48 



Form Pdlynoe islandica angives al' V. Storm' al' liain at 

 være t'undet i Troiulhjemslj orden. Og under de Omstæn- 

 digheder er det selvlblgeligt umuligt. al den Stund Dyrene 

 fra den kolde Area ingen Eiendommelighedei' Irembydo i 

 sin Bygning, at have nogen begruudet Formening om, 

 hvorvidt en ny Form, der tindes i den kolde Area, ude- 

 lukkende tilhorer denne eller ei. Foruden det om PoJynoe 

 globiferu ant'orte tindes der kun nogle enkelte Antydninger 

 til. at den kolde Area muligens har en tildels særegen 

 Annelidelauua. De Dyr. der henhore til SL-egten Mijrio- 

 rhele Mgin.. niaa vel antages at være rent arktiske; der 

 kendtes hidtil kun en Ai't, M. Hem. Mgru. fra Østsiden 

 af Sjntsbergen og Grønland, der ogsaa er fundet paa Por- 

 cupineexpeditionen paa Stat. BO i en Dybde af 138(J Favne, 

 Temp. 2''.8(i; og nu er der paa den norske Expedition 

 fundet 2 nye Arter Myriochéle paa (> Stationer i iskoldt 

 Vand. medens il/. Hen i ikke er paatruftet. Polipioe Sarsri, 

 Knbg., der forekommer i det kariske Hav og paa Østsiden 

 af Spitsbergen, er fundet paa Stationerne 31, 33 og 35, 

 alle tre tilhørende den kolde Bundstrom melleni Island 

 og Norge; den er ogsaa fundeu paa Porcupiueoxpeditioneu 

 vestenfor Irland paa Stat. 28, 121.T Favnes Dyb, Temp. 

 + 2'',8U. Formodenthg vilde baade \Myriochele Hem-i og 

 Polynoc Sarsi) ved en nøiere Eftersogen lindes paa flere 

 melleudiggende Steder i den kolde Bundstrom og det maa 

 antages at være det rimeligste, at disse arktiske Dyr geu- 

 nem den kolde BuncTstrom ere vandrede sydover. 



At bemærke er ogsaa Forekomsten af en Serpula: 

 Protula ardica paa Stat. .51, IKiS Favnes Dyb og Temp. 

 — P.l, Bunden bestaa.ende af Biloculinler. Dette viser, 

 at Serpulaerne ikke nodvendigtvis behove faste Genstande, 

 paa hvilke de kunne bygge sine Skaller. Det samme har 

 jeg tidligere erfaret, med Hensyn til Hydro/des norreyica, 

 som jeg ogsaa har fundet i^aa Slambund, og var Røret i 

 dette Tilfælde ikke som vanligt snoet. men ret, saa det 

 maa antages. at Rorene under disse Omstændigheder staa 

 nede i iVIudderen ligesom Rorene for mange audi-e tubi- 

 cole Annelider. der leve paa blod Bund. 



Jeg har ovenfor bemærket, at det ikke har vadret 

 mig muligt at tinde noget. hvorved Beboerne af den kolde 

 Area kunde kendes fra Beboere af tempereiet Vand. 

 Dette gælder saavel Farverne som Dyrenes Storrelse. 

 Oniqjhis hype.rhorea viser dette tilfulde: dette Dyr er kun 

 fundet paa Stat. 18. 412 Favne og Stat. 48, 299 Favne, 

 altsaa paa begge Steder paa større Dyb end de, hvortil 

 Planteva^xt og Lys antages at trænge ned. Ikke desto 

 mindre har Dyret en anselig Storrelse og ogsaa en meget 

 stærk Farve, samt Øine. 



Fra Stat. 48 tindes ogsaa et andet Dyr. Pul y noe 

 islandica, der udmærker sig ved en for en Polynoe usæd- 

 vanlige Størrelse af 80""". Der kunde endnu nævnes flere 

 Exempler paa, at hverken Dybden eller Våndets Tempe- 

 ratur synes at betinge en mindre Udvikling af Dyrene. 



' Det Norske Viilenskal)ssolskiiliets Skrifti'i' ISTS. 



land in the cold area. was taken the same year by myself, 

 off Moldøen, and a form designated Polynoe ishindira is 

 stated by V. Storm' to occur in the Trondhjem Fjord. 

 Hence, it is impossible, since the Annelids from the cold 

 area present no peculiarities of structure, to pronounce with 

 certainty whether a new form met with in the cold area 

 is exclusively confined to that de))th or not. If we except 

 what has been stated concerning Polynoe globifera, little 

 remains to add in support of the inference, that a 

 peculiar Annelid Fauna inhal)its the frigid depths of 

 the ocean. The Annelids belonging to the genus Myrio- 

 chéle, Mgru.. nmst be regarded as true arctic animals. 

 As yet, but one species — M. Heeri, Mgrn. — has been 

 met with, from the eastern shores of Spitzbergeu and 

 Greenland, — also found on the Porcupine Expedition, 

 Station 30, at a depth oi' 1 380 fathoms, temperature 2" 8() ; 

 and 2 new species of MyriocJiele were taken at 6 Stations 

 on the Norwegian Exi)edition. in ice-cold water, whereas 

 M. Heeri did not occur. Polynoe 'Sarsii. Knbg.. which 

 inhabits the Kara Sea and the eastern shores of Spitz- 

 bergeu, was met with at Stations 31. 33. and 35. — all 

 three in the cold bottom-current flowing between Iceland 

 and Norway; it also occurred on the Porcupine Expe- 

 dition, west of L-eland. at Station 28. depth 1215 fathoms, 

 temperature -|- 2''.80. Probably, careful dredging would 

 bring to light both Myriorhele Heeri and Polynoe Sarsii in 

 several intermediate jiarts of the cold bottom-current; and 

 hence these arctic animals may with good reason l)e assum- 

 ed to have drifted southwards. 



In conclusion, we must notice the occurrence of a 

 Serpula: Protula ardica. at Station 51; depth 11 (io fathoms, 

 temperature — 1". 1; bottom. ?bilocuhna clay. This shows 

 that the Serpulnlæ are not absolutely in need of solid 

 matter on which to construct their shells. This is also 

 the case with Hydroides norreyica. which I have met 

 with on a muddy bottom; and the tube was not twisted 

 — the usual form — but straight, whence may be inferred 

 that under such circumstances the tubes penetrate the 

 mud. as is the case with those of many other tube-buil- 

 ding Annelids that live on a soft bottom. 



As stated above, I have failed to detect any criterion 

 whatever whereby the inh.abitants of the cold area may 

 l)e distinguished from those of the temperate; and this 

 applies both to colour and to magnitude. Onapliis Jtyper- 

 horea is an instance in jioint. This animal was brought 

 up at Station 18 (depth 412 fathoms) and Station 48 

 (depth 299 fathoms), in both localities, accordingly, at 

 a greater depth than that to which light aud vegetable 

 life are supposed to penetrate. But the animal is neverthe- 

 less of very considerable dimensions, vividly coloured, 

 and moreover furnished with eyes. At Station 48 was 

 brought up another animal, Polynoe islandica. which, for 

 a Polynoe, is remarkably large: length 80'""'. Many other 

 instances might be adduced to show that neither depth 

 nor temperature has ap])arently any influence (m the devel- 

 opment of these animals. 



Det Norske Viiloiiskabsselskubets Ski'ifter. ISiS. 



