THE CARIBBEAN ARE4 



Air temperatures are affected to a considerable extent by the sea temperatures but the 

 heat is usually tempered by the winds. The humidity usually is fairly high, but there is 

 considerable variation from place to place and season to season. 



Hurricanes occur from June to November. There are two types— «ie of which forms in the 

 Caribbean and the other out in the Atlantic offshore. These usually travel from the south or 

 west in a north or northeasterly direction — usually the path is curved. Hurricanes do not 

 affect the southern coast of the Caribbean but may do great damage j.n the totilles and on the 

 northern part of the Central American coast. 



Rainfall is, in general, quite heavy and it fails most frequently and in greatest amounts 

 from May to December. The amount of rainfall, however, varies considerably due to local con- 

 ditions. Thus, rainfall is heavy at all seasons in western Panama and Costa Rica but it is 

 very light in the Goajira and Paraguana regions at all times. 



Species and Distributicm 



The fishes of the Caribbean area are of the species found more or less from Florida to 

 Brazil. Given like ecological conditions, there is practically the same species represent- 

 ation in all parts of the Caribbean. 



Species distribution, however, varies greatly in the different types of environment 

 found. Thus, fish which are to be found in estuarine, lagoon of brackish habitats are never 

 found in the offshore "blue" waters of high salinity. This holds true for other types of 

 habitat also, although there may be some overlap due to spawning migrations and schooling and 

 to the wide tolerance of a few species as regards salinity and food. 



It has been found that species distributicm is relatively constant throughout the region. 

 For instance, coral i^eef forms of identical species are found in widely-separated localities. 

 The species on a coral reef around Barbuda will be the same as the ones found on reefs off 

 British Honduras and elsewhere. 



Species ; — ^The fishes of some Caribbean localities have been studied by Meek and Hildebrand 

 (1923) and by Beebe and Tee Van (1928) as well as by Metaelaar (1919) and others. There are, 

 however, many gaps in the areas studied and new species, doubtless, will be found with more 

 intensive field work and collecting methods. 



The followjng list is not complete and possibly not accurate in all respects, but it 

 should serve as an indication to the common species and to the common local names. Since 

 these names vary greatly from place to place and include, in some cases, more than one species, 

 they are not definitive. 



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