46 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



we can infer from the chart that the species probably has circumpolar distribution. None of the finds 

 is located north of the Sub-tropical Convergence, which probably indicates the extreme limit of the 

 habitat. The data are at present very scanty, and the deductions may appear a little hypothetical. But 

 we can with certainty maintain that E. antarctica is a characteristic sub-antarctic and antarctic species, 



probably also cicumpolar. 



According to data from the Norwegian Brattegg expedition in 1947-8, E. antarctica is comparatively 

 common on the Burdwood Bank. The Burdwood Bank is also the home of another species of the genus, 

 E. spongiosa Broch (1942), which was found by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition 1900-1 at a depth of 

 137-150 m. No other locality having been discovered as yet, the zoogeographical character of the 

 species is somewhat uncertain; presumably, however, the species is endemic. 



A third species of the genus, E. moseleyi Ridley (1881), at all events borders on the sub-antarctic 

 region. It was also found by the Alert Expedition in the Madre-de-Dios Archipelago, but only in 

 shallow water between 2 and 10 fathoms. Further details concerning this species are wanting. 



Zoogeographically the Burdwood Bank and the Falkland Islands belong to the same sub-region as 

 the southernmost coastal waters of South America. Besides the two Errina species, Errinopsis reticulum 

 also appears to have its home in these waters, and it is therefore reasonable to maintain that according 

 to our present data Errina antarctica, E. spongiosa and Errinopsis reticulum are endemic species of the 

 sub-antarctic (antiboreal) regions. Errina antarctica also penetrates into the high-antarctic region and 

 appears to be as numerous here as in the sub-antarctic region. 



The collections also contain one representative of the sub-family Stylasteriinae, viz. Conopora 

 pauciseptata, from St. 2493, position 42 03-9' S, oo° 03-5' E, south of the Sub-tropical Convergence. 

 The genus Conopora has previously only been found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Broch, 1942, 

 p. 67, fig. 21), but must now also be added to the Atlantic fauna. 



C. pauciseptata is recorded from parts of the oceans, where the bottom fauna has only been scantily 

 explored in spite of its special interest. In benthic regions it is a problem where to draw the limit 

 between sub-antarctic (anti-boreal) and sub-tropical areas, not only in South African and New Zealand 

 waters but also along the coasts of South America, where the coastal shallow-water fauna has also been 

 too insufficiently explored to allow of well-founded zoogeographical deductions. The locality at which 

 Conopora was found indicates that it may be an inhabitant of the sub-tropical benthic regions. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Broch, Hjalmar, 1936. Untersuchungen an Stylasteriden (Hydrokorallen). Teil I. Skr. D. Norske Vid.-Ak. Oslo. I. Mat.- 



Naturv. Kl. 1936, no. 8. 



1942. Investigations on Stylasteridae (Hydrocorals). Skr. D. Norske Vid.-Ak. Oslo. I. Mat.-Naturv. kl. 1942, no 3. 



1947. Stylasteridae (Hydrocorals) of the John Murray Expedition to the Indian Ocean. John Murray Exp. 1933 4, Sci. 



Rep. vol. viii, London. 

 England, Helen, 1926. Development of gonophores of the Stylasteridae. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. Part I. 

 Hickson, Sydney J., 1912. On the Hvdrocoralline genus Errina. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 

 Hickson, Sydney J. & England, Helen M., 1905. The Stylasterinae of the Siboga Expedition. Siboga-Exp., Monogr. vm. 



Leiden. 



1908. The Stylasterinae of the Indian Ocean. Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. ser. 2, vol. XII, Zool. 



Marenzeller, Emil von, 1903. Madreporaria und Hydrocorallia. Res. Voy. S.Y. Belgica, 1897, 1898, 1899, Rapp. Sci. Zool. 



Anvers. _ 



Moseley, H. N., 1878. On the structure of the Stylasteridae, a family of the hydroid stony corals. Phil. Trans. Koy. boa, 



vol. 169. London. . 



1881. Report on certain hydroid, alcyonarian, and madreporarian corals procured during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger 



in the years 1873-6. Rep. Sci. Res. H.M.S. Challenger, Zool. vol. n. London. 

 Ridley, Stuart O., 1881. Account of the Coelenterata collected during the survey of H.M.S. Alert in the Straits of Magellan 

 and on the coast of Patagonia. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 



