20 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 258 



further discussed in the systematic section to follow, that identification 

 of European H. schmidti from Japan may be erroneous and Iwasa's 

 specimens may need a new or different name. The Japanese specimens 

 are as closely related to H. rubra of New Zealand as they are to the 

 rather confused depiction of European H. schmidti. In this respect one 

 might suggest an origin of New Zealand H. rubra from Californian 

 H.r. jrequens, followed by fully specific differentiation in the Japanese 

 H. "schmidti." On the other hand, H. rubra rubra is reported herein as 

 occurring in "subtropical" waters of Santa Catalina Island and 

 Cedros Island, thus giving the species a pan-Pacific distribution. 

 Hence, H.r. jrequens may simply be a northern race of a widely dis- 

 tributed tropical species and it may have no direct connection with 

 New Zealand or Japanese populations. 



The European Hyale camptonyx is a puzzle because it has been 

 reported several times in rather distinct morphs and because no 

 reliable character is known which distinguishes it from H. rubra. But 

 Hyale rubra Jrequens is distinguished from H. camptonyx, H. schmidti 

 of Japan and H. rubra of New Zealand by the shortness of the terminal 

 setae of the maxillipedal dactyls. This character may prove to be of 

 specific value. 



Oligochinus lighti, a taxon recognized in the first edition of "Light's 

 Manual," occupies a prominent position in the fauna of the heavily 

 wave dashed platforms of Hazard Canyon reef and Carmel Point 

 where stands of algae and surf grass are short-tufted. In those places 

 its frequency exceeds that of Hyale rubra by nearly an order of mag- 

 nitude. In the more rocky and protected zone at Cayucos, Oligochinus 

 is considerably less abundant relative to other species than it is at 

 Hazard Canyon and Carmel. Apparently Oligochinus is a nestler, like 

 Hyale. Calliopiella pratti, another conspicuously northern species, 

 like Oligochinus, is a calliopiid and presumably a nestler. 



Aoroides columbiae is extremely numerous at Cayucos. Apparently 

 it attaches its tubes to the leaf bases of the surf grass. It is less fre- 

 quent on the exposed Hazard Canyon platform and it is strongly 

 diminished in numbers in southern California. However, it is abun- 

 dant on the benthos of the coastal shelf to depths of about 80 m. and 

 apparently it submerges in southern waters as an ecothermic response. 



The extreme abundance at Goleta and Pt. Dume of the previously 

 discussed Lysianassa macromerus is of considerable interest because 

 of the infrequent occurrence of Lysianassidae in mid-latitudinal inter- 

 tidal zones. Presumably this abundance of L. macromerus is related to 

 floral impoverishment, poor protection from surf, and partial inun- 

 dation by sediments of the mentioned sites. 



The genus Photis is well diversified in California and like other 

 multispecific genera of the area, females and juveniles are difficult to 



