44 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



THE FISHES OF FLORIDA. 



From the list which follows it will be seen that the total number of 

 species of fishes known from Floridian waters is 576, or more than oue- 

 sixth of the entire fish fauna of America north of Panama. This number 

 is far larger than can be found in any other section of our country, and 

 is due to the diversity and peculiarities of the climatic conditions 

 prevailing there. The Florida fish fauna may be regarded as made 

 up of at least five more or less distinct faunas: [a] the salt-water fauna 

 of our South Atlantic States, {h) the subtropical fauna of the Florida 

 Keys, (c) the Gulf of Mexico fauna, {d) the fresh- water fauna of the 

 southern portion of the Lower Mississippi Valley, and (e) the fresh- 

 water fauua of the Everglades. 



These, of course, overlap more or less, and in a consideration of the 

 entire fish fauna of America these regions would not be regarded as 

 constituting distinct faunal areas; but for our present purpose they 

 may properly be considered as fairly distinct. From Fernandina south- 

 ward to Biscayne Bay are found most of the species characteristic of 

 the coast south of Cape Hatteras. From Biscayne Bay to Key West 

 and the Tortugas is found a fish fauna marvelous in its multitude of 

 species and in richness of coloration. 



Among the fishes of Florida which deserve special mention are the 

 great numbers of groupers, snappers, grunts, and porgies, all important 

 food-fishes ; the many labroid species, such as the hog-fish, pudding- wife, 

 and the various parrot-fishes, all remarkable for their brilliant colora- 

 tion; the many species of pipe-fishes, the tangs, angel-fish, and cha^to- 

 donts, among them several of the most gorgeous of American fishes. 



The fish fauna of the Florida Keys resembles that of Cuba very 

 closely. Many of the food and game fishes at Key West are also found 

 at Havana. The warm waters of the keys serve as a more or less 

 effective barrier to the passage of fishes living in colder water. As a 

 result many species are found on the east coast of Florida which do not 

 occur on the Gulf coast, and vice versa. There are so many species 

 found on the west coast of Florida that are not known from the east 

 side that the two coasts may be regarded as having separate faunas. 

 This west-coast fauna extends from the "bay" to Pensacola and 

 beyond, and is not essentially different from that found elsewhere on 

 the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 



In the fresh waters of the northern part of the State the fishes are 

 essentially the same as occur in the streams and ponds of the other 

 Gulf States, and include several species of minnows, sun -fishes, cat- 

 fishes, suckers, the bowfin or "grindle," and a few darters. From the 

 little that is known about the fresh-water fishes of the extreme southern 

 part of the State, it is believed that the species are to a considerable 

 extent distinct and peculiar to that region. There is great need, how- 

 ever, of further investigation in this i egion. 



Of the 576 species of fishes credited to Florida waters, about 61 are 

 fresh-water species, 20 may be regarded as brackish- water species, and 

 the remaining 495 constitute the sajt- water fish fauna of the State. 



