XXXVI -REPORT ON THE MEDUSiE COLLECTED BY THE U. S. 

 F. C. STEAMER ALBATROSS, IN THE REGION OF THE GULF 

 STREAM, IN 1883-'84.* 



By J. Waltek Fewkes. 



The wealth of marine life which peoples the surface waters of the 

 Gulf Stream is in part made up of a rich and varied medusan fauna. 

 This fauna has been but little investigated, considering the great num- 

 ber of genera which we have every reason to believe is embraced in it. 

 Although in a general way we may conclude that many of the Northern 

 European medusse are carried there by the Gulf Stream, and are, there- 

 fore, identical with those of our own coasts, many others, particularly 

 those found in warmer waters of Florida and off the Carolinas, do not 

 make their way into these high latitudes. The Acalephs which have 

 been collected from the eastern coasts of the United States are also, in 

 part, inhabitants of the Gulf Stream. The jelly-fishes from New Eng- 

 land undoubtedly have associated with these more southern medusa3 

 many others which have been brought south from colder waters through 

 the agency of counter currents setting from the north. The medusse 

 of the Gulf Stream include, in addition to those mentioned, many others, 

 some of which are new to science; and it is the purpose of the present 

 l)aper to gather together the scattered observations which have been 

 made on animals of this group found in that part of the Gulf Stream 

 adjacent to our eastern coasts as a contribution to our knowledge of 

 this subject. This paper deals with medusae known to inhabit the sur- 

 face waters and those which have been ascribed to the depths of the 

 sea. The majority of the animals which are here mentioned and de- 

 scribed were collected by the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross 

 in the years 1883-'84. It would seem to be a most extraordinary ex- 

 ception if, after the floor of the ocean at great depths had been found to 

 be peopled with life, the fathoms on fathoms of water through which 

 the "sounding-lead" passes to reach those depths are destitute of in- 

 habitants. Although means of definitely knowing the character of the 

 free-swimming life were not at hand, it was certainly conjectured long ago 

 that the water at different depths must have its quota of life. At pres- 

 ent, if I have rightly read the accounts which have been published of 



* Tliis report is limited to medusai from north of the Straits of Florida. The Alba- 

 tross has made a large collection of medusa) iu the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea 

 which it is proposed to describe in a paper on the Hydrozoa of these localities. 

 [1] 927 



