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The second Gulf of Maine specimen of the amphiboreal northern blenny Stichaeus punctatus is reported. This record extends the known southern range from Mount Desert, Maine, to Nahant in Massachusetts Bay. Ecological and morphological data on the specimen are also presented.

Two phyletic lines are recognized within the Percidae: the Percinae, in which the anteriormost interhaemal bone is much larger than the posterior ones and the anal spines usually are well developed, and the Luciopercinae in which the interhaemal bones are of uniform size and the anal spines are poorly developed. Parallel evolution has produced in each subfamily small, bottom-dwelling forms with depressed or terete bodies and reduced or vestigial swimbladders. This differentiation is shown by dividing each subfamily into two tribes. Within the Percinae, the Etheostomatini (Percina, Ammocrypta, and Etheostoma) are interpreted as derivatives of the Percini (Perca, Gymnocephalus [= Acerina], and Percarina). In the Luciopercinae, the Romanichthyini (Zingel [= Aspro] and Romanichthys) have evolved from the Luciopercini (Stizostedion [including Lucioperca]). A table of vertebral numbers is given.

The number of nominal species and subspecies described per year are compared with the cumulative summary of the number of forms considered valid. The history of darter descriptions is divided into four periods: "Beginnings" (1818-1840); "Golden Era" (1841-1892); "Doldrums" (1893-1931); and "Reawakening" (1932-present). The success of different ichthyologists in describing valid taxa is assessed. The number of specimens per type-series forms a strongly skewed distribution from 42 species based on only the holotype to the 1338 type-specimens of Boleosoma nigrum eulepis. The 25 repositories of the 4863 type-specimens of 185 nominal species of darters are divided into three groups based on the number of primary and secondary types. The present number of valid species and subspecies (139) is predicted to rise to about 160 by the year 2000.

University of California Riverside Soils Department and Agricultural Extension Service for their respective services in soil and water analysis. Research facilities used in these studies were partly financed by U. S. Public Health Service Grant E-4107 (Aquatic midge investigations in southern California). This paper is No. 1706, University of California Citrus Research Center and Agricultural Experiment Station, Riverside, California.