5. FISHES. 
By Ga AG SOULE NCE F.R.S. ae Compan: aD 
oe Zoolesy % 
JUN 12, 1943" . 
GENERAL SKETCH. “Sauk iene ee, 
Prior to 1858, when Dr. Giinther commenced the classification 
of the Fishes in the British Museum, the arrangement of this 
collection had not received much attention, a large proportion of 
the specimens being unnamed. ‘The principal accessions received 
at various times and incorporated in the Museum Collection had 
in many cases been named by the previous owners, or had 
formed the basis of special reports, e.g., Mr. John Reeve’s 
collection of Chinese Fishes, General Hardwicke’s Indian Fishes, 
Dr. Parnell’s collection from Scottish Rivers, Dr. Gronow’s 
collection, Mr. Yarrell’s British Fishes, and the collections 
made during the voyages of the Erebus and Terror, Herald, 
Sulphur, Samarang, Rattlesnake, etc. Dr. J. E. Gray had 
worked at certain groups, and in 1851 published a “ List of 
the Fishes belonging to the order Chondropterygii,” and Dr. 
J. J. Kaup, of Darmstadt, had been engaged to work out the 
Eels and Lophobranchii, and in 1856 produced a “Catalogue 
of Apodal Fish” and a “Catalogue of Lophobranchiate Fish.” 
Dr. Giinther’s rearrangement of the collection proceeded con- 
currently with the publication of his classical catalogue. The 
first three volumes, dealing with the Acanthopterygii, were 
published in 1859, 1860 and 1861 respectively. Vol. IV., 
containing the Pharyngognathi and Anacanthini, was completed 
in 1862. The next three volumes, dealing with the Physostomi, 
appeared in 1864, 1866 and 1868 respectively, and the eighth 
and last volume, in which the Eels, Lophobranchii, Plectognathi, 
Dipnoi, Ganoidei, Chondropterygii, Cyclostomata and Leptocardii 
were included, was published in 1870. Since that time the 
assistants working at the collection (Messrs. O’Shaughnessy, 
Boulenger, and Regan) have been mainly occupied in naming 
and incorporating accessions, but in 1895 the first volume of 
a second edition of the Catalogue, written by Mr. Boulenger, 
and dealing with the Centrarchide, Percide, and part of the 
Serranide, made its appearance, the Fishes dealt with having 
been rearranged in their cases, and the preparation of a second 
volume is now in progress. | 
