THE EELATIONS OF THE ABYSMAL ZONE 49 



all parts of the seas of less depth than 500 fathoms, 

 including the inland seas, the shores of great con- 

 tinents and islands, and the shallow banks in the 

 great oceans. It does not include the superficial 

 waters which belong to the pelagic zone but ex- 

 tends only from the actual bottom to a distance of 

 a few fathoms above it. The fauna of this zone is 

 extremely varied, consisting of animals that swim, 

 crawl, or are permanently fixed to the bottom, 

 animals of almost every variety of colour and mark- 

 ing, and of every size and shape. 



The exact limits of the Neritic sub-zones are not 

 easy to define. The distinguished naturalist Forbes, 

 to whom the abysmal zone was unknown, divided 

 the seas from 0-50 fathoms in depth into three zones 

 -the littoral zone lying between tide marks, the 

 laminarian zone extending from 0-15 fathoms, and 

 the coralline zone from 15-50 fathoms. 



The first of these will stand as a sub-zone, the 

 animals that are able to withstand exposure to the 

 sun and air either in pools or upon the rocks and 

 sand even for a few minutes frequently possessing 

 features that distinguish them from those dwelling 

 beyond low-water mark, just as those more active 

 creatures that migrate backwards and forwards with 



E 



