ANTARCTIC ZONE 89 



HISTORICAL! 



The voyages of the 'Erebus' and 'Terror', under the command of Sir J. C. Ross, 

 during the years 1839 to 1843, resuhed in the first specimens of fishes from the Antarctic 

 Zone being brought to this country, examples of four species being collected at Ker- 

 guelen. 



The fishes were reported upon by Richardson (i 844-1 848) who gave the following 



names to the species from Kerguelen : 



Notothenia cyanobrancha, Richardson. 



A'^. purpuriceps, Richardson (N. cyanobrancha). 



N. coriiceps, Richardson. 



Chaenichthys rhtnoceratus, Richardson. 



The following species was described from an unknown locality, but was quite likely 

 captured at Kerguelen: 



Notothenia} rossii, Richardson. 



In addition, Richardson mentions three other fishes in his report, which appear to 



have been obtained in the true Glacial District:^ 



Sphyraena. (?? Gymnodraco acuticeps.) 



Notothenia phocae, Richardson. (An unidentifiable Nototheniid.) 



Pagetodes, Richardson (? Cryodraco antarcticus). 



During the years 1874 to 1875 two expeditions visited Kerguelen to observe the 

 "Transit of Venus", both of which collected a few specimens of fishes during their 

 stay on the island. 



The fishes collected by the American expedition were dealt with by Gill (1876), who 

 recorded the following species from the Antarctic Zone for the first time : 

 Harpagifer bispinis (Schneider). 

 Giinther (1879) reported upon the specimens obtained by the British expedition, 

 and described a new species of Ray from this district : 

 Raja eatonii, Giinther. 



! A valuable historical summary of early Antarctic voyages, commencing with that of Captain Cook in 

 the years 1772-1775, has been given by Dollo (1904, pp. 5-11). 



^ Concerning the first two of these, Richardson (p. 8) writes: "On the 14th of January 1842, when the 

 ships were embayed among ice on the 65th parallel of south latitude and about the 155th west meridian, 

 a seal was taken with twenty-eight pounds of fish in its stomach. The fish were of two kinds, one a Sphy- 

 raena, the other a Notothenia, of which there were many mutilated individuals. Dr Hooker made a careful 

 drawing of the most perfect, and put several examples in spirits. ..." I have been quite unable to trace 

 either the drawing or the spirit specimens, so that Notothenia phocae must be regarded as unidentifiable, 

 since the description is quite inadequate. No description of the Sphyraena is given, but Dollo (1904, p. 9) 

 has suggested that this may have been a specimen of Gymnodraco acuticeps, Boulenger. 



Concerning Pagetodes, he writes: "When the ships were in the high latitude of 77° lo' S, and long. 

 178^° [W], a fish was thrown up by the spray in a gale of wind, against the bows of the Terror and frozen 

 there." Unfortunately, this specimen, which was 160 mm. in total length, was appropriated by the ship's 

 cat before a detailed drawing or description could be made, and the rough sketch reproduced by Richardson 

 (pi. viii, fig. 3) is not sufiiciently accurate, to admit of positive identification. It seems probable, however, 

 that this fish was of the same species as that described later by Dollo as Cryodraco antarcticus. 



