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Hippohitc Gaiinnrdii M.-Edw. I luive had a larf^e ninterial from the Kara Sea, and one of 

 similar size fi-om West-Greenland; in the former I only found six infested specimens: four 

 •with Choniostoma mirahilc, two with Ch. Hamniii : in the latter I found none at all, though a 

 few specimens of Ch. Hansenri have been discovered there at least either on H. Gaimardii 

 or ou H. polaris. On the latter species I found one Ch. Hamenii from the Kara Sea 

 and one Chon. sp'^ fi'om the coast of West-Greenland, though H. polaris is not unfreciuent 

 in the former, and of common occurrence in the latter locality. This shows distinctly 

 enough that the genus Clwniostoma with its two rrn/ large and parlicnlnrlii fertile species 

 is pretty scarce in the Kara Sea and rare in West-Greenland. Most of the middle-sized 

 and rather small species of parasites I have found in between very few and about seven 

 specimens of their respective hosts, though my material of the latter was fre([uently very 

 rich. Only of two parasites: Sfenothocheres egregius and Homoeoscelis minuta have I found 

 a great number of specimens in a large material of their respective hosts: Metopa Bruzelii 

 (Goes) and Diastylis luci/era (Kr.). The first-mentioned parasite is the least prolific of all 

 my species, and the second, in this respect, comes nearest to it among the species of which my 

 material of infested hosts was sufficiently large; moreover, the hosts came from several localities. 

 That the number of pai'asites cannot be detei'mined only by the number of infested hosts, 

 has been proved above, as of some species, e. g. the two afore-mentioned: SfenofJiocheres 

 egregius and Horn, minuta, we seldom find more than one female and one male on each 

 host, whereas on others we pretty frequently find several females and males as well as 

 pupae in one host, but the only parasite of wliich, from the last-mentioned reason, I have 

 found as many specimens as of the above-named species, is SpJueroneJla paradoxa (living on 

 Bathyporeia, a genus of very frequent occurrence in Denmark); it belongs to the smaller 

 species and, as it seems, does not lay more than four of five ovisacs, which are comparatively 

 large. AU these data decidedly point in one direction, but considering the insufficiency of 

 my material, I will take good care not to lay down any rule or law wliich might possibly 

 not prove quite tenable, and I will content myself with suggesting the direction. We might 

 feel inclined to suppose that the conditions of life of most of these parasites are pretty 

 similar, and that consequently the most prolific species would occur most frequently, the 

 more so, as there is such an enormous ditference in their fertility, that a species like Choniostoma 

 mirabile lays at least more than thiee hundred times as many eggs as Stenothochercs egregius; 

 however, the above-mentioned examples prove in a striking manner that such a conclusion 

 cannot be drawn. Consequently there must be circumstances to account for the fact that 

 the two least prolific species : Sten. egregius — taken in two localities — and Horn, minuta — 

 taken in several, probably in many places at considerable distance from each other — occur 

 much more freiiuently than the prolific and veiy prolific species. An explanation of this 

 fact is required, and I will attempt to explain it, at least partly. No doubt, the critical 

 point in the life of the parasites must be the short period during which the full-grown, 

 though very small, larv* leave the ovisac and their mother's host in order to seek a new 



