An introduction to the study of fishesGünther, Albert C. L. G. (Albert Carl Ludwig Gotthilf)
Science
An introduction to the study of fishes
Günther, Albert C. L. G. (Albert Carl Ludwig Gotthilf)
Fishes; Ichthyology
Remnants of the Palæichthyic fauna are the _Sturgeons_ and _Lampreys_.
The former inhabit in abundance the great rivers of Eastern Europe and
Asia, periodically ascending them from the sea; their southernmost
limits are the Yangtse-kiang in the east, and rivers flowing into the
Adriatic, Black and Caspian Seas, and Lake Aral, towards the centre of
this region. None are known to have gone beyond the boundaries of the
Northern Zone. If the Lampreys are justly reckoned among Freshwater
fishes, their distribution is unique and exceptional. In the Palæarctic
region some of the species descend periodically to the sea, whilst
others remain stationary in the rivers; the same has been observed
in the Lampreys of North America. They are entirely absent in the
Equatorial Zone, but reappear in the Temperate Zone of the Southern
Hemisphere. Many points of the organisation of the Cyclostomes indicate
that they are a type of great antiquity.
The remaining Palæarctic fishes are clearly immigrants from
neighbouring regions: thus _Silurus_, _Macrones_, and _Pseudobagrus_
from the Indian region; _Amiurus_ (and, as mentioned above,
_Catostomus_) from North America. The Cyprinodonts are restricted to
the southern and warmer parts; all belong to the carnivorous division.
The facility with which these fishes accommodate themselves to a
sojourn in fresh, brackish, or salt water, and even in thermal springs,
renders their general distribution easily comprehensible, but it is
impossible to decide to which region they originally belonged; their
remains in tertiary deposits round the Mediterranean are not rare.
* * * * *
_B_. The boundaries of the NORTH AMERICAN or NEARCTIC REGION have
been sufficiently indicated. The main features and the distribution
of this fauna are identical with those of the preceding region. The
proportion of Cyprinoid species to the total number of North-American
fishes (135:339) appears to be considerably less than in the Palæarctic
region, but we cannot admit that these figures approach the truth,
as the Cyprinoids of North America have been much less studied than
those of Europe; of many scarcely more than the name is known. This
also applies in a great measure to the Salmonoids, of which only half
as many as are found in the Palæarctic region have been sufficiently
described to be worthy of consideration. North America will, without
doubt, in the end show as many distinct races as Europe and Asia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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