The Fishes of New Jersey, 



BY HENRY W. FOWLER. 



INTRODUCTION. 



New Jerse}^ has a more extensive seaboard than any of the 

 Middle Atlantic States in proportion to its area. It lies entirely 

 on the Atlantic slope and intrudes its northwestern portion into 

 the Appalachian province. The lower half of the state is low, 

 sandy and covered with pine woods. From this it may be seen 

 that three rather characteristic faunas exist, /. e., a marine, a low 

 land or pine-woods, and an alpine. The marine fauna is un- 

 questionably the most important in every feature, either for its 

 richness in forms or its great economic value. In fact it com- 

 prises by far the greater number of species known from the state, 

 many of them of the greatest importance to the commercial world. 

 While it may be said that many are regular visitors to our coast 

 during the summer and others are only found or taken in abund- 

 ance during the winter or cold weather, it is also true that some 

 are residents. The marine fauna is well represented by the lit- 

 toral shore-fauna of the A^irginian. Of the deep-sea fauna oil 

 the New Jersey banks nothing much is known. Pelagic forms 

 are likely to occur at any time and some of the more usual have 

 already been recorded. Among the most interesting forms, how- 

 ever, are those which wander from the tropical waters in the 

 Gulf Stream, sometimes even beyond our limits as far as Massa- 

 chusetts. In fact many young fishes of different groups only 

 known from their tropical habitats are distributed at times along 

 the Atlantic coast of the United States in this way. Of the shore- 

 fauna many forms occur in the inlets and salt ponds, sometimes 



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