INTRODUCTORY REMARKS t> 



' Notes on the Fishes of Canso,' and ' Notes on Fishes of Tignish, Prince Edward Island,' by 

 !"r. G. A. Cornish, of Toronto University. 



'The Fishes of Labrador,' by Mr. W. C. Kendall, of the United States Fish Commission. 



'A Check-list of the Fresh-water Fishes of Canada,' by Evermann and Goldsborough. 



' Fauna of the Atlantic Coast of Canada,' by Dr. Joseph Stafford, in which mention is made 

 of fishes occurring at Gaspe\ 



Notes on the Fishes of Lake Ontario, of Lake Champlain, and of the St. Lawrence River, by 

 Evermann and Kendall. 



Catalogue of Fishes, &c, exhibited by the Department of Marine and Fisheries at the Colonial 

 and Indian Exhibition, by the deceased Dr. J. F. Whiteaves. 



Prof. Ramsay Wright's 'Preliminary Report on the Fish and Fisheries of Ontario' was of 

 service; and 'List of Manitoba Fishes' by Dr. E. E. Prince, was of use as showing species which 

 occur in Manitoba, but no localities are given. 



The following British publications have been of great service, generally as showing the dis- 

 tribution of fishes, which occur in Canada, at the coasts of other lands, or in the open ocean. 



' History of British Fishes,' 1859, in two volumns, by William Yarrell. 



' An Introduction to the Study of Fishes,' 1880, by Dr. Albert Gunther. 



'The Cambridge Natural History': volumn VII — 'Fishes' — in part by Dr. T. W. Bridge, of 

 Trinity College, Cambridge, and in part by Dr. G. A. Boulenger, of the Zoological Department of 

 the British Museum. 



' Catalogue of the Perciform Fishes in the British Museum ' by Dr. Boulenger. 



'The Fishes of Porto Rico,' by Evermann and Marsh, published in a Bulletin of the United 

 States, was of similar service concerning the occurrence of certain species at that island 



To Dr. L. Hussakof of the American Museum of Natural History I am indebted for a diagnosis 

 of different species of Myxine, with whom I corresponded on the subject. The diagnosis is from 

 ' A Revision of the Myxinoids of the Genus Myxine,' by Mr. C. Tate Regan, of the British Museum. 



I have also to mention aid received through Mr. Alex. Finlayson, Inspector of Hatcheries for 

 the Dominion, whose acquaintance with many of our fishes, especially of our commercial fishes, is 

 very thorough, in the determination of one. or two specimens which were not readily recognizable 

 owing to the effects of the preservatives in which they had been kept; and last, but by no means 

 least, it affords me great pleasure to express my appreciation of the hearty interest shown to me 

 by Mr. W. A. Found, Superintendent of Fisheries, during the time when the check-list was being 

 prepared, and for his patience in awaiting its forthcoming. 



A few words concerning the scheme of classification referred to above. In the present state 

 of ichthyological knowledge a certain latitude may be allowable, and I may therefore be pardoned 

 for venturing to arrange families and higher groups provisionally in such a way as for the present 

 best appears to suit myself. The Cyclostomata naturally divide into two orders, the names here 

 used for these being — Myxinoides (Hagfishes) and Petromyzontes (Lampreys) . Being unready, 

 as some do, to regard the Plagiostomi (Sharks and Rays) and the Holocephali (Chimssras) 

 as distinctive sub-classes, I combine them in a single sub-class — Elasmobranchii, of which 

 the two former are orders. I follow Hasse in sub-dividing the Plagiostomi according to 

 the structure of the vertebrae. These divisions I regard as sub-orders. The names Selachii 

 and Batoidei (save that the former by some is the name employed for the entire sub- 

 class, which is then properly equivalent to Elasmobranchii) I discard, for the reason that 

 the transition from the more primitive sharks through the tectospondylous sharks to the 

 saw-fishes and more specialized rays, seems to be so marked as to preclude their sub-division in a 

 way which cannot but be other than artificial; especially as the more natural sub-order Tectos- 

 pondyli includes forms which it is usual to place with the Selachii on the one hand (although none 



