BIOGEOGRAPHICAL PROX'INCES 1055 



Marine Provinces. 



The followine^ are the marine zoogeograjiliical regions of the 

 present geologic ej)och, as given liy ( )rtmann (\^8 : 66) : 



I. Littoral life-district 



1. Arctic region 



2. Indo-Pacific region 



3. West American region 



4. East American region 



5. West African region 



6. Antarctic region 



II. Pelagic life-district 



1. Arctic region 



2. Indo-Pacitic region 



3. Atlantic region 



4. Antarctic region 

 III, Abyssal life-district 



No regions distinguishable. 



Marine geographical provinces have been distinguished for sev- 

 eral classes of organisms by different authors. Among these the 

 following may be mentioned : 



I. Corals. Dana recognized three principal regions: (i) Red 

 Sea and Indian Ocean; (2) the whole of the Pacific Islands and the 

 adjacent coasts of Australia; (3) the West Indies. The last region 

 is the most isolated and it contains the largest proportion of pectiliar 

 forms. 



II. Higher Crustacea. Prof. J. D. Dana also proposed to divide 

 the oceans into the three main areas, based on tlie distribution of 

 the Crustacea. These are: (i) the Occidental; (2) the Africo- 

 European, comprising the western shores of the Atlantic, both 

 African and European; and (3) the Oriental, which includes the 

 vast area from the east coast of Africa to the Central Pacific. Each 

 region is subdivided into local and climatic provinces. 



III. Barnacles. Darwin, considering the distribution of the spe- 

 cies of barnacles, divided the oceans into the following regions : 

 ( I ) The North Atlantic, comprising North America and Europe 

 down to N. lat. 30° ; (2) the West American, from Behring Strait 

 to Tierra del Fuego ; (3) the Malayan, from India to New Guinea; 

 (4) the Australian, comprising Australia and New Zealand. The 

 third and fourth regions are the richest in species. 



IV. Mollusca. S. P. Woodward (61) divided the oceans into 

 three main divisions or regions: (i) The Atlantic; (2) the Indo- 

 Pacific, corresponding to Dana's Oriental region for Crustacea ; 

 and (3) the West American. The following is the modified system 

 of Woodward (Lydekker-29 :70/(5) : 



