12 Bulletin, Vanderbilt Marine Museum, Vol. Ill 



The bathymetric distribution of the species taken in each of these 

 major regions ranges from terrestrial and littoral to true deep-sea 

 forms, the deep-sea stations ranging in depth from 300 to 1100 fath- 

 oms. The annotated discussion of the collection is presented with 

 reference to its systematic classification. A list of the species found 

 in each major faunal region is given also. 



The great value of the collection lies in the astonishing number of 

 rare species it possesses and in the related extension of our knowledge 

 of the geographic and bathymetric distribution of these forms, as pre- 

 sented in the systematic discussion. Much hitherto unpublished data 

 on the colors of the various species was made in field-sketches by Mr. 

 Vanderbilt, during all of the cruises, except those to the Galapagos 

 Islands, on which his staff artist, Mr. W. E. Belanske, continued this 

 work under Mr. Vanderbilt 's direction. A few of these color plates 

 of the Crustacea have been published in Mr. Vanderbilt 's "To the 

 Galapagos on the 'Ara' "; a great many more are in the study col- 

 lections of the Vanderbilt Marine Museum. This volume also contains 

 complete maps of the cruises of 1926 and 1928. Valuable notes on the 

 habits of some of the species were made in the field by Mr. Vanderbilt ; 

 these notes have been augmented by field-notes made by the present 

 writer while on various expeditions during the past decade. 



Although the United States was the pioneer in deep-sea exploration 

 it is an astounding fact that we know less today of the living inhabi- 

 tants of our ocean depths than we do of the fossilized dwellers of the 

 ancient Cambrian Seas. The representatives herein reported of the 

 eight major orders of Crustacea obtained by the ''Eagle" and "Ara" 

 present an incomplete synoptic series of the diversification existing 

 in crustaceous organisms. The North American species of only two 

 of these eight orders have been exhaustively reported, the Cirripedia, 

 by Dr. Henry A. Pilsbrj'-, and the parasitic division of the Copepoda, 

 by Dr. Charles B. Wilson. Few life histories are imperfectly known 

 among the hundreds of described species of American Crustacea. 

 These fragments of knowledge indicate an indescribably rich field for 

 students of evolution. The Macrura possess the most complete meta- 

 morphosis found in the Decapoda. The ability of certain Penaeidae 

 to develop segments in the larva from before backwards exhibits a 

 very primitive character not known in other Decapoda but showing 

 clearly the affinities of the higher with the lower forms of Crustacea. 

 Certain of the Eryonidae are living examples of the blind, claw-footed 

 dwellers of the Triassic Seas. The vital place of Crustacea in the 



