The Freshwater Therapontidae of new Guinea

CONTENTS 1. Introduction................... 3 2. Acknowledgements................. 6 3. History of classification............... 7 4. Character variation................. 9 5. Generic classification................ 16 6. Affinities and zoogeography.............. 21 7. Key to the species known from New Guinea.......... 26 8. Genus Helotes.................. 31 9. Genus Therapon................. 31 10. References................... 84 11. Gazetteer................... 86 I. INTRODUCTION The Therapontidae 2) constitute a small family of Perciform fishes, the members of which are of a remarkably homogeneous appearance, notwithstanding the fact that it includes marine as well as freshwater species. The distribution of the family as a whole is Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa, east to the Tonga Islands, north to Japan and south to the seas around Australia, including its south coast. Records from Hawaii are suspect. As was to be expected, some of the marine species are the most widely distributed members of the family, and of one, Therapon jarbua (Forskål), the range almost co-incides with the family range. On the other hand some marine species have a far more restricted distribution, for 1) Present address : 8 Edward Street, Forster, N. S. W. 2428, Australia 2) There exists some confusion in literature about the spelling of the family name,