Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens Ergebnisse der Hamburger südwest-australischen Forschungsreise, 1905

Abstract

THE zoological collections of the German South Polar Expedition to South Georgia in 1882–83 are preserved in the Natural History Museum at Hamburg, the staff of which therefrom acquired a special interest in the subantarctic fauna. On the renewal of Antarctic research, the Hamburg zoologists decided they could contribute most usefully to that work by continuing the investigation of the adjacent regions. The marine subantarctic fauna is most accessible on the western coasts of the three great southern continents, where its range is extended northward by cold ocean currents. The Hamburg Museum accordingly arranged zoological expeditions to each of these three areas. The first went to South America, and worked in the Straits of Magellan and along the western coasts of Chilian Patagonia; its collections have been described in a series of monographs issued from 1896 to 1907. The second expedition was led by Dr. Schultze to the coasts of south-western Africa, and the series was completed by the visit of Prof. Michaelsen and Dr. Hartmeyer to Westralia from June to October, 1905. They there made marine collections in Shark's Bay, Champion Bay, Geographe Bay, and King George's Sound; they collected on land, especially around Perth, Geraldton, and Albany, and travelled inland as far eastward as Kalgoorlie. They describe the south-western part of Australia as zoologically “a forgotten corner,” for as Westralia is younger and larger and has a smaller population than the Eastern States, it has not been able to organise such extensive studies of its fauna and flora.