FAUNA OF AMERICA — CLARK 297 



North America. Snapping turtles occur in Mexico, Guatemala, and 

 Ecuador. The large crocodile found in the extreme south of North 

 America lives on the Central American coast and about the larger West 

 Indian islands, and there is a small one in Cuba and another in Central 

 America where caimans also occur in the rivers. Lizards are numer- 

 ous and diversified with a number of local genera, especially in the 

 Greater Antilles, Most of them belong to the family Tguanidae. 

 Some of the herbivorous iguanas reach a length of 5 feet or more. 

 Snakes are numerous and divei-sified, with a number of endemic types. 

 The very poisonous fer-de-lance is found on Martinique and St. Lucia. 

 Largest of the Central American snakes is the boa constrictor, up to 

 12 feet long, though seldom more than 7 feet. Frogs are numerous 

 and varied with several endemic types. Salamanders are found in 

 Central America and one lives on Haiti. There are no coecilians. 



The fishes of Central America are mainly South American, but 

 several characteristic South American types are absent. Trout range 

 south to Durango, Mexico, and a few other North American fishes 

 extend to Guatemala. Among the more interesting fishes are three 

 ganoids, the North American Lepidosteus osseus in northeastern 

 Mexico, L. tropicus ranging from Mexico to Panama, and L. tristoe- 

 chus, the great alligator gar, found in Mexico and Cuba as well as in 

 the southern United States. Of the more than 100 species of Cichlidae 

 17 are confined to Lakes Nicaragua and Managua, 6 to Cuba, and 1 to 

 Barbados. In Lake Nicaragua there are a shark and a sawfish {Pris- 

 tis). In the caves of Cuba there are two blindfishes {Lucifuga) be- 

 longing to a family (Brotulidae) chiefly represented in the oceanic 

 abysses. 



Land snails are extremely varied, and their abundance is one of the 

 main features of the West Indian fauna. IMany endemic types occur, 

 especially in the Greater Antilles. Those of Cuba are unexcelled for 

 variety and beauty. 



The very numerous butterflies are mostly South American with some 

 familiar northern types, especially in the Central American highlands. 

 There are several endemic genera, some confined to the Greater xlntil- 

 les. One genus of curious large butterflies {Anclia) is confined to 

 Haiti, Cuba, and Central America. 



The Onychophora are well represented, with four genera and seven 

 species in Panama. One genus {Peripatus) occurs on almost every 

 island from St. Vincent and Barbados to the Virgin Islands, Puerto 

 Rico, Haiti, and Jamaica, and also in northern Venezuela, Panama, 

 and Costa Rica. Plicatoperipatus is confined to Jamaica. The South 

 and Central American genus Epiperipatus lives on Trinidad, Tobago, 

 and Grenada ; and Macroperipatus^ which ranges north to Veracruz, 

 Mexico, is represented on Trinidad and Haiti. The Andean Oroperi- 



