4 -REPORT ON A COLLECTION OF FISHES FROM THE ALBEMARLE REGION 
OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
BY HUGH M. SMITH, M. D. 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
In the summer of 1888 the U. S. Fish Commission conducted an extensive investi- 
gation of the fresh-water streams of the Alleghany region of North Carolina, Yirgiuia, 
and Tennessee, with reference to the fish occurring in the different river basins of that 
section. Professor Jordan, under whose direction the held work was accomplished, 
has published a report on the results of the explorations* . 
The inquiry in North Carolina was very complete and comprehensive for the 
region specified ; but by referring to the report cited it will be seen that a large portion 
of the 8tate, extending from the coast to the Piedmont region, so called, and embracing 
many thousand square miles, was not included in that investigation, nor is it appar- 
ent that others have examined the fresh waters of this area with reference to the fishes 
inhabiting them. In this territory, therefore, it was conceived that any ichthyological 
work would be of interest in itself and also valuable as a supplement to the inves- 
tigations of the upper courses of the important rivers debouching into the lowlands. 
Accordingly, in April, 1892, the writer was instructed to make an examination into 
the fish life of this region, acting under instructions from Mr. Richard Rathbun, who 
is in charge of the scientific work of the Commission. 
Only a brief time could, at this period, be devoted to this work, and it was decided 
to restrict the inquiry to Albemarle Sound and its tributaries, with a view to make 
the collections in that hydrographic basin as complete as possible, rather than cover a 
wider area less thoroughly. The possibility of making collections at this season was 
something of an experiment ; it was not known that the condition of the water would 
permit the capture of those smaller forms about which we have the least information; 
but it was thought that certain features of the fauna could be better observed than 
at other times, and that some light might be thrown on the presence and movements 
of the local fishes immediately after their emergence from their winter habitat. An 
opportunity was also afforded to inspect some of the noted shad and alewife fishing 
stations of this region. 
* Report of Explorations made during 1888 in the Alleghany Region of Virginia, North Carolina, 
and Tennessee, and in western Indiana, with an account of the fishes found in each of the river basins 
of those regions. By David Starr Jordan. — Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, 1888. 
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