FINE COLOUETXa 243 



narrow, and tapering to a truncate point. To tliis family 

 belong apparently lialf a score of genera, almost all of 

 which have been established within recent years. For the 

 name of the family S. I. Smith's Miersiidse has priority, 

 but on the other hand the subfamih/ name Acanthephyri- 

 nae is older than Miersiidce, and moreover the species of 

 Miersia which led to the use of the name Miersiid^ were 

 subsequently transferred to the genus Acanthephyra, so 

 that Acanthephyrid^ would seem to be legitimate. 



Acantlieijhyra^ A. Milne-Edwards, 1881, is now repre- 

 sented by numerous species, practically from all parts of 

 the world, except the Arctic regions, in the South reach- 

 ing as far as Kerguelen Island. The species have been 

 taken from great depths, seeming to descend even to 

 nearly 3,000 fathoms. In the Albatross dredgings the 

 species Acantliephyra Agassizii, S. I. Smith, which Spence 

 Bate identifies with Acamthepliyra purpurea, A. Milne- 

 Edwards, was taken at forty-five stations ranging in depth 

 from 105 to 2,949 fathoms, and since then a specimen has 

 been taken alive in a dip-net, actually at the surface. 

 From a deep haul off the Azores, at 1,675 fathoms, the 

 Challenger obtained an example of which it is said, ' The 

 specimen is beautifully preserved both in form and colour, 

 the latter being of a rich crimson-lake, which suffiises 

 every part of the animal. The hairs which fringe the legs 

 are long, delicate, and generally planted perpendicularly 

 to the surface.' The suggestion is made that this species 

 is probably a free swimmer, able to range without incon- 

 venience from one depth to another. In Acanthepliyra 

 niicroplithalma, S. I. Smith, the smallness of the eyes is 

 considered to indicate that it is a truly abyssal species, in 

 accord with the depths of a little more and a little less 

 than 2,600 fathoms from which the specimens were ob- 

 tained. There is always the chance that dredges and 

 trawls with open mouths may catch a variety of animals 

 while going down or coming up and not on the deep floor 

 of the ocean, but the vast number of species which have 

 only become known since deep-sea dredging comm.enced, 

 makes it sufficiently clear that the general abode of the 

 19 



