OBSERVATIONS ON THE VEGETATION OF THE ANTARCTIC SKA 257 



40 fathoms only suffice to prove, according to my experience, that 

 lar<^er alga^ really occur on this part of the bottom.- Then he cjuotes 

 some examples, partly from his own observations, partly from the 

 FRANKLlN-expedition to Baffin Hay. KjELLMAN dredged Delcsscria 

 sinuosa in 85 fathoms north of Spitzbergen, Ptilota pectinata in 150 

 fathoms in Smeerenberg Bay on the northwest coast of Spitzbergen 

 and in 80 — lOO fathoms north of Spitzbergen; there he also found 

 Dichlona viridis. On this he says, 1. c. p. 263: »At Spitzbergen it 

 occurs at a depth of 5 — 150 fathoms, which indicates that KjKLL.MAN 

 really attaches some importance to the elittoral find, and supposes that 

 immense \-ertical distribution of the plant. On Ptilota pccti)iata\\<^ s^^^ys^, 

 1. c. p. 175, that he generally found it in 10 — 20 fathoms, but that it 

 belongs to those Floridcce, extending down to the greatest depths: »on 

 the coast of Spitzbergen I have dredged specimens in one place from 

 a depth of 150 fathoms, in two other places at 80 — 100 fathoms». On 

 Delessena sinuosa he remarks p. 137, that it v occurs usually in 10 — 20 

 fathoms, sometimes in more shallow water, 1,3 — 2 fathoms deep, or at 

 very great depths. It has been dredged at Spitzbergen quite fresh in 

 85 fathoms». This expression »quite fresh», on Delcsscria sinuosa in 

 all that KjELLMAN says on the state in which the algai w^ere brought 

 up to the surface; he does not say whether he found them adhering 

 to a stone or not. In the latter case there is always more possibility 

 that an alga from a great depth has grown there than if only pieces 

 are discovered. It is more probable that drifting pieces have sunk to 

 the bottom — if they have sunk recently they may appear quite fresh, 

 and even a stone with an algae can often drift away and reach the 

 abysmal region, without the possibility of living a very long time. 

 I do not believe myself that the finds made hitherto in the Arctic Sea 

 really prove that alg^e are able to live in a depth of 300 m., where pract- 

 cally no more light can reach dem. However, I w ill not say that an elitto- 

 ral flora ma\' not sometimes be developed, but I can only imagine it as 

 very poor and composed of few species, and never reaching a depth 

 beyond 100 — 150 m. KjELLMAN^ reports several elittoral species, and 

 Polysiphonia arctica and, Phyllophora intcrnipta, dredged in the Siberian 

 Sea in 40 fathoms have very likely grown in that depth, ROSENVINGE" 

 mentions the arctic elittoral finds previously made and adds 1 1 species 

 brought back by the danish Dijmphna-expedition (among others Dcs- 



' Alg. Murni. Meer, p. 67. 



* Alg. Grenl. Kyst., p. 234. 



Bota», stud, lilliign. F. R. Kjellman. 17 



