98 



DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN 



corticata. Under the turtles there were often quite a number of 

 the Httle silvery fish alluded to above, and we caught some of 

 them in a net and found that they were horse mackerel (Caranx 

 tracJmi'its, see Fig. 86). Some larger fish too were occasionally 

 seen below the turtle near the mouth, just where the neck 



leaves the carapace. 

 These swam under the 

 boat as soon as the 

 turtle was caught, but 

 we captured three, and 

 found them to be wreck- 

 fish i^Polyprion ameri- 

 cantis). Quantities of 

 blue isopods were 

 seen beneath one or 

 two of the animals. 

 Our meeting with tur- 

 tles was extremely in- 

 teresting, as we found 

 Michael that their stomach con- 

 tents consisted entirely 

 of medusse and salpae, immense quantities of which floated near 

 the surface of the sea. In the transparent blue waters we 

 could perceive thousands and thousands of beautifully-coloured 

 and iridescent chains of salpae, sometimes as much as 6 to 7 



Fig. 85. — T. H. Murray on board the 

 Sars," iith June 1910. 



Nemichthy. 



Fig. 86. 

 Caranx trachurus, L. Nat. size, 10.5 cm. 



metres in length, besides siphonophores and floating aurelias, 

 with little fish in attendance, — a fascinating pelagic animal life. 



We made yet one more pelagic haul at Station 58, and 

 caught a splendid specimen of one of the most remarkable deep- 

 sea forms \Nemichthys scolopaccus). This is a long fish, with a 

 long beak like that of a bird, large eyes, quite short body, and 



