Hawaiian Fishes 13 



to East Indian forms. The Hawaiian Islanck have very few fishes in 

 common with Japan and fewer still in common with the western coasts 

 of the Americas. 



Scientists believe that in ancient times a large number of tropical fishes 

 were developed in the East Indies and that from this area they spread 

 out westward through the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean to the 

 eastern coast of Africa, and eastward through the many islands of the 

 Pacific Ocean. So we might say that the Hawaiian Islands lie on the out- 

 skirts of the East Indian faunal region and that Hawaii's reef and shore 

 fishes are members or relatives of brilliant tropical groups which have 

 come from the East Indian area in time past. 



