resorted to, and 

 an electric-light lure made by immersing a strong electric light bulb in the 

 water at the side of the ship at night attracted numerous species which were 

 then taken in a dipnet. A boat dredge and a three and a half foot Tanner 

 beam trawl were used in shallow water. Some species were picked up on 

 the beach and other small ones were taken in their natural habitat in the 

 tide pools or at the edge of the shore. Certain others living among the rocks 

 were obtainable only by the use of dynamite. Each of these methods of 

 collecting yielded species not taken in any other way. The method of 

 capture is given in most cases in the following list, and reference to it will 

 disclose the fact that usually any single species was taken by only one method. 



The numbers given in this paper are not intended to show the relative 

 abundance of individuals of the various species. In the case of common, 

 well-known species, frequently only a single specimen from any locality 



1 Scientific Results of the Expedition to the Gulf of California in charge of C. H. Townsend, by 

 the U. S. Fisheries Steamship 'Albatross' in 1911. Commander G. H. Burrage, U. S. N., Com- 

 manding. No. VI. 



139 



