CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FAUNA OF THE 



ARABIAN SEA, WITH DESCRIPTIONS 



OF NEW FISHES AND CRUSTACEA. 



By R. E. IvLOYD, M.B., B.Sc, Capt. I. M.S., Surgeon Naturalist, 

 Marine Survey of India. 



During the early part of 1906, the Indian Marine Survey- Ship 

 ' Investigator ' proceeded from Muscat to Aden along the south 

 coast of Arabia and returned by the same route. On both passages 

 the trawl was used almost ever}' da}-, so that ten hauls were ob- 

 tained, three from less than 200 fathoms, and seven from about 500 

 fathoms or over. The results were for the most part good. Since 

 this is the first time that the ' Investigator ' or, I believe, any 

 other ship has trawled in deep water along this coast, it seems 

 well, to publish a general account of the material obtained. So 

 far it has only been possible to identify the Fish and Crustacea, 

 but the greater part of the specimens fall within these two groups. 

 The identification of species has been facilitated b}' the fine collec- 

 tion of types of Indian deep-sea Fish and Crustacea in the Indian 

 Museum, Calcutta. 



On the present collection, as a whole, the following observa- 

 tions may be made, and it is in these that its chief interest seems 

 to lie : — 



I. The number of new species met with is remarkably 

 small considering that the ground was being investi- 

 gated for the first time. Only two new Crustacea 

 and five new Fish, all species of well-known genera, 

 were obtained. Of these seven species five are from 

 the three stations in less than 200 fathoms, while 

 the seven stations in about 500 fathoms or over only 

 contributed two new species, one Fish and one Crus- 

 tacean. 

 II. The repeated occurrence of man}' of the species at several 

 different stations is remarkable. Thus, of the seven 

 deeper stations, one fish, Bathygadus furvescens, was 

 found at four, while several species were found at 

 three, although the seven stations were distributed 

 irregularly along a line 1,000 miles or more in length. 

 III. The occurrence of the giant Isopod Bathy nonius giganteus 

 and the large bilaterally symmetrical Hydroid Bran- 

 chiocerianthus imperator (which is here recorded from 

 Indian seas for the first time) is noteworthy. 



The details of the various stations are as follows : — 



