47 



At' denne Liste vil det sees, at det kim er faa Anne- 

 lidetamilier, der ei ere repræsenterede i deu iskolde Area 

 og de forskjellige Familiers Repræsentanter ere mestendels 

 Arter, der ere vel kendte fra Havstrækuiuger og Fjorde 

 med tempereret Vand. 



Der er kun enkelte Antydninger til, at den dybe 

 Buudstrom udenfor Norge, hvis Temperatui- er under (/', 

 skulde indeliolde en særlig, for den karakteristisk Fauna. 

 For Mesteparten af de nye Formers Vedkommende er det 

 omtrent umuligt at vide, om de ikke ogsaa ville tindes 

 udenfor eller ovenfor den iskolde Area i tempereret Vand. 

 Der er kun et Dyr. om hvilket det med nogenlunde Sik- 

 kerhed kan antages, at det ialfald fortrinsvis, om ikke 

 udelukkende er en Koldtvandsbeboer, nemhg Folynoe c/lo- 

 hifera, G. 0. Sai's. 



Den er funden af Sårs paa den ydre Ski-aaniug af 

 Storeggen eller deu store Fiskelianke udenfor Kristiansund 

 og Prof. Sårs meddeler, at han ogsaa kender denne Form 

 fra Lofoten. Dette kunde antyde, at den ogsaa fore- 

 kommer i tempereret Vand; ellers er den kun kendt fra 

 den iskolde Area; thi der kan neppe være Tvivl om, 

 at jo Prof. Sårs jiaa LTdsiden af Storeggen har ski-abet 

 i iskoldt Vand; dette tindes nemlig overalt ved den store 

 Bankes Afheldning mod Atlanterhavsdybet og overalt langs 

 eller paa denne Afheldning synes den ovennævnte Form 

 at leve og, som det synes, i ikke saa ringe Mæugde, thi 

 Antallet af indfaugede Exemplarer er ingenlunde saa lidet. 

 Der er nu intet særligt at opdage ved dette Dyrs Byg- 

 ning, der kunde karakterisere det fremfor ancbe som en 

 udelukkende Beboer af iskoldt Vand eller det store Dyb. 

 Og naar Elders') fremsætter den Formodning, at Dyb- 

 vandets Beboere stadigt rekruteres ved Afkom af Dyr, der 

 leve paa grundere Vand og at man i denne Omstændighed 

 kunde soge Grunden til, at disse Dybvaudets Anuelider 

 ikke ere farve- og oienlose hgesom Huleboere, — saa 

 synes en saadau Antagelse neppe at kunne opretholdes, 

 naar der findes om og kun et eneste Exemj)el paa et Dyr, 

 der er forsynet med Øine og Farve og som maa antages 

 udelukkende at tilhore de store Dyb. Om der nu for- 

 uden deu her omtalte Form ogsaa tindes andre Dyr, 

 der udelukkende tilhore deu kolde Area. lader sig neppe 

 med nogensomhelst Sikkerhed afgore. Mesteparten af de 

 i den kolde Area fundne Dyr ere, som allerede ovenfor 

 bemærket. Former, der ere vel kendte fra Egne med tem- 

 pereret Vand, og ingen andre af de i den kolde Area 

 fundne nye Former ere fundne i saa stort Antal og saa 

 gennemgaaende paa ensartede Lokahteter udenfor vor hele 

 Kyst, at vi om dem kunne antage med samme Ret som 

 om Polynoe f/lobifera. at de ere udelukkende Koldtvands- 

 beboere; snai-ere tværtom; en Form Polynoe uspera, der 

 fandtes i 187G paa Stat. 48 ved Island i den kolde Area, 

 fandtes samme Aar af mig ved Moldøen, og en anden 



Ehlers: Beitrage zur Kentniss der \'orticiilverbreitunir ilii' Bor- 

 stenwiirinpr im Mcere. Zeitschrift fiir wiss. Zoologie. Bil. '>'<. 



As wiU be seen from the above List, there are 

 but few families of Annelids not represented in tiie Irigid 

 area; and the members of the various families occui-ring 

 there consist chiefly of species also met with in fjords 

 and tracts of ocean belonging to the temperate area. 



There are few indications of any such fact, as 

 that the deep bottom-current ofi' the coast of Norway, 

 in which the temperature of the water is below zero, 

 should be characterized by a faima of its own. As regards 

 the great majority of new forms, it is indeed well-nigh 

 impossible to tell whether they may not likewise be 

 found Ijoth without and above the frigid area in water 

 of a higher temperature than zero. Of one Annelid only, 

 viz. Polynoe ylobij'era, G. 0. Sai-s, can we infer with 

 comparative certainty, that its favourite, if not its sole 

 habitat, is confined to the cold bottom-strata. 



This animal was taken by Professor Sars on the 

 outer slope of Stoi'eggen — the great fishing -bank lying 

 oft' Christiansund in Norway; and he .states his having 

 met with it, too, near the Lofoten Islands. Now, some 

 might infer from this, that it also inhal)its water of a 

 higher temperature than zero; Ijut in aU other localities 

 from which it is known, the animal has been invariably 

 found to occui" in the cold area only; and it will hardly 

 admit of doubt, that Sars, on the outer slope of Storeggen, 

 dråiged in ice-cold water, since the cold area extends to 

 where the base of the declivity meets the bottom-water of 

 the Atlantic; and either on or along this slope the form 

 in question would seem to occur, and in some plenty, for 

 the number of specimens collected there was by no means 

 inconsiderable. There is nothing, however, in the structui'e 

 of this animal from which it might be regai-ded as exclu- 

 sively inhabiting the frigid area, or indeed great depths; 

 and when Ehlers ^ ventui-es to assume, that the inhabitants 

 of the great depths have their numbers constantly recruited 

 from the oftspring of animals hving in shallower water, 

 and that in this circumstance lies the reason of deep-water 

 Annehds not being colourless and without eyes like the 

 inhabitants of caves (Hohlenbewohnern), such an assumption 

 must certainly give way before the occurrence of even a 

 single form both coloured and fiu'nished with eyes, and 

 whose habitat we must regard as exclusively confined to the 

 great depths. Whether there be other animals, besides 

 the said form, inhabiting the cold area alone, can hardly 

 be stated with certainty. Most of the animals collected 

 in the cold area belong to forms which, as previously 

 stated, are well known from water of a higher tempera- 

 ture than zero, and none of the new forms found in the 

 frigid area were met with off the Norwegian coast in 

 such considerable numbers and such uniform locahties as 

 to warrant our assuming that, hke Polynoe ylobifera, they 

 exclusively inhabit the cold-water strata. Another form, 

 Polynoe aspera, obtained at Stat. 48, oft' the coast of Ice- 



Ehlers: Beitrage zur Kentniss der Verticalverbreitung der Bor- 

 stenwiirmer im IMeere. Zeitschrift fiir wiss. Zoologie, Bd. .'i.')' 



