The Crustacean Life of some Arctic Lagoons, 

 Lakes and Ponds 



By FRITS JOHANSEN 

 (Illustrated by seven plates.) 



In this report some information is given about the bodies of fresh or 

 brackish water examined during the period of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 

 principally in connection with their crustacean fauna (Amphipoda, Euphyl- 

 lopoda, Cladocera, Copepoda and Ostracoda) treated in Parts E, G, H, I, J, in 

 Volume VII. 



I. Teller, Alaska. 



The bodies of freshwater examined here were the large lake next to 

 the town, a brackish pond between it and Port Clarence, various ponds on 

 the higher tundra nearby, and a shallow artificial ditch just back of the 

 now almost deserted town. The time I spent here was about a fortnight in 

 the end of July and the beginning of August, 1913, at which time these bodies 

 of water contained considerably less water than earlier in the season. Half a 

 century or more ago 1 the large lake in question was a larger lagoon, with' 

 an outlet to Port Clarence, and at high tide in connection with Grantley 

 harbour. In the course of time, however, sand and gravel filled in the outlet 

 and the tidal zone at both ends, and by evaporation the lagoon became 

 a more limited lake, still, however, retaining in its deeper water layers and in 

 the organisms (diatoms, etc.) inhabiting it, traces of its marine origin. The 

 Grantley harbour side is now represented by a swamp and gravelly or sandy 

 tundra plains, the Port Clarence side by a considerably higher gravel ridge 

 with sand-dune and tundra vegetation, merging into the present beach on one 

 side, and on the other into the tundra swamp surrounding the lake. In this 

 tundra swamp are situated a couple of ponds or deep waterholes, and the 

 brackish pond examined is one of these. On two sides the large lake is surrounded 

 by higher tundra falling off in " bluffs" to the lake itself or to the gravel and 

 sandy mud along its margin. The depth of the lake is unknown, but from my 

 observations I believe it does not exceed 3 fathoms and is probably nearer two. 

 A rich vegetation of Carex, Eriophorum, Hippuris, mosses, etc., grows along the 

 sides and out into the lake, and at such places the shallow water with its sandy 

 mud or gravel bottom occupies a large part of the lake. 



The examination of the plankton and bottom sample secured in this lake 

 indicates that the deeper part of it, say below one fathom, is probably brackish 

 arrd contains marine organisms, though the surface-water seemed quite fresh. 

 The conditions in this lake are probably very similar to those of the one at 

 Bernard harbour (see p. 1GN), though both its elevation and depth are probably 

 less; the distance from the beach is also less (about 300 feet). In addition to 

 a number of insects, larvae, etc., Lepidurus arcticus and other Entomostraca 

 were secured in the marginal water of this lake. 



The deepest of the ponds situated in the tundra swamp mentioned above 

 was judged to be about one fathom deep, and it contained practically no shallow, 

 marginal water, but an exceedingly rich vegetation of submerged Myriophyllum, 

 etc., all around and in it. Its water was distinctly brackish to the taste, and 



1 See Plate IV., Commander Trollope's chart of 1854; Beechey's narrative, Part II., pp. 531-60, etc. 



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