278 



riSHES. 



A. Shore Fishes of the Tropical Atlantic. 



The boundaries of the tropical Atlantic extend zoologi- 

 cally a few degrees beyond the ISTorthern and Southern 

 Tropics, but as the mixture with the types of the temperate 

 zone is very gradual, no distinct boundary line can be drawn 

 between the tropical and temperate faunse. 



Types, almost exclusively limited to it, and not found in 

 the Indo-Pacific, are few in nmmber, as Centropristis, Bhyp- 

 ticus, Hcemulon, Malthe. A few others preponderate with 

 regard to the number of species, as Plectropoma, Sargus, 

 Trachynotus, Batrachidce, and Gohiesocidce. The Scia^noids are 

 equally represented in both oceans. All the remainder are 

 found in both; but in the minority in the Atlantic, where they 

 are sometimes represented by one or two species only (for 

 instance, Lethrinus). 



B. Shore Fishes of the Tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. 



The ichthyological boundaries of this part of the tropical 

 zone may be approximately given as 30° of lat. N. and S. ; 

 on the Australian coasts it should probably be placed still 

 farther south, viz., to 34°; it includes, as mentioned above, 

 the Sandwich Islands, and all the islands of the South Sea, 

 but not the American coasts. 



Some eighty genera of Shore fishes are peculiar to the 

 Indo-Pacific, but the majority consists of one or a few species 



