594 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [92] 
the bladders often shrink away and leave the encrusting Bryozoa in the 
form of very elegant hollow balls. Among the Hydroids the most abun- 
dant are Obelia geniculata and several small species of Aglaophenia. 
The jelly fishes are very abundant and very interesting in the Gulf 
Stream water. Among the most common and conspicuous is the ‘ Por- 
tuguese man-of-war” (Physalia arethusa), remarkable for its curious form 
and habits, as well as for its brilliant blue and crimson colors and its 
virulent stinging powers. Related to this,and not less beautiful, is the 
Porpita Linneana, which has a very beautiful, circular, radiated, pinkish 
floating disk, bordered with bright blue, while the delicate zooids hang- 
ing from its lower surface form an elegant blue and green fringe around it. 
This has been taken several times, but the best lot was obtained at 
station 2039. Specimens of the allied form (Velella mutica), which is 
beautifully varied with blue, green, and pink, and has a thin oblong 
disk, with an oblique, diagonal crest or sail, were taken, but they were 
not full grown. Several other species of Siphonophores were obtained, » 
among which were Glcba hippopus and a species of Cuboides. Of the 
meduse, Pelagia cyanella, Stomolophus meleagris, Periphylla hyacinthina, 
Trachynema digitale, Calycopsis typa Fewkes, and a large species of 
Zygodactyla were among the most prominent. 
A large and conspicuous medusa, with distant, stout, and rather stiff- 
looking tentacles, and broad, deep marginal lobes, was taken in several 
localities. (Stations 2034, 2037, 2039, 2040, 2045, 2079, 2104.) It 
grows to be over 6 inches in diameter, and the stomach and genital 
organs have a deep purplish brown color when recently placed in al- 
cohol, but its color in life was not noted. Mr. Fewkes considers this a 
new species of the rare genus, Atolla (A. Verrillii). The specimens 
otf Stomolophus meleagris were large and handsome. According to the 
observations of Mr. William Nye, jr., on the ‘ Albatross,” the diskin this 
species contracted, when first taken, 102 times per minute. It was 
taken near stations 2085 and 2088. 
Among the most abundant and characteristic of the forms of pelagic 
life are the curious, transparent-finned worms belonging to the genus 
Sagitta (figs. 196, a). These have a well-marked head with two eyes, and 
with broad groups of sharp, curved spines on each side of the head, while 
there is a well-developed caudal fin, like that of a fish in form, and other 
fins on the sides of the body. They swim through the water with great 
rapidity and are so transparent that they are not easily seen. They are 
usually taken in large numbers in our surface nets, of all sizes, from a 
small fraction of an inch up to 2 or3 inches in length. Probably there are 
several species among them. They are equally abundant in the trawl- 
wings from all depths, and among those that have been taken only in 
the trawl-wings there is one large species, nearly 3 inches long, which 
is deep salmon or orange in color, while the surface species are colorless. 
A very different but equally transparent worm (Tomopteris) is also 
frequently taken. In this genus there are bilobed swimming-feet along 
