•2-12 



O. Nordgaari 



Ampliipoda : — Halirageg fidroeincfus, IdtmeUa æquicornis. 

 The latter has, hitherto, only been taken in the Varanger Fiord. 



Notwithstanding that the clay depths both north and south of 

 Lofoten have some forms in common, the Vest Fiord, however, foi'ms 

 a very decided limit for fauna, as has been explained in the fore- 

 going pages. One may also in the fauna of the Norwegian deep 

 waters make a distinction between an arctic and a subarctic (boreal) 

 clay-facies. 



Remarks on the fauna of the ocean banks. 



I was not able to make many dredgings on tlie ocean banks 

 in 1899, but I succeeded, however, in getting an idea of their 

 fauna. The station. Røst II, is not far from the ocean banks, at 

 a depth of 150 mtrs. here Ccqmlus lumganms, which is a southern 

 form, was dredged, here this form has its northern limit on our 

 coast. On the banks themselves, it extends, perhaps, a little far- 

 ther nortli wards. And at the station at Gaukværø, 250 m., t = 

 7",1 C, s = 34,38 7oo, HaniKjtlwi' ociiUnarum was taken, this 

 foim must be characterized as a boreal one, judging from the pla- 

 ces where it has hitherto been found. In the sea off Ingø (71° 

 10' N., 2.3" 10' E.), d = 315 m.. t = S^IS C, s = 35,24 0;oo, 

 an amphipod, Erichtonim uhdUiis, occurred, among other things; 

 this form, according to G. 0. Sahs has a distribution as far south 

 as The Azores, and was previously only known from „the south 

 and west coasts of Norway". Taking into consideration the hydro- 

 g-raphical conditions on the banks outside Lofoten, Yesteraalen, 

 Tromsø and Finmark, one woukl expect to tind that at any rate 

 some boreal forms M'ould be able to exist there. To get light 

 on tills subject, reference can be made to the material collected 

 by the Norwegian North Atlantic Expedition. First I will give a 

 table showing the temperatures at some of the stations in the sou- 

 thern bankdisti'ict of the Norwegian Sea (Stadt— Shetland — Lofoten). 

 Cf. map of tlie district of the Norwegian North Atlantic Expe- 

 dition. 



)ttom tenntcratui'es 



rn banks in the Norwesian Se; 



66» 49' N. 

 IvO 8' E. 



Bottom temperatures on the northern l)anks in the Norwegian Sea. 



On these banks, one would expect to lind ;in animal life which 

 differs only slightly from that of the Norwegian liords (The Lokn 

 Fiord — the Vest Fiord), where there are corresponding tempera- 

 tures. The investigations hitherto made appear to confirm this 

 expectation. I will now give a table showing the bottom temper- 

 atures on the northern banks from Ijofoten to Beeren Island. 



720 53. N. 

 210 51' E, 



According to Fiuele and Giueu, 43 species of ]Mollusca were 

 taken at station 195, several of which are widely distributed south- 

 wards. Among these may be mentioned: — 



Cadtdus suhfusiformis, Cyclostrema iKttarsen'i , ('niinhiy hn»- 

 fjaricHs (shells), Alvania cimieoidcs, A. jeff'reysi, A. sKhsolufK. A. 

 punchira, Aclis walleri, Partheyiia spvralis, Odostomia unklcntata. 

 0. acuta, Eulimella scillce, E. rentricosu. Eidima bilineata. Adeorhis 

 fragUis, Metzgeria alba. Bucclnum huwphmjsianum (shell). Sijiho 

 fusiformiti. 



At the stations previously mentioned in the northern bank 

 district, forms also occurred which have a wide southern distribution. 

 At station 315 (74" 53' N.) a boreal Bryozo, BiceUana alderi^) 

 was taken. I have not on any other occasion noticed this species 

 north of Lofoten. Undoubtedly there are several species which on 

 the banks go further north than in the fiords, so that it is impor- 

 tant to state clearly, when mentioning distribution, whether the 

 species in question occurs in the fiords and the belt of skerries 

 (skjærgaard) or on the banks. 



Zoologically speaking, there remains much to be done \\itli 

 respect to the Norwegian ocean-banks, and a thorougli investigation 

 of the edge towards the deep basin of the Norwegian Sea would 

 be highly interesting. For here the transition from boreal to arctic 

 fauna occurs, and that too not spread over several geographical 

 degrees of latitude, but in the space of a few hundred meters. 



Shallow-water shells found at great depths. 



Of late years, there has been a good deal of discussion among 

 Danish and Norwegian authors as to the cause of the occurrence 

 of littoral shells at great depths, especially in the Norwegian Sea. 

 1 do not intend to go into the matter, as 1 do not possess the 

 necessary material to take part in the discussion of it. I would 

 refer those Avho Avish to have a clear account of the various opi- 

 nions advanced to l)i'. A. C. .Tim.\NSEN"s-') paper, in which infer- 

 ences will also be found to other works dcaliim wilh the same 

 suljject. 



1) Cf. NoRnGAARD. Pub/zoa of the Non 



2) On the hypothesis on the sinking- u 

 of (ieail shallow-water shells at great depths 

 Foreu. i Kjøbenhavn 1902. 



