over 600 species, of which about 450 are not known to occur elsewhere, leaving 
185 previously-known species.* 
Of these 185 species, that also occur in the depths of other seas, (a) thirty- 
two, or 17 per cent. of them, belong to the true abyssal fauna—more than 
three-fourths of them coming from depths between 1500 and 1997 fathoms; 
(4) forty, or nearly 22 per cent. of them, probably belong to the nectic fauna ; 
and (ec) a hundred and thirteen species, or slightly over 61 per cent. inhabit 
the moderate depths (between 1000 and 100 fathoms—more than half of them 
being found between 500 and 100 fathoms) of the slopes. 
It is to this last assemblage of species—namely to the fauna of the 
moderate depths, not far from the coast line, with which Flabellum. laciniatum 
and Caryophyllia communis are associated, that I wish to invite attention. 
Ee Regarding the excluded true abyssal fauna (1000-2000 fms.) of 
these seas, however, I may mention that the 32 previously-described abyssal 
species have the following faunistic relations :— 
19 species or 59 per cent. occur in the abysses of the Pacific ; 
10 ” ” ol ” ” ” ” ” Atlantic ; 
Ze BO og 5) ; PH both the Atlantic and the Pavific ; 
es; HD oF p + - Southern Ocean. 
I may further mention that of the ten Atlantic species, five are known 
only from the depths off the West-Indies and the coasts of the United States 
and Brazil. These five species are :— 
Porcellanaster caeruleus, Wyville-Thomson. ) 
Pentagonaster intermedius, Perrier. (Asteroidea). 
Nymphaster basilicus, Sladen. ) 
Pontophilus abyssi, 8, I, Smith, (Crangonide). 
Willemoesia forceps, A. Milne Edwards, (Eryontide). 
2. Regarding the excluded nectic fauna, I may explain that only the 
following, among Indian forms, are counted :— 
Gnathophausia, Eucopia, Thysanopoda, Bentheuphausia, Petalophthalmus ; 
Hymenopeneus, Haliporus, Aristeus, Hepomadus, Benthesicymus, Gennadas, 
Sergestes, Hoplophorus, Acanthephyra, Pasiphea and Nematocarcinus, among 
Crustacea ; Onychoteuthis, Calliteuthis, and Cirrhoteuthis, among the Cepha- 
lopod Mollusca; and Argyropelecus, Sternoptyx, Gonostoma, Chauliodus, and 
Polyipnus, among Fishes. 
* Only the following groups have, up to the present, been named: Hexactinellid Sponges, Madreporaria, 
Asteroidea, Ophiwroidea, Holothuroidea (partly), Echinoidea (partly), Stalk-eyed Crustacea, Mollusca, Fishes. 
Large collections of Octactinaria and Polychzta, as well as small collections of the other marine groups, are 
still unnamed. 
