242 



O. Nordgaard. 



Amphxpoda: Halirages fulvocinctus, Idunella cequicornis. 



The latter has, hitherto, only been taken in the Varanger Fiord. 



Notwithstanding that the clay depths both north and smith of 

 Lofoten have some forms in common, the Vest Fiord, however, forms 

 a very decided limit for fauna, as has been explained in the fore- 

 going pages. One may also in the fauna of the Norwegian deep 

 watms make a distinction between an arctic and a subarctic (boreal) 

 clay-facies. 



Remarks on the fauna of the ocean banks. 



1 was not able to make many dredgings on the ocean banks 

 in 1899, but 1 succeeded, however, in getting an idea of their 

 fauna. The station. Host 11. is not far from the ocean banks, at 

 a depth of lot) mtrs. here <'<ii><ihi.< hungarieus, which is a southern 

 form, was dredged, here this form has its northern limit on our 

 coast. On the banks themselves, it extends, perhaps, a little far- 

 ther northwards. And at the station at Gaukvsero, 250 m.. t = 



7 n .l ('., s = 34,38 " Harmothoe oeulinarum was taken, this 



form must be characterized as a boreal one. judging from the pla- 

 ces where it has hitherto been found. In the sea off Ingo (71° 



in' N., 23° ID' E.), d = 315 m.. t = 3°,45 C, s = 35,24 ° 



an aniphipod. Erichtonius abditus, occurred, among other things; 

 this form, according to G. 0. Sars has a distribution as far south 

 as The Azores,, and was previously only known from „the south 

 and west coasts of Norway". Taking into consideration the hydro- 

 graphical conditions on the banks outside Lofoten. Vesteraalen, 

 Tromso and Finmark, one would expect to find that at any rate 

 some boreal forms would be able to exist there. To get light 

 on this subject, reference can be made to the material collected 

 by the Norwegian North Atlantic Expedition. First 1 will give a 

 table showing the temperatures at some of the stations in the sou- 

 thern bankdistrict of the Norwegian Sea (Stadt— Shetland— Lofoten). 

 Cf. map of the district of the Norwegian North Atlantic Expe- 

 dition. 



Bottom temperatures on the southern banks in the Norwegian Sea. 



On these banks, one would expect to find an animal life which 

 differs only slightly from that of the Norwegian liords (The Bokn 

 Fiord -- the Vest Fiord), where there are corresponding tempera- 

 tures. The investigations hitherto made appear to confirm this 

 expectation. I will now give a table showing the bottom temper- 

 atures on the northern banks from Lofoten to Beeren Island. 



Bottom temperatures on the northern banks in the Norwegian Sea. 



According to Friele and Grieg, 43 species of Mollusca were 

 taken at station 195, several id' which are widely distributed south- 

 wards. Among these may be mentioned : — 



Cadulus siibfusiformis, Cyclostrema petterseni, Capulus hun- 

 gariciis (shells), Alvania cimicoides, A. jeff'reysi, A. subsoluta, A. 

 punctura, Aelis walleri, Parthenia spiralis, Odostomia unidcntata, 

 (>. acuta, EulimeUa scillw, E. ventricosa, Eulima bilineata, Adeorbis 

 fragilis, Metzgei ia alba, Bucdnum humphreysianum (shell), bijilm 

 fusiformis. 



At the stations previously mentioned in the northern bank 

 district, forms also occurred which have a wide southern distribution. 

 At station 315 (74" 53' N.) a boreal Bryozo, Bicellaria alder?) 

 was taken. I have not on any other occasion noticed this species 

 north of Lofoten. Undoubtedly there are several species which on 

 the banks go further north than in the fiords, so that it is impor- 

 tant to state clearly, when mentioning distribution, whether the 

 species in question occurs in the fiords and the belt of skerries 

 (skjsergaard) or on the banks. 



Zoologically speaking, there remains much to be done witli 

 respect to the Norwegian ocean-banks, and a thorough investigation 

 of the edge towards the deep basin of the Norwegian Sea would 

 be highly interesting. For here the transition from boreal to arctic 

 fauna occurs, and that too not spread over several geographical 

 degrees of latitude, but in the space of a few hundred meters. 



Shallow-water shells found at great depths. 



Of late years, there has been a good deal of discussion among 

 Danish and Norwegian authors as to the cause of the occurrence 

 of littoral shells at great depths, especially in the Norwegian Sea. 

 I do not intend to go into the matter, as I do not possess the 

 necessary material to take part in the discussion of it. I would 

 refer those who wish to have a clear account of the various opi- 

 nions advanced to Dr. A. C. Johansen's 2 ) paper, in which refer- 

 ences will also he found to other works dealing with the same 

 subject. 



') Cf. Nordgaard. Pohjzoa of the Norw. N. Atl. Exp. p. 6, 2 6. 



2 ) On the hypothesis on the sinking of sea-beds based on the occurrence 

 of dead shallow-water shells at great depths in the sea. Medd. fra den naturh. 

 Foreu. i Kjobenhavn 1902. 



