REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 185 



natedfroni ,such distinguished ichthj^ologists as Dr. P^'ranz Steindachner 

 and Professor Ag-assiz, under tlic editorship of Col. Theodore Lyman. 

 The article is a catalogue of the "Fishes taken in the Wacjuoit weir, 

 April 18 to June 18, 1871,'' and was published in the Sixth Annual 

 Report of the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries (pp. 11-58, pi. 1-2). 

 We are told that "most of the nomenclature is by Dr. Franz Stein- 

 dachner; and some notes by Prof essor Agassiz are added, marked A." 

 Onl}^ 11 species were obtained. The nomenclature for the most part 

 is that prevalent during the previous half century, and not that which 

 had been in general use for the preceding decade and is prevalent now. 

 Some interesting statistical and biological data are given. No species 

 previously unknown to the state or region in question were added. 



This was the last authoritative faunal contribution of Massachu- 

 setts naturalists. The labors of the excellent ichthyologists of the 

 state, chief of whom, for many years, has been S. E. Garman, have 

 been with excellent judgment devoted to the elucidation of questions 

 of embryology, morpholog}^, and taxonom3^ The greater facilities 

 enjoyed by the United States Bureau of Fisheries have been recog- 

 nized and the task of formal registration has been left to those directly 

 or indirectly connected with that organization. 



VIII. 



Before Storer's History w^as completed and before the Waquoit weir 

 was examined Prof. Spencer F. Baird visited Woods Hole and spent 

 part of several summers there with his family. His lirst visit was 

 made in 1863. He then found 47 species, and among them, for the 

 lirst time, the very yoimg of TracJiynotus carolinus and T. ovatus {fcil- 

 catm). These as \vell as Cyprinodoii variegatus were recorded b_v Gill 

 in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences for 1863 (p. 322), 

 and later, with other material, served as the basis for the reduction of 

 three genera of earlier American ichthyologists to one species, and of 

 the generalization respecting the mode of development and growth of 

 the carangids and scombroideans generally. 



The United States Fish Commission was established in 1871, and the 

 village that the commissioner had proved as a private was selected by 

 the officer as a station of the new commission. With government 

 means for exploration, many species previously unknown to the coast 

 were added, and up to 1873 not less than 23 species, new to the 

 region, were found, exclusive of those already referred to. These 

 were enumerated in a "List of the Fishes Collected at Wood's Hole, 

 by S. F. Baird," published in the Report of the United States Com- 

 mission of Fish and Fisheries for 1871-72 (pp. 823-827). The list was 

 one of names (scientific and popular) only, arranged in accordance 

 with Gill's "Catalogue of the Fishes of the Eastern Coast of North 

 America" printed just in advance of it. 



