PACIFIC HALIBUT FISHERIES 13 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a 



as well as hjydroids and fan-corals. On one occasion the captain picked up from the 

 declc of the ship what he took to be a stone and was about to throw it overboard when 

 his hand was nipped by a claw. The apparent stone was a stone crab (Rhinolithodes 

 wosnessenshii), taken on the halibut line from a depth of 50 fathoms on the Albatross 

 bank abreast of Trinity islands. A sample of hydroids from the same grounds col- 

 lected on August 20 included fifteen species identified by Dr. C. McLean Fraser, of 

 ■which seven were recorded for the first time from Alaskan waters, and one had not 

 been described before. The common fan-coral of these waters has a delicate pink 

 colour in life, bleaching quickly to white; the branches have a beaded or moniliform 

 structure, owing to the polyps being arranged in whorls. Prof. S. J. Hickson, to 

 whom a specimen was. submitted, states that it is a primnoid fan-coral, probably 

 belonging to the genus Caligorgia. All these indications have their value in defining 

 the nature of the ground and in showing how much remains to be ascertained con- 

 cerning the organisms which inhabit the bottom frequented by halibut in the North 

 Pacific. 



At the northern end of the Portlock bank there is a narrow depression or gut 

 where the depth descends below 100 fathoms. At midnight on August 22 we dropped 

 anchor in 140 fathoms in the Portlock gut, and on the following day we set out the 

 gear in 110 fathoms shoaling to 95 fathoms, A great school of Finback whales was 

 spouting and curvetting in the ofiing. The bottom here consists of sand and fine 

 mud, numerous small starfishes (Ctenodiscus crispatus) having their stomachs gorged 

 with the mud. Basket stars, heart urchins, and apodous holothurians were also 

 abundant, the last being especially characteristic of this position. They are probably 

 the species Chirodota discolor Eschscholtz, with twelve peltato-digitate tentacles, 

 about nine digits on each tentacle, and very numerous calcareous supporting rods 

 in the tentacles; but I did not find any wheel-shaped calcareous bodies in the skin 

 [compare H. L. Clark : The Apodous Holothurians. Smithsonian Contributions to 

 Knowledge, vol. xxxv, Washington, 1907, p. 26 and p. 120]. They are fragile, soft, 

 worm-like creatures, brownish and pinkish, very prone to self-mutilation or autotomy. 

 The halibut taken here often had one or two large leeches on the white side; these 

 showed nineteen transverse brown bands on the dorsal side, feebly indicated below, the 

 bands are darker parts of a pigmented network, and are generally interrupted at the 

 sides, which are colourless. One halibut contained an entire codfish in its stomach, 

 and yet took the herring bait. 



There -was no fishing on August the 24th as the tide was too strong, with a heavy 

 sea. A buoy and keg were put out to test the tide, and within an hour the keg had 

 been drawn under water. On August 25 a set was made in 95 fathoms at a spot 

 about 40 miles south of cape Cleare, which is ISO miles east of cape St. Elias. The 

 tide proved to be setting strong from NW. to SE., and the gear was laid across the 

 tide, which carried it over the edge of the continental shelf into 150 fathoms. A 

 great many black cod were caught, one grey cod, several red cod, and a large halibut 

 with total length of 55^ inches, weighing 85 pounds; the ovaries weighed 3^ pounds; 

 numerous nematode worms Avere encysted at the surface of the liver and intestine 

 and in the ovarian capsule. 



August 2G was the stormiest day of the voyage. We were now heading for Cross 

 sound, and making vei"y slow progress against wind ard sea, the gla s falirg steadilji 

 all the time. About 7 a.m. on August 28, land loomed ahead enveloped in mist, whicL 

 shrouded the mountains and obscured all marks. At noon we entered Cross sound, 

 and our worst troubles were over. We anchored that night at Tenakee inlet offl 

 Chatham strait, in 70 fathoms, and rode through another veiy heavy squall. On 

 August 29, whilst abreast of cape Decision we passed a large blue shark with its 

 dorsal fin above the water after the manner of a Finback whale; and on the follow- 

 ing day, after being stopped by the patrol cruiser H.M.C.S. Rainbow, reached Prince 

 Rupert. I immediately transferred to the Princess Royal, which had already cast off 

 her moorings, and in due time arrived at Nanaimo. 



