ABSTRACT
The Western Pacific Tropical Region spans a wide area that extends from central Japan in the north to New Guinea in the south, and eastward to New Caledonia and the Fiji Islands, and includes the immense archipelagoes of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Melanesia. Named for the Indonesian and Malaysian Archipelagoes, which represent the core area of the biotic unit, this province contains the richest-known marine molluscan fauna in the world. Named for the country of Indonesia and the widespread Indonesian Archipelago, this subprovincial area extends from Sumatra in the west to Irian Jaya (western New Guinea) in the east and also encompasses the southern part of the Sulu Sea of the Philippines. The slowly-moving Zealandia continental plate carries its own endemic fauna along with it, including some taxa that are probably remnants of faunas that had evolved on older, now-sunken predecessor islands.
