AMPHIPODA 



By K. H. Barnard, d.Sc, f.l.s. 



(Plate I and text-figs 1-174.) 



INTRODUCTION 



The collection of Amphipods made during the cruises of the R.S.S. 'Discovery' 

 and the R.S.S. 'William Scoresby,' and by the staff of the Marine Biological 

 Station at South Georgia during the years 1925-7, is a large one, comprising approxi- 

 mately 6600 specimens, of which about 4550 are Gammaridea, 1650 Hyperiidea, and 400 

 Cyamidea. The Lysianassidae alone are represented by over 1100 specimens. Out of a 

 total number of 179 genera and 326 species, 19 genera and 107 species were considered 

 as new. Of these 17 genera and 18 species were described for the first time in a pre- 

 liminary notice in Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (10), vn. pp. 425-30, 193 1. There are also 

 5 new varieties; and 1 new species described from a specimen in the South African 

 Museum. 



It would be no exaggeration to describe this collection as the most important brought 

 back by any expedition since the days of the U.S. Exploring Expedition and the 

 ' Challenger.' It is probably the most comprehensive and richest collection from one 

 particular geographical region, certainly as far as concerns the southern hemisphere. 

 Besides the bulk of the collection, which was made in the area specially investigated, 

 a considerable amount of important material was secured on the outward and home- 

 ward voyages, and during the two winter cruises to South Africa. 



The size of the collection is due to the enthusiasm and energy of the staff. It is 

 evident that no opportunity was lost of making the investigation as thorough as possible. 

 The staff is to be congratulated not only on having obtained so much material, but also 

 on having taken so much care in preserving it. Except for a small minority of specimens, 

 which were unavoidably mutilated by the means of capture, the whole collection is in 

 excellent condition. Moreover, in a large number of instances, colour notes on the 

 living animals, colour sketches, photographs, and biological data were made. The labour 

 thus entailed must have been enormous, when it is remembered that various kinds of 

 animals come up in the dredge or trawl, each of which requires special methods of 

 preservation. 



In addition to these words of praise for the staff in general for having amassed such 

 a valuable collection, I have to express my thanks to Dr S. Kemp, the leader of the 

 expedition, for having entrusted me with the examination of it. In accepting the under- 

 taking I was fully aware of the disadvantages attending residence in the southern 

 hemisphere, far from libraries and, even more necessary, the collections made by 

 previous Antarctic expeditions. The importance of examining these type collections 

 was not fully realized until the study of the Discovery collection was under way and 

 : l «friculties of identification began to crop up. 



Win, -he advent of further and larger collections from the Antarctic the earlier 



