always encountered in numbers of 3-5 individuals per catch. Two or 

 three species of Gorgonaria and Pennatularia, and small individual 

 corals Fungi acyathus symmetricus are characteristic. The small 

 Stephanoscyphus are quite common (up to 15 individuals in a catch, on 

 concretions or sponge spicules), of the sponges-- Polymastia sol 

 pacifica , Cladorhiza rectangularis , £. lo ngi spina" Of the bivalve 

 mollusks--the small Acar asperula (on spicules of sponges or the beaks 

 of squid), Malletia cuneata , various Ledella and Tindaria , of the 

 polychaeta-- Kesun abyssorum , Fauvel i opsi s cFTal 1 engen a , Maldane hara i , 

 etc. The Sipunculids are rather varied-- G"ol fingia vulgaris , G. minuta 

 (up to 120 individuals in a catch), G^. improvisa , Phascolion pacificum . 

 Ph . lutense ; the Echiuroidea Alomasomabul lata Tup to 40 individuals), 

 _A. convexa , Ophiura bathybia (up to 235 individuals). Of the irregular 

 urchins, we find only Echinocrepis rostrata . 



The numerous meiobenthos consists of small Tanaidacea, Nematoda, 

 Foraminifera (primarily agglutinating), juvenile Polychaeta, bivalve 

 mollusks. Gastropoda, Isopoda, Amphipoda and Ostracoda. 



As we move to the south from the relatively productive eutrophic 

 North Pacific and move away from the coast into the open ocean, the 

 composition of the biocenoses gradually changes: The significance of 

 macrofauna decreases, that of meiobenthos increases, and the total 

 biomass decreases. In the vicinity of 30-20°N, the bottom population 

 takes on the form which is usual for the oligotrophic zone of the 

 Pacific Ocean, where the total biomass does not exceed a fraction of a 

 gram per m^. The remainders of the skeletons of dead macrofauna, nekton 

 and Radiolaria give the bottom population of these regions a 

 characteristic appearance and form a substrate for the sparse epifauna-- 

 Stephanoscyphus , small Actinia , etc. 



217 



