BY THE RKV. J. E. TRNISON-WOODS. 173 



a third of all the freshwater fishes known, and the cat-fishes one- 

 fourth. Carps seem to have spread all over the world, except 

 Australia, South America, and the Pacific Islands. Many natur- 

 alists believe that they have spread from the Alpine region 

 dividing temperate and tropical Asia, 



The Siluroids being fond of warm, muddy, and sluggish waters, 

 are, moreover, able to remain buried in the mud for long 

 periods with little or no water. They are in Australia and South 

 America, and in the Sandwich Islands, though not in the coral 

 islands of the Pacific. A few species are found in the temperate 

 parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, but not in Tasmania, 

 New Zealand, or Patagonia. They are especially characteristic 

 of the equatorial region. 



The equatorial zone for the marine fishes extends about 30 

 degrees on each side of the line, reaching even further south 

 on the eastern and western Australian coast. The boundary of 

 the freshwater fishes difiers much from this. It extends in 

 undulating lines several degrees north and south. In Africa 

 the Sahara forms a well-marked boundary. " The line, as it 

 approaches the Nile," says Dr. Giinther, " makes a sudden sweep 

 towards the north as far as northern Syria," including some 

 characteristic species near Aleppo and in the Tigris, as also 

 well-marked Siluroid genera in the Sea of Galilee. It crosses 

 through Persia and Afghanistan to the southern ranges of the 

 Himalayas, and follows the course of the Yang-tse-kiang, which 

 receives its contingent of equatorial fishes through the southern 

 tributaries. 



The equatorial zone is divided into the Cyprinoid or carp 

 division, and that region from which carps are absent. It is in 

 the carp division that the Malayan Peninsula is included with all 

 the Indian region. This region is characterised by Ophiocephalidae 

 and Mastaceml)elid{B. The Ophiocephalidai have a long body, 

 covered with scales of moderate size ; no spine in any of the fins, 

 and the dorsal and anal fins long. These fishes though belonging 

 to the Indian region, have one or two representatives in Africa. 



