BIOLOGY, MARINE — MAYER. IO9 



tion as we go inward from the ocean. This applies especially to 

 the Siphonophorae, Tunicates, and Sagittae so characteristic of the 

 ocean. 



Our richest hauls were made in or near Willoughby Harbor, Vir- 

 ginia, on Hampton Roads, near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. This 

 harbor is perfectly protected and very accessible from Norfolk or 

 Old Point Comfort. The ocean-water enters freely, bringing a 

 great variety of creatures in good condition, while the inland waters 

 themselves supply a rich contingent to the fauna. x\n Amphioxus is 

 abundant along the shores. No better situation could be found for a 

 marine laboratory, combining both inland water and open-sea 



features. 



Beaufort, North Carolina, affords the richest collecting-ground 



for mollusks we met with on the entire voyage, and it is a pleasure 



to express our gratitude to the authorities of the laboratory of the 



U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, who allowed the writer the privilege of 



studying the rare AJedusse in the laboratory collection. A remarkably 



large number of gorgonians, corals, and mollusks, characteristic 



of tropical regions, appear at Beaufort in the northern limit of 



their range. 



We met with the most northerly coquina at Fort Fisher, Cape 

 Fear, North Carolina. This consisted of a large ledge on the sea- 

 beach, the rock being composed of a mixture of Astrangia, broken 

 shells, and siliceous sand agglutinated by calcareous matter into a 

 readily friable rock. 



The most northerly grove of palmetto palms appears near the 

 outer sea-beach at the southern extremity of Smith Island, Cape 

 Fear, North Carolina. 



The most marked change in the pelagic fauna appears upon round- 

 ing Cape Cod, many arctic forms being found only to the northward, 

 and southern forms to the southward of this point. Great Peconic 

 Bay, Long Island, teems with southern forms in September, remind- 

 ing one of the fauna of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. 



Only a few creatures may be called characteristic of the off- 

 shore ocean waters between Sand}- Hook and Cape Canaveral, 

 Florida. The most conspicuous of these are the large scyphomedusae 

 Cyanea versicolor and Stomolophus meleagris. 



South of Cape Canaveral we find a host of tropical forms appear- 

 ing in perfect condition, although these are frequently found in a 

 more or less damaged state far to the northward, being sometimes 

 drifted upon the southern coast of Massachusetts, south of Cape 

 Cod. 



