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



Indo-Pacific Provinces. 



In no instance can the boundaries of these provinces be sharply defined, and in all 

 cases many species are found common to adjacent provinces. The abyssal forms (taken 

 at greater depths than 500 fathoms) are provisionally included in the nearest province, 

 though as a result of the more uniform conditions met with at great depths, their 

 distribution is not limited as in the case of shallow -water species. 



The number of species recorded from each province bears a ratio to the amount of 

 dredging done, rather than affords an index to the comparative prevalence of Auomura ; 

 and during the first part of the cruise, some allowance must perhaps he made for the 

 fact that methods of capture were only undergoing development. Thus but few species 

 are recorded from the North Atlantic or West Indies, while the investigations of the 

 " Blake " have shown that the deep-water of the latter district is tenanted by a 

 wonderfully rich Crustacean fauna. 



An asterisk placed before a species indicates that it is abyssal, -and one or more 

 numbers after indicate the other provinces in which it was taken. 



THE ATLANTIC EEGION. 

 I. The New England Province. 



This province extends from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or possibly as far north as the 

 coast of Labrador, to the coast of Carolina. 



Eupagurus puhescens (Kroyer), var. hroyeri, Stimpson. 



'II. The West Indian Province. 



The Gulf of Mexico and the West Indian Islands form the centre of this province, 

 but its fauna creeps along the South American coast possibly as far south as the Rio de 



