'°i89i'''] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 5 



RELATIONS OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN FRESH-WATER FAUNA TO 



THOSE OF OTHER CONTINENTS. 



A Striking feature of tlie South Americau fauna is the presence of 

 marine forms, such as species of Dasybatidce, Tetraodontidw, iSciamidce, 

 Batrachidce, etc. These, however, ought not here to be considered, 

 although many of their species live exclusively in fresh waters, since 

 the families of which they are representatives inhabit all warm seas. 



If these families are left out of consideration it will be seen from the 

 preceding list that there are but three families common to North and 

 South America. The first of these, the Siluridre, is cosmopolitan. The 

 species of Siluridie found in North America belong to the subfamily 

 Bagrinw, while the South American species belong to the subfamilies 

 Tachisurinee, CaUophysince, Pimelodinfe, Doradincv, Auchenipteriyiw, and 

 Ageneiosinw. Of the subfamilies found in South America, those in ital- 

 ics are enneotropic* The Tachisurime are found in all tropical seas, 

 and, for the present purpose, should really be classed with the marine 

 fishes. The Plmelodinw have a few representatives in Africa. 



The second and third families, the Cichlidce and Characinidw, have 

 each but one representative extending as far north as Texas. 



From the foregoing statements it will be noticed that the South 

 American fauna has little in common and small relationship with the 

 fauna of North America. Central America properly belongs to the 

 South American fauna, while southern Mexico is debatable ground. 

 Several species of Pimelodincv, CichUdce, and Characinidw occur in south- 

 ern Mexico. On the other hand, one species of Bagrinccj extends as 

 far south as Guateniala, and anotherf is found on the western slope of 

 central Mexico.§ A species of Lepidosteus, an ennearctic genus, has 

 a representative in the western part of Guatemala. 



Leaving out of consideration the family Siluridw, which has been 

 discussed above, there remain eighteen truly fresh- water families, eleven 

 of which are enneotropic. Of the remaining seven families two, Ga- 

 laxiidm and Aplochitonidw, are found only in the Fuegian region, and 

 have representatives in Tasmania and New Zealand. The other five 

 are distributed as follows : 



Lepidosirenidw 1 sp. ; Africa 2 sp. 



SymhrancMdw 1 sp. ; India 2 sp. 



Characinidcv 450 sp. ; Africa 80 sp. 



Osteoglossidiv 1 sp. ; Australia 1 sp. ; East Indian Archipelago 



1 sp. 

 Cichlidw 80 sp. ; Africa 29 sp. ; India 2 sp. 



* Enneotrojnc, ennearctic, etc., formed like endemic, tlie en having the force of " pe- 

 culiar to." 



Mctalurus meridionalis (Giinther). 



t Ictalnrus duijesi (Beau J. 



$ lotalitrus punctatiis (Rafiuesque) has been recorded from Surinam. As this species 

 has not been taken during the last 30 years it is perhaps wisest to doubt the correct- 

 ness of this record. 



