98 REPORT OF COMMlHSiONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [96] 



The Albali'o.ss arrived at Key West, Fla., April 15, and remained 

 until the 27th. The time was used by colleetors, as in more distant 

 parts, in making a collection of flslies and marine invertebrates. How- 

 ever, more laboratory work was done here than anywhere else on the 

 cruise. Scrapings from the wharfs — sponges, dead corals, and rotten 

 wood — were placed in dishes day after day, and very many worms, 

 crustaceans, and echiuoderms, with some shells, sea-anemones, and other 

 things, were taken as they came from their hiding-places, and were killed 

 in various fluids. Thr6e large Oreasters were brought to the ship, which 

 would not go into our largest tanks. The starfish were wrapped in 

 cheesecloth and put into a large dish-pan; a second pan of the same 

 size was then inverted over the first, and they were soldered together. 

 This improvised tank was then filled with alcohol through a small 

 hole. Sponges, as is well known, are very abundant in the waters about 

 Key West. Many small vessels are engaged in taking the species used 

 in commerce. This work is much more laborious than formerly, as the 

 sui)ply has been, in a great measure, exhausted from the more shallow 

 water. ISTow they are commonly taken from a depth of forty feet. I went 

 about among the men at work in the sponge sheds and on the wharves, 

 and made inquiry as to the cultivation of sponges. Men claiming to know 

 all about the sponge fisheries of the whole Florida coast and the Baha- 

 ma Islands declared that they had never known a sjionge to be raised 

 for the market. However, they seemed to have no doubt of the possi- 

 bility of it, if it was desirable. All seemed to think that if sponge beds 

 were laid out by the State, no matter how fairly they might be distrib- 

 uted at first, they would all eventually fall into the hands of a few, and 

 the condition of the men employed in the fisheries be much worse than 

 at present. Consequently, all were opposed to this experiment in any 

 form. 



Sailing from Key West on the 27th, we arrived in Havana early on 

 the 28th. On the 30th we steamed out of the harbor and made twelve 

 hauls with the tangle-bar, Stations 21a3-21G3, inclusive. Going into the 

 harbor at night we continued the work outside on the following day, 

 making six hauls, Stations 21G4-2169, inclusive. These stations are all 

 to the eastward and in sight of Morro Castle, in water from 29 to 387 

 fathoms in depth, where the bottom is very rough, often catching and 

 holding the tangle-bar, making it necessary to maneuver the ship a good 

 deal to free it. The object of search was the stalked crinoid {Pentacrinus). 

 Upwards of one hundred si)ecimens were brought up in the tangles. 

 We found it necessary to put them in strong alcohol as soon as possible 

 after they were taken from the water to prevent their going to pieces. 

 Good specimens of free crinoids were also obtained at the same time, 

 but none so striking as those dredged off Aspinwall. In addition to the 

 crinoids there were hydroids, bryozoa, sponges, corals, brittle stars, and 

 crustaceans of various groups. From off Havana the Albatross sailed 

 for Cape San Antonio, the extreme western end of Cuba, where some 



