142 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. i09 



Suborder Pteropoda 



Family Spiratellidae 



Genus Spiratella Blainville, 1817 



Spiratella helicina (Phipps, 1774) 



Clio helicina Phipps, 1774, p. 195. 



? Limacina pacifica Dall, 1871, p. 138. 



Limacina helicina G. Sars, 1878, p. 328, pi. 29, figs, la-b.— Odhner, 1907, p. 92. 



? Spiratella pacifica Abbott, 1954, p. 292, fig. 64a. 



Only 2 specimens of this pteropod were taken, both in plankton 

 hauls made on Aug. 6 and Aug. 10, 1948. 



Discussion: Since no special attempt was made to collect pelagic 

 forms, the few records for this species are of httle significance and no 

 indication of its actual abundance. However, the failure to take 

 S. helicina during the summers of open water of 1949 and 1950 is 

 consistent with the lesser numbers of ctenophores, medusae, and 

 jellyfishes as compared with the enormous numbers seen near shore 

 dming 1948 when floating ice was present throughout the summer. 

 Workers at the Arctic Research Laboratory reported that S. helicina 

 was exceedingly abundant during the summer of 1947, and other 

 workers have reported that untold numbers were seen during certain 

 summers between 1950 and 1955 and almost none were seen during 

 other summers. 



Lemche (1938, p. 31) hsts S. helicina as a true Arctic and circum- 

 polar species and states that it does not occur in boreal waters. 

 Abbott (1954, p. 292) considers aS'. pacifica (Dall) synonjonous with 

 S. helicina (Phipps). Burch (1945, No. 47, p. 5) gives the range of 

 S. pacifica as Point Barrow south to Redondo Beach, Cahf., where 

 he took it in 75 fathoms 5 miles offshore. The type locahty of S. 

 pacifica is Monterey, Cahf., and it has been taken at San Francisco; 

 it has been reported also from 30 fathoms at Catahna Island. If 

 S. pacifica and S. helicina are identical, then S. helicina is a Boreal- 

 Arctic species. 



Distribution: Circumpolar; Point Barrow south to Monterey, 

 Redondo Beach, and Catahna Island, Cahfornia (?); Labrador, 

 Davis Strait, and Baffin Bay; and (Odhner, 1907) northern and 

 southern Norway, the White Sea, Spitzbergen, Iceland, the Gulf of 

 Biscay, and the Mediterranean. 



