SCIENTIFIC NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION
give a list of references and synonyms based on the literature
pertinent to our area. This list, called a synonymy, will serve
not only as a guide to the literature on each species, but also
as an index to the taxonomy of each species. The synonymies and references given in this book are limited to (1) the
primary synonyms described from our area, (2) major
taxonomic revisions, and (3) South African literature subsequent to 1960. References to southern African fishes published before 1960 can be traced through the 1961 edition of
J. L. B. Smith's book The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa, which
is entered in our synonymies as "Smith, SFSA No. ___ ",
which denotes the species number used in that book. A
sample of a synonymy used in the present book, with a few
additional notes of explanation, is as follows:
Cheimerius nufar
(Valenciennes, 1830)
Dentex nufar Valenciennes, in Cuv. & Val., 1830: 240 (Red Sea). Dentex
variabilis Valenciennes, in Cuv. & Val., 1830: 241 (Red Sea). Dentex
miles Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908: 155 (Natal). Dentex a/bus Gilchrist &
Thompson, 1914: 128, Fig. 1 (Natal). Dentex filosus (non Valenciennes):
Barnard, 1927: 715. Dentex rupestris (non Valenciennes): Fowler, 1925:
240. Cheimerius nufar: Smith, 1938: 292*; SFSA No. 740*; Smith & Smith,
1966: 58*; van der Elst, 1981: 306*.
Explanation: Cheimerius nufar is the valid name for the
species first described by Valenciennes on page 240 in the
work co-authored by Cuvier and Valenciennes and published in 1830; the specimen on which Valenciennes based
his description was collected in the Red Sea. Dentex variabilis, which Valenciennes considered a different species
and described on the next page of the same book, is here regarded as the same species as D. nufar. Dentex miles and
Dentex albus, both described by Gilchrist and Thompson
from specimens collected along the coast of Natal, are also
here regarded as synonyms of D. nufar. Dentex filosus and
D. rupestris are not synonyms of nufar; they are either valid
species or junior synonyms of other species. Barnard and
Fowler have both misidentified the fishes they had, as both
prove to be C. nufar. "Cheimerius nufar: Smith, 1938: 292*;
SFSA No. 740*" indicates that Smith refers to the species
under this name in his publication of 1938 (page 292 with an
illustration, indicated by the asterisk) and in the Sea Fishes
book the species is No. 740. "Smith & Smith, 1966: 58*" and
"van der Elst, 1981: 306*" refer to publications subsequent
to the Sea Fishes, both of which have illustrations (*).
Oceanography of the Southern African region
by F. A. Shillington
In order to understand the habitat and distribution of the
fishes of southern Africa, it is important to outline the
physical oceanography of this region.
MARINE GEOLOGY AND BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY
It is now believed that about 200 million years ago, there
existed a supercontinent known as Gondwanaland, comprising Africa, South America, Australia, India and Antarctica (Fig. 1). About 180 million years ago this continent
broke into a western and eastern half, leading eventually to
the formation of the Indian Ocean. About 50 million years
later (130 million years ago), on the west, South America
started drifting away from Africa to form the South Atlantic
Ocean.
The manner in which the continents drifted apart has had
a great deal of influence on the resulting continental shelf
structure. For example, the continental slope between Dur22
ban and Port Elizabeth drops from 200 m to 1 000 m extremely rapidly, because this region resulted from shear
stress as the Falkland Plateau moved away from the eastern
South African coast. On the other hand, the west coast
region shows a more gently sloping edge because of tension
faulting.
The edge of the east coast shelf is close to the coastline
(see Fig. 2), being only 12.5 km wide in some places (e.g.
