NATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 
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having the greatest number of species in this division is the Pceciliidce , preeminently 
the family of brackish-water fishes. Florida contains 21 species of this family, of 
which at least 8 live habitually in brackish water and each of the other 13 may occa- 
sionally occur there. This family is worthy of note as containing the smallest known 
fish, Heterandria formosa, which is less than an inch in length. 
Two species of shad are known from Florida. On the east coast the common 
shad ( Alosa sapidissima) is a common and valued species. It occurs regularly and in 
considerable numbers in the St. Johns and St. Marys rivers and rarely in the Indian 
Eiver, It is not positively known to occur in any other waters of the State. At 
Pensacola a few young shad were obtained by Dr. Jordan in 1882 and provisionally 
•identified as a species distinct from the common shad, but no name was given to them 
and no description published. In the spring of 1896 an unusually large run of shad 
occurred in the Black Warrior River at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and specimens were sent to 
the United States Fish Commission for identification. They proved to be different 
from the common shad and a new and undescribed species, to which the name Alosa 
alabamcv was given by Jordan and Evermann. When studying these specimens I also 
studied those from Pensacola (now in the United States Rational Museum) and found 
them identical with the Alabama shad. 
Shad have been reported from various west Florida rivers, particularly the 
Suwanee, Apalachicola, and Escambia rivers. It is not positively known what species 
these may be, but it is more than likely that they are the Alabama, shad. An actual 
examination of specimens from these rivers will be necessary to determine the matter, 
and the United States Fish Commission would be glad to receive specimens from 
anyone who has an opportunity to collect them. 
SALT-WATER SPECIES. 
The great majority of Florida fishes are, of course, salt-water species, there being 
not fewer than 529 species, distributed among many families and genera. On the 
east coast approximately 175 species are found, among the Florida Keys 290, and on 
the west coast about 300. Several important species are found throughout these three 
regions. Key West is the most important and interesting of all Florida localities as 
regards the number of species, about 250 species being known from there, of which 
about 100 are food-fishes of greater or less importance. The richness of Key West in 
food-fishes will be seen when we recall the total number of food-fishes in each of the 
other important fishery regions of the United States, as shown in the following list: 
South Atlantic States 55 i Pacific States 40 
Middle Atlantic States 50 I Great Lakes 16 
New England States 48 | Gulf States (Florida excepted) 42 
The more important species handled at Key West are the grunts (6 species), the 
porgies (5 species), the groupers (8 species), the snappers (4 species), the hogfish, king- 
fish, Spanish mackerel, the carangoids (8 species), and the mullets (3 species). Besides 
these there are some 60 or 70 species which for one reason or another are less important 
but are nevertheless handled to some extent. A great many, perhaps a majority, of 
the food-fishes at Key West occur also about Cuba and may-be seen in the Havana 
market. 
