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from the Coastal Plain are the ostracods Cypridopsisinaudita Furtos, C. mexicana Furtos, and C. yucatanensisFurtos; the pimelodid catfishes Rhamdia guatemalensisdecolor Hubbs, R. guatemalensis depressaBarbour and Cole, and R. guatemalensis stygaeaHubbs; and the cichlid fish Cichlasoma urophthalmusericymba Hubbs. Among the more abundant aquaticspecies with wider distributions are the copepodsEucyclops serrulatus (Fischer), Macrocyclops albidus(Jurine), Mesocyclops ellipticus Kiefer, 1I-lesocyclopsleuckarti (Claus), Mesocyclops (Thermocyclops)tenuis (Marsh), Paracyclops fimbriatus (Fischer),Tropocyclops prasinus (Fischer), and Diaptomus(Leptodiaptomus) novamexicanus Herrick; the melitidamphipod Quadrivisio lutzi (Shoemaker); and thelimnesiid mite Limnesia paucispina Wolcott.Terrestrial troglophiles known only from theCoastal Plain are the oniscid isopod Hoctunus vespertilioMulaik; the trichoniscid isopod Trichoniscushoctuni Mulaik; the chernetid pseudoscorpion Parazaonacavicola Chamberlin; the laelapid mite llaemolaelapsglasgowi (Ewing); the uropodid mite Uropodapearsei Wharton; the erythraeid mite Erythraeusbisetosa Wharton; the galumnid mite Calumna jacotiWharton; the oribatellid mite Oribatellu monospicusWharton; the oribatulid mite Scheloribates luchiliWharton; the pyrgodesmid millipeds Calymmodesmusalienus (Chamberlin), C. isidricus (Chamberlin),C. hoctunanus (Causey), and C. muruztunicus (Chamberlin);the rhachodesmid milliped Aceratophallushoctunanus Chamberlin; the sphaeriodesmid millipedCylionus kauanus Chamberlin; the psocid Psyllipsocusyucatan Gurney; and the ant Brachymyrmex cavernicolaWheeler. Troglophiles restricted to the YucatanPeninsula are the acanthodrilid earthworms Balanteodriluspearsei Pickford and Eodrilus oxkutzcabensisPickford, the amaurobiid spider Coldia tizamina(Chamberlin and lvie), the c1ubionid spider Tixcocobamaya Gertsch, the oonopid spider Oonopsreddelli Gertsch, the pholcid spiders Metagonia ivieiGertsch and M. maya Chamberlin and lvie; the ricinuleidCryptocellus pearsei Chamberlin and lvie; theopilionid Erginulus bimaculata Goodnight and Goodnight;the pyrgodesmid milliped Calymmodesmusviabilis (Chamberlin), the spirostreptid miIlipedOrthoporus solicolens Chamberlin, the collem bolanLepidocyrtus pearsei Mills, the ant lion Eremeleonlongior Banks, and the ant Paratrechina pearsei(Wheeler). Some of the more widely distribu tedtroglophiles are the cyclophorid snail Neocyclotusdysoni berendti (Pfeiffer); the pomatiid snail Chounopomalargillierti (Pfeiffer); the spiraxid snailsEuglandina cylindrucea (Phillips), Streptostyla meridanameridana (\10relet), and S. ventricosula (Morelet);the urocoptid snail Brachypodella dubia Pilsbry;the schizomid Schizomus portoricensis (Chamberlin);the amblypygid Paraphrynus raptator (Pocock);the mysmenid spider Maymena mayana(Chamberlin and Ivie); the nesticid spider Eidmannellapallida (Emerton); the pholcid spiders Modisimusiviei Gertsch, Pholcophora speophila (Chamberlinand Ivie), and Physocyclus globosus (Taczanowski);the scytodid spider Loxosceles yucatanaChamberlin and Ivie; the pyrgodesmid miIlipedSynoptura italolegata (Shear); the leiodid beetlesDissochaetus hetschkoi Reitter and Ptomaphagus(Adelops) tabascensis Sbordoni; and the ant Erebomyrmaurichi (Wheeler).DISTRIBUTIONThe distribution and relationships of the cavern i­cole fauna of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize remainpoorly known. In few instances can we delineate therange of any species of troglobite. It possible, nevertheless,to perceive some general distributional patternsand to draw a few conclusions with respect tothe distribution and relationships of the cavernicolefauna of these three countries. Although it is temptingto speculate on the zoogeography of the cavernicolefauna as well, I feel it premature to do so at thistime. Far too little is known of the past climatichistory of the region and of the faunal distributionsand relationships to confidently analyze the zoogeographyof the fauna in any but the most general sense.It is beyond the scope of this study to discuss thegeologic, hydrographic, and other factors which areimportant in obtaining a general understanding of thedistribution and evolu tion of the cavernicoles ofMexico and Central America. This region is amongthe more complex in the world, and even a discussionof the general features of its geology, hydrography,climate, and vegetation would take far more spacethan can be devoted to it here. The regional geologyhas been discussed by Schuchert (1935) in a pioneeringwork. Maldonado-Koerdell (1964) and West (1964)have provided useful summaries of the geology ofCentral America. The geology of Mexico has beensummarized by Garfias and Chapin (1949). Thehydrography of Mexico has been discussed by de laO. de Carreno (1951, 1954) and that of MiddleAmerica by Tamayo and West (1964). Vivo Escoto(1964) has summarized the climate of Mexico andCentral America. A good introduction to the vegetationof the region is that of Wagner (1964). A fewsignificant studies of specific areas have been citedin the section on Cave Regions above.59