268 FISHES 



Hippocam.pus (Mediterr.) 

 Balistes, Ifonaccmthus. 



B, Shore Fishes of the Temperate North Pacific. 



This fauna shows a great affinity to that of the temperate 

 Nortli Atlantic, not only in inclnding a considerable proportion 

 of identical genera, and even of species, bnt also in having its 

 constitnent parts similarly distributed. However, our know- 

 ledge of the ichthyology of tliis fauna is by no means com- 

 plete. Very few collections have been made in Northern 

 Japan, and on the coasts farther north of it ; and, again, the 

 ichthyology of the coasts of Southern California is but little 

 known. Southern Japan has been well searched, but very 

 little attention has been paid to the extent of the northward 

 range of the species. In collections made by Mr. Swinhoe at 

 Chefoo, in lat. 37° iST., the proportions of temperate and tropical 

 fishes were found to be about equal. Thus, the details of the 

 distribution of the fishes of these shores have still to be 

 worked out ; nevertheless, three divisions may be recognised 

 which, for the present, may be defined as follows : — 



1. The fishes of the north-western shores, to about 37° 

 lat. N., including the corresponding northern parts of Japan — 

 Kamtschatkan district ; this corresponds to the British district 

 of the Atlantic. 



2. The fishes of Southern Japan and the corresponding 

 shores of the continent of Asia, between 37° and 30° lat. 

 N. — Japanese district, which corresponds to the Mediter- 

 ranean. 



3. The fishes of the eastern shores southwards to the lati- 

 tude of San Francisco — Calif ornian district ; this corresponds 

 to the North American district of the Atlantic. 



Too little is known of the shore fishes of the coasts between 

 San Francisco and the tropic to enable us to treat of it as a 

 separate division. 



