WEST COAST HYDEOIDS 5 



the identification of species new to the Vancouver Island Region, 

 serves as a slight addition to our too scant knowledge of the fauna 

 of the Pacific. 



That no doubt may exist as to the exact location of the points 

 most commonly mentioned, I have appended an outline map of 

 the Vancouver Island Region, extending far enough north to in- 

 clude all the localities mentioned in the paper in connection with 

 the new material examined. 



It might be well to say a few words with regard to the nature 

 of the coast at the various localities. In general it may be said 

 that the whole West Coast is rock^', tending in many places to be 

 precipitous. The sandy reaches are comparatively few and peb- 

 bly beaches just as rare. At Port Renfrew the Station is situated 

 on a projecting point between San Juan Harbor and the open 

 Pacific. The rock is a slate formation with an extensive dip, cov- 

 ered with sandstone and conglomerate. On the ocean side the 

 swell rolls in with the strata and the covering is well worn/ off 

 with the force of the waves so there is little chance for attach- 

 ment to the smooth rocks. On the harbor side, the swell strikes 

 against the strata so that the slate breaks off with ragged edges. 

 In many cases the underlying strata may be Avorn out more than 

 those above and the latter are left overhanging, making perfect 

 feeding ground for numerous animal forms. The sandstone 

 above becomes worn into potholes and as the water in them is re- 

 plenished with each flow of the tide they make excellent salt wa- 

 ter aquaria. At Ucluelet the conditions are much different, as 

 Amphitrite Point is low-lying, much of it covered at high tide, 

 and the depth of the water increases more gradually than usually 

 on this coast, but here also there is an exposed and a sheltered 

 side. At Departure Bay. the bay itself is almost land-locked so 

 that little wave action is noticeable though the variation in the 

 tide is greater than usual. Eel grass and seaweed are plentiful 

 but they are covered so much with diatoms and other similar 

 forms that the Hydroids found on them are not very readily ex- 

 amined. On the lee side of some of the islands at the entrance, 

 where there are overhanging rocks, the conditions are more fa- 

 vorable. Most of the bay is less than 25 fathoms in depth but 

 several species were obtained by dredging, among them the inter- 

 esting new forms. Cnjpta hunfsmayii and Hijdractinia aggregafa. 

 In Northumberland Strait at the mouth of Dodd 's Narrows there 

 is a powerful tide-rip at the change of the tide, which cannot fail 



