788 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1885, 



its occurrence has been longest known." The figures given by Profes- 

 sor Jordan are as follows : 



Species. 



Bassalian or deep-sea fauna of the Atlantic 105 



Arctic (Greenland) fauna 65 



New England (Newfoundland to Cape Hatteras) . . . - 95 



South Atlantic and Gulf coast (shore fauna) 140 



West Indian fauna (including Florida Keys and "Snapper Banks," of Pensa- 



cola) 290 



Tropical fauna of the Pacific (Gulf of California, southward) 240 



California fauna (Cape Flattery to Cerros Island) 220 



Alaska (Cape Flattery to Bering's Straits) .- 90 



Pelagic species 35 



Fresh waters : East of Rocky Mountains 465 



Fresh waters : Between Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada (Great Basin, &c.) 75 



Fresh waters : West of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range 50 



Total 1,870 



The Fishes of Tropical America. — After having elaborated all the spe- 

 cies of fishes of temperate and arctic America, Prof. David S. Jordan 

 addressed himself to a preparation of a list of the fishes found along the 

 Pacific coast of tropical America from the Tropic of Cancer to Panama. 

 The species of this region were almost unknown a quarter of a century 

 ago, and, in the words of Professor Jordan, "our knowledge of these 

 species is due chiefly to the studies of Dr. Gill, Dr. Giinther, Dr. Stein- 

 dachner, and Professors Jordan and Gilbert. Only a few collectors 

 have given especial attention to the fish fauna of this region, but the 

 work of these has, in nearly all cases, been of exceptional value. The 

 earliest extensive collections were made by Mr, John Xantus at Cape 

 San Lucas, and later at Colima. The specimens obtained by Xantus 

 comprise especially the fishes of the rock pools. These were studied 

 by Dr. Gill in 1862 and by Professor Gilbert and the writer in 1882. " 

 Since that early time, however, numerous other collectors have obtained 

 fishes, and among the most prominent of these are Captain John M. 

 Dow, Mr. Osbert Salvin, Dr. Franz Steindachner, Prof. Frank Bradley, 

 Dr. Bocourt, and, last and greatest, Messrs. Jordan and Gilbert. Alto- 

 gether 407 species have been obtained, and these represent 187 genera 

 and 08 families. A comparison of these with the Caribbean and Gulf 

 of Mexico fauna is interesting and instructive. According to Professor 

 Jordan's identifications, 71 species, or 17^ per cent., are found also on the 

 Atlantic coasts. If we add to this some 800 species now known from 

 the Caribbean Sea and adjacent shores, we have about 6 per cent, of the 

 whole number known, as common to the two coasts. This number, 71, 

 is-not very definitely ascertained, as there must be considerable differ- 

 ence of opinion as to the boundaries of species, and as several of these 

 species regarded as common are open to doubt and need verification." 

 Professor Jordan believes liowever that "fuller investigations will not 

 increase the proportions of common species, and, if it does not, the two 



