DRIFTING LIFE 117 



have been caught, or enough to fill ten pint-tumblers solid. 

 Again, near Iceland, 200,000 have been recorded from a 

 five minutes' tow. 



There are many other species of copepods but none to 

 compare with Calanus in importance, although many far 

 excel it in beauty, especially some of those that come from 

 warmer and more tropical climes. Some of these are 

 equipped with the most beautiful array of feathery spines ; 

 others are iridescent and shine with all the colours of the 

 rainbow (Plate 41). 



But next in importance as food for other marine animals, 

 if not perhaps the most important, are shrimp-like animals 

 that, like Calanus, are rarely seen and almost completely 

 unknown to the world in general. These are known as 

 euphausiids, or " krill," as they are called by the Nor- 

 wegians. They are about an inch and a half in length, but 

 are so abundant that they form a large part of the food 

 of many of the northern fishes, and are the chief food of 

 nearly all of the whalebone whales. Their bodies are quite 

 transparent except for the presence of minute red spots, 

 and they possess enormous black eyes and on this account 

 the fishermen of the west coasts of Scotland call them 

 " Suil dhu " or " black eye " (Plate 45). But they are 

 most remarkable because along the sides of their bodies 

 are numerous little organs that can blaze up into brilliant 

 phosphorescence at will. More will be said about this 

 phosphorescence under Chapter VIII, but suffice it to say 

 that it has been recorded that with -six of these little 

 animals in a jar of water, flashing on their lights, it is just 

 possible to read newspaper print ! 



There are, besides, many microscopic, single-celled 

 animals dwelling in the drifting community. Of these, 

 perhaps, the group of animals known as Radiolarians are of 

 the greatest interest. These little unicellular creatures 



