8 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 12 



tions did not have. It may be clearly seen from the differences between 

 the lists that one may expect many more species to be recorded from I. 

 Clarion, and that our knowledge of the area is but fragmentary. 



The dredging done off I. Clarion was very profitable, and some strik- 

 ing finds resulted. The depths reached ranged from 9 to 110 meters, 

 mostly between 45 and 90 meters. There was a considerable variety of 

 things in small amount. Most spectacular was a large quantity of Hali- 

 meda Opuntia, which in the Caribbean is chiefly a shoal water plant, 

 Codium longiramosum, reaching several decimeters in height, and with 

 lumps of such corallines as Lithothamnion indicum a great abundance of 

 Peyssonnelia rubra. 



ISLA SOCCORO'^ 



Like I. Clarion, I. Soccoro is rather high with dry hills inland, slop- 

 ing toward the sea, which generally is bordered by low cliffs. The shore 

 vegetation is xerophytic with Opuntia cactus much in evidence, as on I. 

 Clarion. Braithwaite Bay is the anchorage, visited in 1934 and 1939, 

 and it is a small haven only, with very limited opportunity for shore col- 

 lecting. There is a sandy beach at the head of the bay, with rocky points 

 on each flank so hemmed in by basaltic lava cliffs that extended excursions 

 are not practicable. The surf on the beach was not severe, but surges broke 

 over the points in a dangerous fashion, so that collecting there was limited 

 to the upper part of the tidal range. 



The rocks between tide lines off the beach often showed round water- 

 filled potholes. A very curious feature of these was the presence of Neo- 

 meris in them. While it never was abundant here, it was practically 

 limited to these stations. In the tide pools generally the rocks were com- 

 monly covered with mats of JVurdemannia, Gelidium, and Chiorodesmis. 

 In the upper ones Lyngbya aestuarii was common ; below, there were large 

 tufts of Digenia, Lithothamnieae, Dictyosphaeria, Amphiroa annulata, 

 Kaljsia, and Dictyota crenulata. Limited to areas close to low tide line 

 most exposed to the surf, and so difficult to collect, there was quite a lot 

 of Sargassum Howellii. 



Dredging off I. Soccoro produced less than off I. Clarion, a variety of 

 things, but mostly in small amount. The depths surveyed ranged from 18 

 to 84 meters. Most notable constituents of the flora were Lithothamnion 

 indicum, Gracilaria confervoides, G. tenuifolia, Callithamnion pacificum, 

 and Polysiphonia homoia, but there was nothing of a spectacular nature. 



Tlbid., p. 69, pi. 74, fig. 158. 



