CLASSIFIED RESUME OF ORGANISMS OBSERVED 305 



of fluid was emitted with such violence that the psycho- 

 logical effect was that of a sudden explosion. This occurred 

 time and again at the lower levels, and I learned to dis- 

 tinguish two separate types of discharge, one uniformly 

 luminous, the other dimmer but interspersed with dozens 

 of brilliant stars and pinheads. For an instant the shrimp 

 would be outlined in its own light — vivid scarlet body, 

 black eyes, long rostrum — and then would vanish, leaving 

 behind it the confusing glow of fluid. The light died out 

 gradually, but the discharge disappeared even more slowly. 

 It was not until one of my last dives that I learned that 

 certain grayish bodies which I had been reporting as un- 

 lighted fishes were in reality these burnt-out masses of 

 fluid. Once or twice in the laboratory a dying shrimp has 

 sent out a luminous puff from its thoracic glands, but the 

 flash was only momentary and not to be compared with 

 the feeblest of the displays seen from the bathysphere. 



The larger shrimps, measuring three inches or more in 

 length, were always seen singly; but small varieties usually 

 swam in fairly large groups. As with other animals, they 

 were unaffected by the beam, and swam as actively at 3000 

 feet as at 300. 



Although over 1500 nets have been drawn off Bermuda, 

 only about a dozen shrimps and schizopods of six inches 

 and over have been taken. Yet on one deep dive of the 

 bathysphere I saw at least half that number. 



