56 Catalogue of the Fishes of Connecticut. 



of rare fishes, I am under very special obligation to William 

 O. Ayres, Esq. of East Hartford (now of New Rochelle, N. Y.) 

 and to James H. Trumbull, Esq. of Stonington, for many inter- 

 esting communications respecting the fishes found in their vicmi- 

 ties : particularly for the habitat of those registered Hartford and 

 Stonington, am I indebted to the kind attention of these two 

 gentlemen. 



The fishes mentioned in the notes, as forwarded by myself to 

 Dr. Storer, were for the acceptance of the Boston Society of Nat- 

 ural History, and thus transmitted through his hands. They 

 were often accompanied with queries, for the solution of which 

 I take this opportunity to return my thanks to Dr. Storer, as well 

 as for a copy of his valuable " Report on the Fishes and Reptiles 

 of Massachusetts ;" to Dr. Dekay also, for the proof plates of the 

 well executed figures of " the Fishes and Reptiles of New York," 

 the family arrangement of which I have usually adopted, as on 

 the whole the best I have seen. 



The labor and study requisite to obtain the materials for a cata- 

 logue of this description, are much greater than can be imagined 

 by any except a practical naturalist. But the occasional capture 

 of some rare and interesting species, will atone for many a disap- 

 pointment, as well as much toil and travel. 



The declaration of no individual has been received as author- 

 ity, to enter the name of a species in the following list, (which I 

 have not examined,) unless I had the most implicit confidence in 

 the integrity and veracity of the informer, and strong circumstan- 

 tial evidence also appeared to corroborate the fact. 



It is a source of no small pleasure, that the exquisitely beauti- 

 ful hair-finned Dory, no. 51, has been seen, and for the second 

 known instance in the world, living in the waters of this town. 

 Other species of this rare genus, (or allied to it,) have occasion- 

 ally favored us with their highly appreciated visits. 



As regards the number of sharks and rays, said by various au- 

 thors to be found on the coast of New England and New York, 

 notwithstanding it is less than that ascribed to Great Britain, 

 there is very little doubt but some of each will be found eventu- 

 ally to be mere synonyms of the same species. But time and 

 observation only, can correct these annoying perplexities, which 

 occur more or less in the history of every class of animals. 



Other species will doubtless be found in this State, as the atten- 

 tion of naturalists becomes awakened to the subject. The medium 



