THE FISH FAUNA OF FLORIDA. 



BY BARTON WARREN EVERMANN, PH. D., 

 Ichthyologist, if. S. fish Commission. 



There is perhaps no State in the Union whose fishes have attracted more general 

 attention than have those of Florida. The interest in the fishes of this State is 

 shared by the commercial fishermen, the angler, and the ichthyologist. The number 

 of species that are sought because of their commercial value is far greater than in 

 any other section of America. Those that are of interest to the angler are more 

 numerous than any other State can boast, while the richness and peculiarities of the 

 fish fauna of Florida have made this State a fascinating field to the ichthyologist and 

 student of geographic distribution. 



Before entering upon the detailed discussion of the fish fauna let us notice for a 

 moment a few of the more important geographic and cl matological factors of the 

 State, for these are the features which determine the character of the fish fauna of 

 any region. 



Florida is the most southern of all the States, the entire State lying south of the 

 thirty-first parallel. Its most southern point is in latitude 24 30', about 1 3<X 

 farther south than any other point of our territory. In longitude it extends from 

 the eightieth meridian to that of 87 30'. It will be thus seen that the State extends 

 through 6 degrees of latitude (nearly 400 miles) and 7 degrees of longitude (or 

 about 400 miles). It has relatively and actually by far the greatest shore line of any 

 State, the total being not fewer than 1,200 miles, or more than 1 mile of shore line 

 for every 5 square miles of territory in fact, about 230 more miles of sea front than it 

 could have if it were a square island. 



Though Florida has not the diversified geographic features possessed by many other 

 States, such as Georgia, which give it mountain torrent, upland river, and lowland 

 marsh, nevertheless its numerous lakes and rivers are not without variety. Some of 

 the streams are more or less turbid, some clear and cold, others temperate, and others 

 warm. All are rich in water vegetation, which invariably implies a rich fauna as well, 

 and the vast Everglades present conditions hardly to be duplicated elsewhere in 

 America. 



The more than 1,200 miles of coast line present great diversity as to nature of 

 shore and temperature of water. There are to be found on the Florida coast almost 

 any kind of shore one may desire; vast areas of mud flats in some places, loog readies 

 of clean sand and shallow water in others, rocky shores with shallow tide pools, a 

 multitude of narrow, shallow channels and mangrove islands, and the great chain of 

 Florida Keys, among which a wide diversity of conditions is found, such as great mud 

 flats, large fields of algae, forests of gorgoniaus, great sponge-grounds, coral reefs, 

 etc., not duplicated anywhere on our coast. 



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