IO 



For that part of New Jersey lying within Hudson County and 

 the southern part of Bergen County (the lower Hackensack 

 Valley), my list will be found as complete as many years of con- 

 tinued search can make it. 



Under the fishes of the brackish water are included all those 

 which are anadromous, i. e., run up from the sea to spawn, as 

 well as many of those which are found perennially about the 

 lower river reaches open to the influx of salt water. Of these 

 a number are still found where the waters are entirely fresh, 

 though subject to the flow of the tides ; such might not inap- 

 propriately be called tidal fishes. Distinctly marine species 

 are not given, though they may accidentally wander into river 

 estuaries. 



Special localities of occurrence I give in such cases where 

 the fishes are known to me only from certain isolated points ; 

 all others are of a more general distribution throughout our area. 



In the tidal parts of the Hackensack Valley the collecting of 

 specimens was done mostly by means of the seine, the fyke 

 and the casting net ; in other waters by means of the bait seine 

 and the common ring or shrimp net. I^astly, some species 

 were only taken by angling for them. 



For the descriptions I have largely used Prof. Jordan's 

 1 ' Manual of the Vertebrated Animals of the Northern United 

 States ; " 1 also A. C. Giinther's " Ichthyology " in the Ency- 

 clopedia Britannica, 2 embodying my own observations and 

 experiences and supplementing them in many cases by state- 

 ments from various authors. Diligent search of all accessible 

 literature has shown me that no thorough attempt has ever been 

 made to cover the local fish fauna. The list of fishes given in 

 the " Descriptive Catalogue of the Vertebrates of New Jersey" 

 (a revision of Dr. Abbott's " Catalogue" of 1868), by Julius 

 Nelson, 3 is largely tentative, and does not give sufficient infor- 

 mation as to the real occurrence of the species mentioned, ex- 

 cept for the southern part of the state and the Delaware Valley, 

 both of which regions are beyond our limits. 



f Sixth edition, Chicago, 1894. 



2 Ninth edition, Vol. XII, N. Y., 1881. 



3 Final report of the State Geologist, Vol. II, Pt. 2, Trenton, 1890. 



