BIOLOGY OF SPIRULA 65 



TABLE 2 



Diameter of Female Shells Expressed in Percentage 

 OF Ventral Mantle Length 



Atlantic 

 % of ventral mantle length specimens Station 203 



55 1 2 



54 . . 1 



53 1 5 



52 . . 6 



51 1 3 



50 2 3 



49 . . 2 



48 3 2 



The shell diameter of the smaller male was 51% and that of the 

 larger one 48%. 



4. HORIZONTAL DISTRIBUTION 



The Galathea specimen from Station 280 was found fairly close to 

 the place where one had been taken earlier. The specimens from Dana 

 Station 3946 and Galathea Station 203 are new records of live specimens 

 from East Africa, although not unexpected, because the Dana caught 

 a specimen just to the west of the Agulhas Bank, and I suggested (1943, 

 p. 20) that it "had been carried round the Cape from an area centering 

 somewhere in the Mozambique Channel." 



Besides the additional specimen from Dana Station 4010 III, already 

 mentioned in the literature, I have found only two short references. Some 

 specimens were caught by the Rosaura Expedition at Station 15 (18°21' 

 N., 75°25'W.). Colman (1954), after giving observations on the live 

 specimen from this locality, adds that later on three more were caught, 

 all very young. As no exact location is indicated it may therefore be 

 assumed that these three also were found within the known range of 

 Spirula. Nybelin (1951) mentions a single specimen from 22°4rN., 

 23°10'W., and this is also well within the known area of distribution. 



5. VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION 



It may seem strange that the few Galathea specimens would cause 

 a reconsideration of the vertical range of Spirula, but the special condi- 

 tions of the haul at Station 203, together with other information about 

 pelagic animals obtained during the expedition, has induced me to try 

 to give a more concise definition of the ecological characteristics of 

 Spirula. 



