THE AKTHKOPODA OF THE DEEP SEA 125 



In the reports on the 'Challenger' Amphipoda, the 

 Eev. T. R. Stebbing states that thirty-one specimens 

 are known to come from great depths, but it would be 

 more correct to say that these specimens were found 

 in the dredges and trawls that had been lowered into 

 the great depths. It should be noticed, however, 

 that some of these specimens do show characters 

 that suggest, at any rate, that they come from deep 

 water. Thus the genus Lanceola, for example, is 

 characterised by the sniallness of the eyes and a soft 

 membranous integument, while Cystisoma *j>/itu*um, 

 found in a dredge that had been at work at a depth 

 of over a thousand fathoms, has very large eyes. 



In his report on the Crustacea of the i Norske 

 Nordhavns ' expedition, Professor Sars gives a full 

 description of many species of Amphipoda brought 

 by the dredge from depths of over 1,000 fathoms, 

 and nearly all of these were found to be quite 

 blind. 



The form that seems to be most peculiar to the 

 great depths of the Northern Ocean is Harpima 

 abyssi. It was found at no less than fifteen different 

 stations at depths ranging from 350 to 2,215 fathoms, 

 and is characterised by its large size and the total 

 absence of eyes. 



