﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  issued 
  fifr^Vil, 
  \|?^1 
  h 
  '^« 
  

  

  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION 
  

  

  U. 
  S. 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

   Vol. 
  98 
  Washington: 
  1949 
  No. 
  3231 
  

  

  REPOKT 
  ON 
  THE 
  PYCNOGONIDA 
  COLLECTED 
  BY 
  THE 
  

   ALBATEOSS 
  IN 
  JAPANESE 
  WATERS 
  IN 
  1900 
  AND 
  1906 
  

  

  By 
  Joel 
  W. 
  Hedgpeth 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  42 
  years 
  since 
  the 
  Albatross 
  investigated 
  Japanese 
  home 
  

   waters, 
  no 
  extensive 
  report 
  on 
  the 
  Pycnogonida 
  of 
  Japan 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  

   northwestern 
  Pacific 
  has 
  appeared, 
  with 
  the 
  single 
  exception 
  of 
  

   Losina-Losinsky's 
  paper 
  (1933) 
  on 
  collections 
  made 
  by 
  various 
  Rus- 
  

   sian 
  expeditions 
  in 
  the 
  Bering, 
  Okhotsk, 
  and 
  Japanese 
  Seas. 
  Hence, 
  

   in 
  spite 
  of 
  their 
  age, 
  the 
  collections 
  of 
  the 
  Albatross 
  provide 
  the 
  

   occasion 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  major 
  systematic 
  report 
  on 
  Japanese 
  pycnog- 
  

   onids, 
  or 
  at 
  least 
  of 
  those 
  species 
  occurring 
  in 
  offshore 
  waters, 
  as 
  

   the 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  collections 
  were 
  made 
  by 
  dredging. 
  

  

  The 
  littoral 
  species 
  have 
  evidently 
  been 
  extensively 
  collected 
  by 
  

   Japanese 
  workers, 
  but 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  some 
  short 
  papers 
  by 
  

   Ohshima 
  relatively 
  little 
  systematic 
  work 
  has 
  been 
  published 
  on 
  the 
  

   littoral 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  Japanese 
  coasts. 
  The 
  Albatross 
  collections 
  

   shed 
  little 
  light 
  on 
  the 
  littoral 
  fauna, 
  although 
  two 
  previously 
  un- 
  

   reported 
  species 
  were 
  collected 
  by 
  shore 
  parties 
  at 
  Hakodate 
  and 
  on 
  

   Shimushiru. 
  Other 
  littoral 
  species 
  collected 
  by 
  later 
  visitors 
  to 
  Japan 
  

   have 
  been 
  included 
  in 
  this 
  collection. 
  Undoubtedly 
  the 
  Japanese 
  

   have 
  also 
  undertaken 
  expeditions 
  in 
  their 
  home 
  waters, 
  but 
  no 
  reports 
  

   of 
  pycnogonids 
  collected 
  have 
  come 
  to 
  notice, 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  remained 
  

   for 
  this 
  long-delayed 
  study 
  of 
  collections 
  made 
  more 
  than 
  40 
  years 
  

   ago 
  to 
  reveal 
  the 
  rich 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  fauna 
  occurring 
  in 
  moderate 
  

   depths 
  around 
  the 
  Japanese 
  islands. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  known 
  that 
  the 
  genus 
  Ascorhynchu.s 
  is 
  extraor- 
  

   dinarily 
  well 
  represented 
  in 
  Japanese 
  waters, 
  with 
  6 
  well-established 
  

  

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