INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 



This publication is a check-list of the Fishes of British North America. Its aim is to give 

 the species indigenous to the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland, as well as those of the Fishing 

 Banks beyond the three mile limit. A complete list of the fishes of Canada has long been a 

 desideratum, and it is hoped that the present work will help to obviate that need. It should, 

 however, be looked upon as a pioneer, heralding the way towards a fuller specific conception of 

 our fishes and their distribution. There are records of specimens which are provisionally admitted 

 in the list as distinct species, having been recorded so, which in reality may belong to species 

 already known, and an endeavour is made to point out those doubtful records, which happily 

 are not over numerous, in foot-notes. As regards the better known, and more commercially 

 important kinds, the check-list may, in giving their range, more repletely serve its purpose; but 

 even in a few of these the limits of their range, especially in the far north, and owing to confusion 

 in their records and synonyms, are hard to determine. Records of certain specimens are possibly 

 sometimes wrongly named by the recorders, and would therefore appear, had they been rightly 

 named, under the species to which they really belong; although in some such cases the localities 

 in which they were found may be included through other records. Species which occur close 

 to our borders, or both north and south of our borders, although not actually recorded from 

 our waters are also provisionally admitted; and this appears justifiable, because the late Rev. 

 G. W. Taylor was constantly bringing to light species occurring in British Columbia which 

 hitherto had not been recorded; and furthermore, researches have revealed species along our 

 Atlantic sea-coast, and in the fresh waters of the Dominion, which formerly were not recorded 

 north of the United States boundary. There are also some interesting records of casual visitors, 

 such as the tarpon (Tarpon atlanticus) in Nova Scotia; and the occurrence of species very 

 rare in Canada, such as the paddle-fish (Polyodon spathula) in Helen Lake, Nipigon River, and 

 elsewhere in the Canadian Great Lakes region. The list of the fishes, especially the fresh water 

 fishes, of Newfoundland is admitted to be inadequate. There appear to be no published records 

 of the species of that colony (save a list of 'The Fishes of Labrador,' by William Converse 

 Kendall) , yet as one third of the island of Newfoundland is covered with water some interesting 

 finds may in the future be looked for. Some remarkable and diverse forms, indigenous to the 

 Banks of Newfoundland and to the Banks off Nova Scotia have been obtained on these fishing 

 grounds, or have followed vessels into the harbours and ports from there, and it has been thought 

 fitting to include such in the list. 



Canada has its own particular species of fishes — that is species which do not occur, or have not 

 been found, in the waters of any other country; and one of them, of which there is only one specimen 

 known, recently discovered, is the type of a new genus (Asemirhthys) . The names of the species 

 peculiar to Canada, with the localities where they occur, appear in their places in the body of the 

 text. Contrariwise there is scarcely a sea on the surface of the globe in which there does not occur 

 some fish which also occurs, or has occurred, on the coasts of Canada. 



The check-list, of course, is not descriptive; but is simply, it is hoped, what it purports to be. 

 It is a pioneer, feeling its way towards a better knowledge of what species of fishes inhabit the 

 waters of the British North American possessions — especially those indigenous to Canada. It 

 does not profess to be a complete list, but it is confidently believed to approximate the total number 

 of fishes which our waters contain. It is subject to amendment then, in regard to species to be added 

 to the list as records or discoveries reveal them; and not only so, but in regard to species, and such 

 are apparently few, to be eliminated from the list as having no right there. 



