A BASIC LIST 
OF THE 
FISHES OF NEW ZEALAND. 
By EDGAR R. WAITE, F.L.S., Curator. 
INTRODUCTION. 
EVERY worker in systematie zoology appreciates the value, almost 
the necessity, of having at hand, a list which supplies exact 
references to the original descriptions of the constituents of the 
fauna he is studying. 
The catalogue of fishes in the “Index Faune Nove Zealandizx,” 
prepared by the late Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S.,1 forms the 
foundation of this list, and considering that the Index was issued 
only three years ago, it may reasonably be asked, why another list, 
almost indentical as regards species, is published so soon. 
The “ Index ”’ does not supply references to the original descrip- 
tions, nor to any list where such are indicated, and as _ this 
information forms the foundation of the present work, I have 
entitled it a “ basic list.” 
Zoologists have agreed to accept the tenth edition of the “ Systema 
Nature,” (1758), as the starting point of nomenclature, but this rule 
has not been observed in the “Index” and we find currency given 
to generic names, bestowed previous to 1758; for example :— 
1686 (Willoughby), 1738 (Artedi), 1743 Klein, 1748 (Linneus, sixth 
edition), 1754 (Gronovius). It will be obvious, therefore, that many 
of the generic names differ in the respective lists. Some of the 
species also now appear in unfamiliar guise, and for purposes of 
ready comparison with the ““Index,’’ numbers are enclosed within 
square brackets ; the first indicating the page, and the second the 
1. Hutton, Index Faune Nove Zealandie, 1904, Pisces. pp. 40-55. 
