Bd. V: 6) 
THE FISHES OF THE SWEDISH SOUTH POLAR EXPEDITION. 
5 
The terrestrial conditions of this region do not speak against this. The land is 
to a great extent all the year covered with ice and snow. From a botanical point 
of view Mr. C. SKOTTSBERG refers to the Antarctic Zone: “Graham Land with its 
subdivisions — — — and surrounding groups of islands — • — — , and the South 
Shetland islands, the Elephant islands and the South Orkney islands.” * The ter- 
restrial flora of the ground, which is “frozen almost all the year”, consists almost 
exclusively of sparse mosses and lichens, and the sea has no algæ with floating 
fronds. The organic life as well as the physical conditions prove thus that the true 
Antarctic region in a biological sense in the parts of the globe visited by this Ex- 
pedition extends rather far above the Antarctic Polar circle and at least to 61° S. lat. 
But on the other hand the inhabitants of Arctic resp. Antarctic life-zones are 
not entirely confined to the Arctic resp. Antarctic region because no biological 
limits are sharply drawn. Arctic shore fishes are found far south of the arctic 
region and the reader will find further below that a number of the fishes regarded 
by DOLLO ( 1 . c.) as truly antarctic have been found even considerably north of the 
boundary-line just proposed, although the same is made more northern than the one 
he has proposed himself. 
The history of the antarctic and subantarctic ichthyology is so extensively 
and fully treated in the work just published by DOLLO and which has been quoted 
above so that I can refer to this rather than to repeat what has so recently been 
laid before the scientific world. 
Before I conclude this introductory chapter and pass over to the treatment of 
the special subject I wish to express my great gratitude to Mr. G. A. BOULENGER 
F. R. S. etc. and Professor Dr. Aug. BRAUER. The former has kindly compared 
some Nototheniidce with specimens in British Museum and the latter, who has made 
the Myctopliidœ, the object of a thorough study, has kindly given me his opinion 
about some members of this family. 
* C. Skottsberg: On the zonal distribution of South Atlantic and Antarctic Vegetation. The Geo- 
graphical Journal. Dec. 1904. 
