cliv THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



Radiolaria which have either an incomplete skeleton or none at all. "When the pelagic 

 forms leave the surface on account of unfavourable weather, they appear only to sink to 

 slight depths (probably not below 20 or 30 fathoms). Within the limits of the same 

 family the size of the pelagic species seems to be on an average greater than that of the 

 related abyssal forms. 



234. Tlie Zonarial Fauna. — Between the pelagic fauna living at the surface of the 

 open sea and the abyssal, which floats immediately over the bottom, there appears to be 

 usually a middle fauna, which inhabits the different bathymetrical zones of the inter- 

 mediate water, and hence may be shortly called the " zonarial " fauna. The different 

 species of Eadiolaria which inhabit these different strata in the same vertical column of 

 water present differences corresponding to those of the plants composing the several 

 zones of vegetation, which succeed each other at different heights on a mountain ; they 

 correspond to the different conditions of existence which are presented by the different 

 strata of water, and to which they have become adapted in the struggle for existence. 

 The existence of such bathymetrical zones has been shown by those important, if not 

 numerous, observations of the Challenger, in which the tow-net was used at different 

 depths at one and the same Station. In several cases the character of the Eadiolariau 

 fauna at different depths presented characteristic differences. 



For the present, and until we are better acquainted with the characters of the Eadiolarian fauna 

 at different depths, we may distinguish provisionally the following five hathymetrical zones : — (1) 

 The pelagic zone, extending from the surface to a depth of about 25 fathoms ; (2) the pellucid zone, 

 extending from 25 to 150 fathoms, or as far as the influence of the sunlight makes itself felt; (3) 

 the obscure zone, extending from 150 to 2000 fathoms, or from the depth at which sunlight disap- 

 pears to that at which the influence of the water containing carbonic acid begins and the calcareous 

 organisms vanish ; (4) the siliceous zone, extending from 2000 or 2500 to about 3000 fathoms, in 

 which only siliceous not calcareous Ehizopoda are found, and in which the peculiar conditions of 

 the lowest regions have not yet appeared ; (5) the abyssal zone, in which the accumulation of the 

 oceanic deposits, and the influence of the bottom currents, create new conditions of existence. So 

 far as our isolated and incomplete observations of the zonarial Eadiolarian fauna extend, it appears 

 that the subclass Porulosa (Spumellakia and Acanthaeia) predominates in the two upper zones, and 

 as the depth increases is gradually replaced by the subclass Osculosa (Nassellaria and Ph.eodaeia), 

 so that the latter predominates in the two lowest zones. The obscure zone which lies in the middle 

 is probably the poorest in species. In general, the morphological characters of the zonarial fauna 

 appear to change gradually upwards into the delicate form of the pelagic and downwards into the 

 robust constitution of the abyssal ; so also the average size of the individuals (within the limits of 

 the same family) appears to increase upwards and decrease downwards. 



235. TJie Abyssal Fauna. — The great majority of Radiolaria which have hitherto been 

 observed, and which are described in the systematic portion of this Report, have been 

 obtained from the bottom of the deep-sea, and more than half of all the species have been 



