GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 205 



The three remaining specimens are more interesting since each one adds a new record from 

 a hitherto unknown region. Specimen No. 98 is from the Somali Basin, near where the Red Sea 

 discharges into the Arabian Sea. Its presence here is entirely to be expected, in view of adjacent 

 records from north of Madagascar and west of Ceylon. Specimen No. 100 from off South Africa in 

 the South Indian Ocean is a most welcome record confirming the hypothesis advanced previously 

 (Pickford, 1946) that the Vampyroteuthis populations of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans must 

 be in free communication with each other by way of suitable water masses passing south of Cape 

 Agulhas. 



Finally, specimen No. 99 is of exceptional interest since it is the first record of Vampyroteuthis 

 from off Western Australia. The writer has suggested that Vampyroteuthis probably occurs in suitable 

 water south of Australia and that the Indo-Pacific populations may be in free communication by this 

 route. The present record appears to favour this hypothesis but more data are required to establish 

 the continuity south of Australia. 



VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION 



The sounding and depth of capture are listed in Table 7. Six of the nine specimens were taken in 

 nets towed at accurately known depths that were determined with the aid of a depth recorder. Three 

 of these nets were closed before being hauled to the surface, but the other three were hauled open 

 to the surface, either because no closing mechanism was used or because the mechanism failed to 

 operate. Nevertheless it is most probable that the specimens were taken at the depth of towing since 

 the net was fishing at that depth for a much longer time than on the way to the surface. It has been 

 necessary to make this assumption in all previous studies although, in the case of the Dana material 

 it was possible to introduce a correction for specimens captured during lowering and raising of the 

 net. This is not possible for the Discovery records. 



* TYF = Young fish trawl; B = oblique haul; N 450 = 4-5 m. tow net. 



•j- The symbol (-0) means either that no closing mechanism was used or that 'the net failed to close at some intended 

 intermediate depth and fished all the way to the surface'. 



% DGB = Depth gauge, Budenberg pattern; DGP = Pressure depth gauge, a modification of the Budenberg pattern. 

 § Note on original label ' Ceph. fragments (-0) '. 

 || Note on original label ' Caught in upper netting '. 



The vertical distribution is in general agreement with previous investigations. The six Atlantic 

 specimens were taken, presumably, in depths ranging from 600 to 1750 m. Forty-three out of 53 

 previously recorded Atlantic specimens were taken with towlines of 2000-4000 metres of wire 

 (Pickford, 1950), i.e. at depths of 1000-2000 m. Similarly the three Indian Ocean specimens are from 

 800 to 3000m., and previous records for the Indian Ocean are all from 1000 to 2000m. estimated depth. 



