[CEYLON PEARL OYSTER FISHERIES 1906 SUPPLEMENTARY REPORTS, No. XLI.] 



DISCUSSION OF FAUNISTIC RESULTS. 



BY 



W. A. HERDMAN, F.R.S. 



[WITH TWO PLATES AND TEXT-FIGURES.] 



THE preceding forty Supplementary Reports, along with the four upon Parasites, 

 have made known 2615 species of marine animals from the coasts of Ceylon. Of 

 these, 575 species are described as new to science, and have required the formation of 

 65 new genera and three new families. The distribution of these species in the chief 

 groups of animals is shown in the following table : 



The majority of the previously known species are new records for the Ceylon fauna 

 and a large number of them are new to the fauna of the Indian Ocean, and, 

 consequently, the Reports have added considerably to the recorded distribution of 

 many of the older species. It is almost impossible to get exact numbers in such 

 a case, but it is probably fairly correct to say that 1500 species have been added to the 



3 K 



