176 Miscellaneous. 



On the Scientific Exploration of the Caspian Sea. 

 By M. Oscar Geimji. 



Dming the past year (1874) I have been able to investigate the 

 southern portion of the Caspian. I resided two months at Bakou, 

 and passed one month on board a steam-schooner which was placed 

 at my command by the Grand-Duke Michael Nicholajewitsch. I 

 then went from Bakou to Krassnowadsk, and from the latter point 

 to the eastern shore in the Balchanic gulf, in which the mouth of 

 the Oxus was formerly situated, by the island of Tseheleken. After- 

 wards I went south to Astrabad, thence to Euzili, to Lenkoran, and 

 again to Bakou. 



Everywhere I fished and dredged down to a depth of 150 fathoms, 

 which enabled me to procure a very considerable number of animals, 

 among which are six new species of fishes (a Gohius and 5 Bentho- 

 phili), twenty species of Mollusca (Hissoa dimidiata, Hydrohia caspia, 

 H. spica, H. stagnalis with two varieties, Eulima conus, Neritina 

 liturata, Lithof/h/phus caspius, Bythinia Eichwaldi, Planorhis Eich- 

 waldi, sp. n., Cardium edv.le and var. rusticum, O.caspium. Ccrassurn, 

 C. triyonoidcs, Adacna vitrea, A. edentula, A. plicata, A. Iceviuscula, 

 Dreissena polymorpha, D. caspia, D. rostrifonnis, and some other 

 terrestrial and fluviatile Mollusca), a Bryozoan {Boiverhanlcia densa, 

 Parre, in which the colonial nervous system may be admirably seen), 

 and about thirty-five species of Crustacea, among which we find the 

 family Gammaridse in particular represented by colossal forms and 

 Jdothea entomon in considerable quantities. Then there are twenty 

 species of worms (SabeUides octocirrata), numerous TurbeUaria, two 

 sponges {Reniera fiava, sp. n., or perhaps a variety of R. alba, 0. Schm., 

 and another Reniera in the larval state), and, lastly, thirteen Pro- 

 tozoa, among which are six new species. 



The most interesting gatherings were made at a depth of 108 

 fathoms, a level at which an enormous quantity of Crustacea and 

 Mollusca live. At least this is the case on the western shore, while 

 on the eastern, where the Arabo-Caspian steppe is continued beneath 

 the sea, there is scarcely any animal life in the sand. The same 

 poverty also occiirs in the bays of Astrabad and Enzili. The western 

 shore, on the contrary, with its high mountains and abundance of 

 animal life, is reflected, so to speak, in the waters, where we find a 

 depth of 517 fathoms with a comparatively rich fauna. To prove 

 this assertion I need only cite one fact — namely, that in one haul of 

 the dredge made at a depth of 108 fathoms, at 0° 12' west of Bakou, 

 in 39° 41' N. lat., I obtained about 350 specimens of Gammaridae 

 belonging to four or five species, 150 specimens of Idothea entomon, 

 50 My sides of colossal dimensions, 6 species of fish (determined by 

 Kessler as Gobins bathybiiis, Benthophilus leptocephalus, Grimmi, 

 artnatns, f/ranuJatrts, and ctenolepidus, quite new species), and, lastly, 

 a multitude of large specimens of Hydrobia caspia, Dreissena rostri- 

 formis, &c. It must be added that this did not constitute more than 

 about a fifth part of the animals brought up by the dredge. 



I have been able to study in the Caspian 120 species of animals, 



