763 Sketch of the Progress of North American [October, 



in the Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881. The new species enumerated 

 are thirteen in number, without counting one taken only at Plover 

 bay, Siberia. The most singular of these new forms is the ser- 

 pentiform Ptilichlhys goodd, allied to the Mastacembelidae. The 

 dorsal consists in front of many isolated spines, with a posterior, 

 many-rayed soft portion, the mandible terminates in a skinny 

 appendage, and the tip of the tail is free. The same naturalist, 

 together with Professor Goode, describes Apogon pandionis, a 

 deep-water fish from the mouth of the Chesapeake. 



During his stay upon the Pacific coast, Professor Jordan tho- 

 roughly investigated and cleared up the mystery in which the 

 species of the genus Oncorhynchus (Pacific salmon) had been 

 wrapped by a crowd of naturalists who at various times had de- 

 scribed as distinct, forms which have now been proved to be due 

 to age, sex or season. There are only five species, the quinnat, 

 chouicha, or king salmon, the most important of all from an 

 economic point of view ; the blue-back, or red-fish, O. uer/ca, ex- 

 amples of which, found high in the rivers and in the lakes, have 

 long figured as a distinct species from their brethren of the lower 

 waters ; the silver salmon, 0. kisutch ; the fall 'salmon, 0. kcta, 

 and the dog salmon, 0. gorbuscJia. 



Professor S. A. Forbes 1 describes a Chologaster from the south- 

 ern part of Illinois, it agrees with C. comutus in position of eye 

 and plan of markings, and with C. agassisii in length of pectorals 

 and structure of scales. 



Mr. S. Garman, 2 whose special studies have added so much to 

 our knowledge of the Selachians, has, during these two years, 

 described two new species of Scyllium, one of Rhinobatus, one of 

 Trigonorhina, two of Trygon and two of Raja, most of them 

 from the Atlantic coast. Seven species of Trygon proper are 

 now known to occur in America. Mr. Garman believes that the 

 migrations of the Selachians, as also those of fishes, which the 

 former follow in pursuit of their food, are much more limited in 

 extent than has usually been supposed. Many species do no 

 more than take short trips to deeper water and back again, and 

 were methodical observations conducted for the purpose, it would 

 be quite possible for our knowledge of the migrations of fishes to 

 be extended so that the fisherman could follow his game as the 

 hunter does his. 



2 Bulletin Museum Comp. Zoology, Cambridge, iSSo-lSSl. 



