THE FISHES OF PANAMA BAY. 



11 V 



CHARLES H. (GILBERT and EDWIN C. STARKS. 



Contents. 



Plates I- XXXIII. 



Introduction 3 



List of New Species 5 



Systematic Account of Species ........... 5 



General Remarks on Distribution ......... 205 



Table of Distribution ............. 206 



Bibliography .............. 219 



Explanation of Plates ............ 228 



Index ................ 293 



Introduction. 



The ichthyologic history of Panama Bay falls naturally into three periods. 

 The first, beginning with 1860, depended upon the activity of Captain John M. Dow, 

 whose collections, forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution and to the British Museum, 

 were reported upon by Dr. Theodore Gill and Dr. Albert Giinther. This early work 

 culminated in 1869 through the publication of Giinther's " Fishes of Central 

 America," which contains an admirable summary of the state of our knowledge at 

 that date, with valuable discussions of the faunal relations of both marine and fresh- 

 water forms. 



The second period was characterized by the work of Dr. Franz Steindachner, 

 based in part upon his own collections, in part upon material obtained through various 

 correspondents. No general summary was given by him, but the diagnoses of new 

 species, which appeared in his series of "Notizen" and "Beitriige" (See Bibliog- 

 raphy), form a model of accurate and detailed work of that description. 



