MOLLUSC A FROM THREE HUNDRED FATH0M8, 

 OFF SYDNEY. 



By C. Hedley, Couchologi.st, and W. F. Petterd. 



(Plates xxxvii. and xxxiii.). 



Various excursions have reaped a supei'ficial knowledge of the 

 MoUusca of our Continental Shelf. In a recent issue of these 

 Records a collection was described which Mr. G. H. Halligan 

 obtained in one hundred and ten fathoms ofF Cape Byron. A 

 haul made by the same gentleman and one of us in one hundred 

 fathoms off Wollongong, supplemented the collections trawled by 

 the " Thetis " Expedition in from twenty to eighty fathoms 

 between Jervis Bay and the Manning River. 



It was evident that at a greater distance from the coast, in 

 deeper and colder water, another fauna would appear. To search 

 this zone the writers organised a dredging trip. We were greatly 

 aided by the kindness of Mr. H. E. Farmer, who, on behalf of 

 Messrs. Bullivant, generously placed at our disposal a reel and 

 five hundred fathoms of wire rope. A serviceable steamer of 

 seventy-four tons, the " Woy Woy," fitted with steam winding- 

 gear, was engaged for the trip. We enjoyed the company and 

 assistance of Dr. R. Pulleine, Messrs. E. R. Waite, G. A. Water- 

 house, F. E. Grant and A. R. McCulloch. The weather on the 

 chosen date was excellent. Taking our departure at 8 a.m. on 

 March 27, 1905, from mid-channel between Port Jackson Heads, 

 we set a due east (true, not magnetic) course, and ran by the 

 patent log, twenty-seven and a half miles. On sounding no 

 bottom was got at two hundred and fifty fathoms. Estimating 

 the depth at three hundred fathoms, we put the bucket dredge 

 over and paid out most of our wire rope. A full load of sandy 

 mud, coloured green by glauconite, rewarded us. The tempera- 

 ture of the mud when it arrived on board was 60° F. 



Before again sinking the bucket we fastened a dredge to its 

 taper end by forty fathoms of rope. This length allowed the 

 dredge to follow on the ocean floor a track different to that of the 

 bucket. If tied closer it would in pursuing tiie same path have 

 only collected material already crushed by the passage of the 

 bucket. Both bucket anfl dredge returned with a satisfactory 

 load, but a final descent of the dredge alone proved a failure. 



