7Z^ DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN chap. 



brought home. As regards our own expedition we have as 

 yet been able to accomplish only a small part of this work, 

 and at present I am unable to pass a definite opinion on our 

 material as a whole, nor to say what this material does not 

 contain. 

 Spawning Do our Collections of fish eggs and fry from the Atlantic 



indicate any definite spawning seasons in the Atlantic, as there 

 are in the Norwegian Sea? It is generally known that in the 

 tropics many animals propagate at all times of the year. Thus 

 Carl Semper writes as follows : " During my stay in the 

 Philippines nothing struck me as being more peculiar than the 



seasons. 



Fig. 526. 

 Argyropelecus hemigymnus, Cocco. Nat. size, 3.4 cm. 



evident lack of periodicity in the life of the animals, peculiar 

 even to insects, land mollusca, and other terrestrial animals. 

 I could always find eggs, larvae, and adult individuals of a 

 species at the same time, during winter as well as in summer." 

 It is quite evident that a short voyage in a steamer, passing 

 over enormous stretches of ocean in the course of a few 

 days, offers no opportunity of studying the conditions of 

 propagation all the year round. I can only point out how 

 desirable it is that the Atlantic should be examined at all 

 seasons of the year, for only by this means can the conditions 

 be fully understood. 



Although we could effect no reliable quantitative analysis, it 

 struck me on our cruise that the number of fish larvae and fry 



