240 



NOTES ON ASAPPHIRINAANDA SALPA CAUGHT 



OPF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



By John McCance, E.E.A.S. 



[_Ee'xd August llth, 1884.] 



In offering the following notes to the Eoyal Society of 

 Tasmania, I must apologise for the paucity of original obser- 

 vation which will be apparent, and plead as my excuse my 

 hope that they may arouse a little interest in the less con- 

 spicuous forms of oceanic life, of which I believe the seas 

 round Tasmania contain a number of interesting species. 



"When I captured these animals I was a passenger on 

 board the ship Invercargill, Captain John Muir, then on a 

 vovage from London to Port Chalmers, N.Z. At noon on 

 January 26, 1883, the ship's position was 40° 38' S., and 17° 

 30' E.3 and from the following day's run and position, I calcu- 

 late we were in 40° 40' S., and 17° 35' E., at the time when I 

 obtained these specimens. The day was dull, but not cold, 

 and the temperature of the sea, as taken by the mate, was 

 higher than on preceding days. Unfortunately, I did not 

 make a note of the exact temperature, but I imagine we were 

 passing through one of those patches of warmer water which 

 have been remarked to the southward of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Nothing unusual was noticed in the appearance of 

 the sea, which was calm, until the afternoon, when the water 

 was filled with brilliant blue stars, floating past the ship in 

 great numbers. With a small canvas bag I succeeded in 

 fishino" up several of the blue stars, which were a species of 

 Sapphirina, and two or three other animals, non-luminous, 

 one of which was a Salpa democratica. 1 kept them in a glass 

 of sea water till the 29th, when an unfortunate accident killed 

 them, and having only a small magnifying glass, I was pre- 

 vented from making a full examination of all. I preserved 

 the sketches I was able to make, and through the kindness of 

 Mr. Morton, of the Eoyal Society's Museum, I lately re- 

 ceived from Mr. Haswell, of Sydney, information as to the 

 species and construction of the animals depicted. 



The two small crustaceans correspond so closely with the 

 descriptions and drawings of the male and female of Sapphi- 

 rina gemma, as given by J. D. Dana (" Crustacea," Part II., 

 pp. 1252-3 ; Atlas, Plate 88, figs. 1 and 2), that I am very con- 

 fident that they are individuals of that species. Dana's speci- 

 mens were caught on the Agulhas Bank, South of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, in 1842, April 11 and 12, and he notes that a 

 Sapphirina of probably the same species was caught 12 miles 

 N.E. of New Zealand' He specially notes the brilliant blue 

 reflections of the male, the water on the Agulhas 

 Bank being spangled with them for several hours. 

 The male is about i^ of an inch long, and ^^ of 



