PART IE 
COMPOSITION AND ORIGIN OF THE ECHINODERM FAUNA OF THE 
TORRES STRAIT REGION AND QUEENSLAND. 
In view of our still relatively slight knowledge of the echinoderm fauna of 
Torres Strait, it would seem to be somewhat presumptuous to undertake its analysis 
critically in search of light on its origin, but the data which we now have are sur- 
prisingly suggestive and fully warrant an effort to understand and interpret them. 
In order to appreciate this rich and varied fauna, we must include in our survey 
the echinoderms known from the surrounding region. The entire area to be con- 
sidered may for convenience be divided quite naturally into the following areas. 
1. The coast of northern and western Australia, from Melville Bay on the east to Sharks Bay on 
the west. Unfortunately, nothing whatever is known of the echinoderms of the Gulf 
of Carpentaria. 
2. The island of Rotti and the southern coast of Timor, a region still very imperfectly known. 
The knowledge we have is due almost wholly to the splendid work of the Siboga. 
3. The Arafura Sea, the Aru Islands, and less naturally the Kei Islands. The Tenimber Islands are 
an important part of this area, but unfortunately they were not visited by the Siboga and 
nothing is known of their marine fauna. 
4, The northern coast of New Guinea from Humboldt Bay eastward (and the southern coast as 
far west as the Fly River delta may be included, too, if one wishes, since its echinoderms 
are quite unknown); New Britain and its neighbors; the Solomon and Loyalty Islands, 
the New Hebrides, and New Caledonia—all that vast area which forms a sort of western 
limit to the southern half of the tropical Pacifie Ocean. Practically nothing is known of the 
echinoderms of most of this region. 
5. Fiji and Samoa, typical tropical Pacific islands, whose echinoderms are still very imperfectly 
known, but which nevertheless may not be ignored in considering the Australian fauna. 
6. The Murray Islands and vicinity, including Erub (Darnley Island) and even Warrior Reef 
still further west. This is the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef region. 
7. Thursday Island and vicinity, including Torres Strait proper, and extending from Albany Passage 
on the south to Mabuag (Jervis Island) on the north. The southern coast of New Guinea 
from the Fly River delta westward may be included here, but nothing whatever is known 
of its echinoderms. 
. The coast of Queensland from Albany Passage southward, including the off-lying islands and reefs. 
. The coast of Australia south of Queensland. 
It is of course quite unnecessary to take into account all the echinoderms 
known from each of these areas. Obviously a species known only from Fiji, or 
New Britain, or even Queensland or West Australia, is of little or no direct value 
in studying the Torres Strait fauna. In compiling the following list of species to 
be considered, it has seemed best therefore, in order that the list should not be too 
long, to exclude all species not occurring in the Torres Strait region which are 
known fronr only one place. Some species are included, however, which occur at 
only one place in the region under consideration, if they are known from the regions 
to the north or east. All species of the Torres Strait region are included in the table, 
even when known from but a single specimen, as it seems desirable to consider 
them in contrasting the eastern and western halves of that region. It is also desir- 
able that this table should include all the known echinoderms of Torres Strait. 
It is not to be denied that the inclusion or rejection of species in the table is more 
or less arbitrary, but I have endeavored to include all species which would throw 
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