A Checklist of the Fishes of Fiji and a bibliography of Fijian fishes

Abstract

Previous scientific expeditions have collected fish in Fiji and they included the Challenger Expedition (Günther, 1889), which conducted a deep sea survey in Fiji; the Fiji-New Zealand Expedition (Nutting, 1924); the Templeton-Crocker Expedition to western Polynesia and Melanesia (Seale, 1935); the fish collected by the yacht “Alva” (Borodin, 1932); the Wilkes Expedition (Fowler, 1940a); the Crane Expedition (Herre, 1935); and the scientific expedition to the tropical Pacific on the steamer “Albatross” (Kendall and Goldsborough, 1911). Schmeltz (1867-1884) listed numerous new records of fish from Fiji in the Godeffroy Museum Catalogues. Günther (1857-1910) also listed many Fijian fishes. Other fish collections were reported by Boulenger (1897) on a collection of fish in Rotuma by J. Stanley Gardener; Jordan and Dickerson (1908) on a collection of fish from Fiji; Whitley (1927) reported on a checklist of the fishes of Fiji; Fowler (1932) listed fish obtained at Fiji; and Fowler (1955a) wrote about fish collected by Dr. and Mrs. Laird from Fiji. Fowler (1928) wrote about the fishes of Oceania with three additional supplements in 1931, 1934, and 1949. This major 1928 publication listed all Fijian fish records up until then.