Port St. Johns), and slopes steeply from the edge (at about
200 m below mean sea level) down to the abyssal plain at
4 000 m. The narrow continental shelf on the east coast
affects the path of the Agulhas Current. Near Durban, however, the shelf widens to some 45 km, and the effect of the
Tugela River can be seen in the form of an undersea delta
comprising land-derived sediments. There are a number of
underwater canyons incised in the shelf between St. Lucia
and Lake Sibaya, where the shelf is extremely narrow
(4 km). Recently, large undersea sand dunes have been ob-
give a list of references and synonyms based on the literature
pertinent to our area. This list, called a synonymy, will serve
not only as a guide to the literature on each species, but also
as an index to the taxonomy of each species. The synonymies and references given in this book are limited to (1) the
primary synonyms described from our area, (2) major
taxonomic revisions, and (3) South African literature subsequent to 1960. References to southern African fishes published before 1960 can be traced through the 1961 edition of
J. L. B. Smith's book The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa, which
is entered in our synonymies as "Smith, SFSA No. ___ ",
which denotes the species number used in that book. A
sample of a synonymy used in the present book, with a few
additional notes of explanation, is as follows:
Cheimerius nufar
(Valenciennes, 1830)
Dentex nufar Valenciennes, in Cuv. & Val., 1830: 240 (Red Sea). Dentex
variabilis Valenciennes, in Cuv. & Val., 1830: 241 (Red Sea). Dentex
miles Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908: 155 (Natal). Dentex a/bus Gilchrist &
Thompson, 1914: 128, Fig. 1 (Natal). Dentex filosus (non Valenciennes):
Barnard, 1927: 715. Dentex rupestris (non Valenciennes): Fowler, 1925:
240. Cheimerius nufar: Smith, 1938: 292*; SFSA No. 740*; Smith & Smith,
1966: 58*; van der Elst, 1981: 306*.
Explanation: Cheimerius nufar is the valid name for the
species first described by Valenciennes on page 240 in the
work co-authored by Cuvier and Valenciennes and published in 1830; the specimen on which Valenciennes based
his description was collected in the Red Sea. Dentex variabilis, which Valenciennes considered a different species
and described on the next page of the same book, is here regarded as the same species as D. nufar. Dentex miles and
Dentex albus, both described by Gilchrist and Thompson
from specimens collected along the coast of Natal, are also
here regarded as synonyms of D. nufar. Dentex filosus and
D. rupestris are not synonyms of nufar; they are either valid
species or junior synonyms of other species. Barnard and
Fowler have both misidentified the fishes they had, as both
prove to be C. nufar. "Cheimerius nufar: Smith, 1938: 292*;
SFSA No. 740*" indicates that Smith refers to the species
under this name in his publication of 1938 (page 292 with an
illustration, indicated by the asterisk) and in the Sea Fishes
book the species is No. 740. "Smith & Smith, 1966: 58*" and
"van der Elst, 1981: 306*" refer to publications subsequent
to the Sea Fishes, both of which have illustrations (*).
Oceanography of the Southern African region
by F. A. Shillington
In order to understand the habitat and distribution of the
fishes of southern Africa, it is important to outline the
physical oceanography of this region.
MARINE GEOLOGY AND BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY
It is now believed that about 200 million years ago, there
existed a supercontinent known as Gondwanaland, comprising Africa, South America, Australia, India and Antarctica (Fig. 1). About 180 million years ago this continent
broke into a western and eastern half, leading eventually to
the formation of the Indian Ocean. About 50 million years
later (130 million years ago), on the west, South America
started drifting away from Africa to form the South Atlantic
Ocean.
The manner in which the continents drifted apart has had
a great deal of influence on the resulting continental shelf
structure. For example, the continental slope between Dur22
ban and Port Elizabeth drops from 200 m to 1 000 m extremely rapidly, because this region resulted from shear
stress as the Falkland Plateau moved away from the eastern
South African coast. On the other hand, the west coast
region shows a more gently sloping edge because of tension
faulting.
The edge of the east coast shelf is close to the coastline
(see Fig. 2), being only 12.5 km wide in some places (e.g.
Port St. Johns), and slopes steeply from the edge (at about
200 m below mean sea level) down to the abyssal plain at
4 000 m. The narrow continental shelf on the east coast
affects the path of the Agulhas Current. Near Durban, however, the shelf widens to some 45 km, and the effect of the
Tugela River can be seen in the form of an undersea delta
comprising land-derived sediments. There are a number of
underwater canyons incised in the shelf between St. Lucia
and Lake Sibaya, where the shelf is extremely narrow
(4 km). Recently, large undersea sand dunes have been ob-