THE FISHES OF SINALOA.* 



BY DAVID STARR JORDAN, 



Assisted by 



EDWIN CHAPIN STARKS, GEORGE BLISS CULVER AND THOMAS MARION WILLIAMS. 



[With Plates xxvi-lv.] 



The Mexican State of Sinaloa lies along the east shore 

 of the Gulf of California, mostly to the north of the Tropic 

 of Cancer, extending from Rio Fuerte on the north, which 

 separates it from Sonora, to the northwest boundary of 

 Jalisco. The greatest length of the State along the coast 

 is about 325 miles. The land forms an irregular and 

 broken slope from the high table-lands and cliffs of the 

 Sierra Madre on the east downward to the coast. Down 

 this slope flow several streams of clear water, which ac- 

 quire great volume in the rainy season (June to Novem- 

 ber) and which dwindle rapidly in the dry season of the 

 winter. The coast line is very irregular, being formed 

 of rocky islands, mostly of volcanic origin, and of ab- 

 rupt cliffs or " rincones," the terminations of hills or 

 spurs from the Sierra Madre. Between these are long 

 curved sand beaches, and occasionally sand -spits across 

 the mouth of some estuary which is thus converted into a 

 lagoon. The water of the sea off the coast is very clear. 

 The bottom is very irregular, as is the contour of the 

 shore. 



The chief port of Sinaloa is Mazatlan. This city of 

 about 20,000 inhabitants lies on a peninsula between the 

 Estuary or Astillero de Mazatlan on the south and a curv- 

 ing bay known as the Puerto Viejo on the north. On this 

 peninsula are two considerable headlands, Neveria on the 

 north and Vijia on the southwest, between which is a 

 sand beach, facing the west, noted for its high surf, for 



* Contributions to Biology from the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory of the 

 Leland Stanford Jr. University. No. 1. 



2d Ser., Vol. V. (25) August 15, 1895. 



