3l8 JAPAN AND NEW GUINEA chap. 



to Chiua, four of the Helices being specifically identical with 

 those of Japan, but the peninsula is at present too little explored 

 for any generalisations to be made as to its fauna in this respect. 



(&) Japanese Province. — Kobelt distinguishes four groups of 

 Mollusca inhabiting Japan (a) circumpolar species, actually 

 occurring in Europe, Siberia, or IS!". America, or represented by 

 nearly allied species (these of course do not belong to the 

 Japanese province as such) ; (6) Indo-tropical species ; (c) species 

 which are Chinese or akin to Chinese ; {cl) peculiar species, a 

 mixture of two forms, southern and northern, the latter being 

 chiefly Hyalinia, Patula, and Fruticicola. Out of a total of 193 

 Japanese species, at least 164 are peculiar. 



The Japanese Helices belong to sub - genera common to 

 China (Plectotrojns 8, Euhadra 21, Acusta 23?); but the 

 Naninidae scarcely occur at all. The principal feature of the 

 fauna is the development of Clausilia, which presents some 

 extraordinarily fine forms. One slug {Philomycus) is identical 

 with an Indian species. The operculates, which consist mainly 

 of a few species each of Diplommatina, Cyclcipliorus, Pupinella, 

 Picpina, Helicina, and Georissa, belong almost exclusively to the 

 southern islands Kiu-siu, Sikoku, and southern Niphon. The 

 three species usually reckoned as Japonia are probably forms of 

 LagocMlus. 



C. The Australasian Region 



This region includes all the islands of the Pacific east of the 

 Moluccas, and falls into three sub-regions — the Papuan, the 

 Australian, and the Polynesian. 



1. The Papuan Sub-region may be divided into — {a) the 

 Papuan Province proper, which includes Xew Guinea, with the 

 Aru Is. and Waigiou, the Admiralty Is., New Ireland, New 

 Britain, and the d'Entrecasteaux and Louisiade Groups; (&) 

 the Queensland Province, or the strip of N.E. Australia from 

 C. York to the Clarence E. (about 29° S. lat.) ; (c) the 

 Melanesian Province, which includes the New Hebrides, New- 

 Caledonia, with the Loyalty Is. and the Viti Is. The Solomons 

 form a transition district between the Papuan and Melanesian 

 provinces, abounding on the cue hand in characteristic Papuan 

 Helices, while on the other they form the north-western limit of 



