INTRODUCTION. 



By Edward W. Nelson. 



The notes and collections upon which the present paper is based were secured at intervals, 

 and whenever opportunity offered, during my entire residence in the north. They cover a period 

 from May, 1877, to October, 1881 . Through my own work and the co-operation of the fnr traders 

 I secured specimens from various parts of the interior, extending from Bering Sea to Fort Yukon 

 and from the Kuskoquim lliver north to Point Barrow. Unfortunately lack of time and means 

 forced me to be satisfied with such results as could be obtained in the intervals of the main work 

 in which I was engaged. These circumstances rendered anything but superficial results impos- 

 sible and good results should repay a thorough reworking of this region. These remarks refer 

 more particularly to the fresh and brackish water area, .since I can claim to have examined very 

 little beyond that. Owing to unavoidable circumstances I have been forced to place the ideutifica 

 tiou and description of my alcoholic material in other hands. I have been fortunate in securing 

 the cooperation of Dr. T. H. Bean, whose familiarity with many of the species in their native 

 waters gives him a peculiar advantage in dealing with this material. 



EDWARD W. NELSON^. 



Saint John's, Ariz., February 12, 1887. 



Bv Tarleton H. Bean. 



Mr. Nelson was prevented by ill health from carrying out his intention of making an exhaustive 

 report upon his Alaskan fishes. His collections, color sketches, and notes were, therefore, left in 

 my hands, with the request that I would identify the species and prepare a paper for publication. 

 I have made some remarks upon certain of the fishes, which represent especially interesting addi- 

 tions to the fauna or to our knowledge of the development of a species. There are fifty species 

 in Mr. Nelson's collection, one of which has recently been named in bis honor.* 



Notwithstanding the small number of new species in Mr. Nelson's collections, they contain 

 numerous fishes of quite as much importance, representing, as they do, elements of the lauua which, 

 for a long term of years, have failed to appear or have not been certainly known to exist within 

 the Territory. In the first category may be mentioned Coitus axillaris and Gotlus quadrifiUs of 

 Gill, which have been practically lost sight of for nearly thirty years. Of species new to the 

 Alaskan fauna Mr. Nelson took Parophrys isehyrus, whose range is thus extended from Puget 

 Sound to Unalaska; ilurwnoides rnberrimus, -which was known from Kamchatka; ChirolopJins jmly- 

 actocephalus, another Kamchatkan species of doubtful relationship, and Brachyojjsis dodecaedrus, the 

 third of a series of little known and rare Kamchatkan fishes. Another valuable specimen is a 



•All expeditiou in 1380, under the auspices of tbe U. S. Coast Survey, brought back several new fishes which 

 Mr. Nelson had in his collection. These species were described while Mr. Nelson was still in the field. 



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