DAVEY JONES' GOBLINS 363 



week before we sailed on the Arcturus. This is, to 

 my mind, the most remarkable and miexpected re- 

 sult of deep sea investigation, and reveals a con- 

 dition existing in backboned animals which else- 

 where is found only among such lowly organisms as 

 certain crustaceans and worms. Three genera of 

 these abyssmal sea-devils have been found in which 

 a diminutive adult male fish is actually growing 

 from the side or head or behind the gill of the fe- 

 male — a parasite in every sense. So complete is the 

 association that the male derives all nourishment 

 through the blood supply of the female, and hence 

 has lost teeth and the luminescent lure, while eye- 

 sight and the alimentary canal have degenerated to 

 the vanishing point. 



Stimulated by this news I scrutinized every 

 specimen of these little sea-devils, but was not for- 

 tunate enough to find such an association. When, 

 from this astounding example, we realize the pos- 

 sibilities of deep sea life still unknown to us, every 

 haul of the dredge should be welcomed by an ex- 

 pectant enthusiasm equalled in other fields only 

 by the possible hope of communication with our 

 sister planets. 



