CRUISES OF THE "MICHAEL SARS 



119 



of chains of salpse the one day and of medusae [Pelagia) the 

 next. 



We caught a large moonfish (Mola rotunda. Fig. 102), Moonfish. 

 which was moving along near the surface with its dorsal fin 

 above water ; we harpooned it from a boat, and got it on board 

 with block and tackle and the steam winch. The length was 

 2,11 metres, and the height of the body 1.2 metres. A huge 



Fig. \02.—Mola rottinda, Cuv. Nat. size, 211 cm. 



cuttle-fish, too, was found drifting about. Do these creatures, 

 like the turtles farther south, feed on the abundant salpee and 

 medusae, and was that the reason why we found them here ? 

 Is a richer pelagic life generally to be found just over the ridge, 

 in the same way that we always find a richer plankton over the 

 slope of the coast banks ? These problems must be left for 

 future solution. 



On the eastern side of our section, towards the Irish coast 

 bank, the conditions were again peculiar, especially at the 

 surface. We found here increasing quantities of young of the 



