Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island
Abstract
Lord Howe Island, some 630 kilometres off the northern coast of New South Wales, Australia at 31.5° South latitude, is the world's southern most locality with a well developed coral reef community and associated lagoon. An extensive collection of fishes from Lord Howe Island was made during a month's expedition in February 1973. A total of 208 species are newly recorded from Lord Howe Island and 23 species newly recorded from the Australian mainland. The fish fauna of Lord Howe is increased to 447 species in 107 families. Of the 390 species of inshore fishes, the majority (60%) are wide-ranging tropical forms; some 10% are found only at Lord Howe Island, southern Australia and/or New Zealand. less than 4% of the shore fishes are endemic to the Lord Howe region (including Norfolk Island). Some 32% of the inshore species are restricted to the south-western or southern Pacific Ocean.
