CORRECTED CONCLUSIONS 15 



It is now apparent that Pearcey's examination of the Scotia material must have been 

 of a perfunctory nature. Adding to the 229 species and varieties listed in this report the 

 fifty-two species and varieties recorded by Pearcey which I did not find (see p. 5), and 

 allowing for the few cases in which our identifications may overlap as noted on p. 5, 

 we get a total of about 280 species and varieties within the convergence in the Weddell 

 Sea sector, as against 138 recorded by Pearcey. Quite a numerous and exhaustive faunal 

 list in itself, but taking into consideration that the minimum depth of the samples was 

 1 131 fathoms, fairly conclusive proof that if shallow-water collections were available for 

 examination, the faunal list from the Weddell Sea sector would probably equal the 500 

 or more species and varieties recorded from the Falkland sector of the Antarctic. 



The casual nature of Pearcey's work is best shown by the fact that this report includes 

 over 100 species described before the publication of Pearcey's report, and thirty-nine 

 which have been described by various authors since 19 14, in addition to the four new 

 species now erected. The thirty-nine species described since the publication of his report 

 include seven new genera, Reciirvoides, Ammomarginulina, Placopsilinella, Spiro- 

 locammina, Miliammina, Spiroplectammina and Delosina. 



It is particularly difficult to understand how Pearcey can have overlooked some of the 

 large forms such as Jacidella obhiso, Hormosina carpenteri, H. ovicula, H. lapidigera, 

 Haplophragmoides weddellensis, H. sphaeriloculus, Cyclammina orbicularis, and C. bradyi. 



Until shallow-water material from the sector becomes available it will be best to 

 reserve judgment as to the affinities of the Weddell Sea fauna. The present extended list 

 remains largely deep-water cosmopolitan, as might be expected from the great depth of 

 the material. But a few of the new species from the Falkland sector of the Antarctic are 

 found in the Weddell Sea, generally in small numbers, e.g. Thurammina protea (No. 36), 

 Hyperammina tubulosa (No. 41), Ammobacidites foliaceiis var. reairva (No. 80), Placop- 

 silinella aiirantiaca (No. 82), Trochammina inconspicua (No. 95), Spirolocammina tenuis 

 (No. 103), Spiroplectammina filiformis (No. 105), Textidaria tenuissima (No. 107), 

 Gaudryina deformis (No. 112), Delosina wiesneri (No. 114), Nodosaria raphanistrum var. 

 (No. 185). It is impossible at present to say whether these originated in the Falkland 

 sector and have invaded the Weddell Sea, or whether they have a circumpolar distribu- 

 tion. As regards some of them I regard the latter explanation as probable. 



The question of Pacific inffuence has been dealt with on p. 10. The present report 

 shows that there is a certain amount of such influence, distinctly traceable in a limited 

 area in the extreme south of the Weddell Sea, to which it appears to be almost con- 

 fined, but very limited as compared with that observed in the Falkland Sector. 



Any general conclusions on the conditions of life in the Weddell Sea can only be 

 tentative in view of the limited amount of material available and the large area involved. 

 But it would seem that while the continental shelf and the abyssal plain at its foot con- 

 tain a varied and extensive fauna, and the rate of deposition of the bottom deposits is 

 probably much the same as elsewhere — perhaps slower than usual owing to the removal 

 of diatoms and much fine matter by a northerly bottom current, the central Weddell 

 Sea is restricted in fauna, and deposits are accumulating but slowly. If we accept the 



