Relative Numbers of Shallow Water Fishes of the Northern Gulf of Mexico, with Some Records of Rare Fishes from the Texas Coast

Abstract

Some biologists are critical of studies of animal numbers in nature, holding that such attempts are useless assaults upon a practically chaotic condition. This is a defeatist view. There is probably no disagreement over the difficulty of gathering information and its relative smallness, compared to the amount needed for complete knowledge; but any study of animal numbers is a step in the direction of quantitative evaluation, a concept to which all science is supposed to be dedicated, and, as such, is worthwhile. The concept of living species as species masses of protoplasm of different sizes will lead to better understanding of the economics of life in any environment. The work of the former Bureau of Biological Survey on the numbers of North American migratory waterfowl and its important practical results, stands as an example of the utility of such studies. Estimates of the absolute numbers of the best-known marine fishes will