242 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
and the completeness of the collection upon which the present report is based. 
Irving L. Towers, scientific assistant, Bureau of Fisheries, deserves credit for much 
valuable assistance rendered in the preparation of the report. The illustrations of 
fishes are from photographs made by Herbert F. Prytherch, scientific assistant, 
Bureau of Fisheries, and retouched by an artist. The plants mentioned in the text 
were identified by Paul C. Stanley, of the National Museum. 
The usual abbreviations used in systematic ichthyology by most recent 
authors has been followed. For example, the expression "head 3.3 to 4.1; depth 
4.3 to 6.2" signifies that the length of the head, measured from the tip of the upper 
jaw to the bony margin of the opercle (unless otherwise specified), is contained 3.3 
to 4.1 in the "standard length" — that is, in the distance from the end of the snout 
to the base of the caudal fin — and the greatest depth of the body is contained 4.3 
to 6.2 times in the standard length. In giving the number of spines and rays con- 
tained in a fin the spines are designated by Roman numerals and the soft rays by 
Arabic numerals. For example, " D. VII-I, 14; A. Ill, 8" signifies that the dorsal 
fins are separate and that the first consists of 7 spines and the second of 1 spine 
and 14 soft rays, and that the anal is continuous, being composed of 3 spines and 
8 soft rays. If, in the case of the dorsal fin, the spines and rays had all been con- 
nected so as to form a single continuous fin, the result would have been written 
thus: D. VIII, 14. The number of scales given in the description, unless otherwise 
stated, is the number of oblique rows, running upward and backward, that occur 
just above the lateral line. This series is counted from the upper anterior angle 
of the gill opening to the last large scale on the base of the caudal. 
In the arrangement of the families, Jordan's "A Classification of Fishes" 
(Stan. Univ. Pub., Univ. Ser. Ill, No. 2, 1923, pp. 79-243) was followed. 
In order to render the catalogue more useful for ready identification keys to 
the families, genera, and species have been introduced. Since the species occurring 
in the waters of El Salvador are few, the keys are all short and no difficulty in using 
them should be experienced. No attempt has been made in the keys to show the 
natural relationship of the various groups. In using the keys first determine to 
which of the major groups the species in hand belongs, then take up the regular 
order of letters under that group. If the characters of the specimen do not agree 
with those under the single letter, look under the double letter, ignoring all inter- 
vening matter. 
Following is a list of the species which appear as new in the present paper: 
EXPLANATORY NOTES 
RcEboides salvadoris 
Arius taylori 
Priapichthys letonai 
Page 
246 
250 
258 
Priapichthys fosteri 
Thyrina guija 
Cichlasoma meeki__ 
Page 
260 
264 
275 
