134 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 128 



Beautiful and luxuriant colonies of Barentsia gorbunovi Kluge 

 were dredged from depths of 120 to 477 feet. Colonies from 175 feet 

 on October 14, 1949, had colonies of Callopora spitzhergensis, C. 

 craticula, and Tricellaria erecta growing on them. An especially large 

 colony came from 477 feet. The colonies resemble miniature bushes 

 with white berries. 



Coriella stolonata Kluge was collected at depths of 120 and 295 

 feet. The colony is smaller and less complex than the above species. 



Phylum ANNELIDA 



Class CHAETOPODA 



Order POLYCHAETA 



The polychaetes comprise an important group of the Point Barrow 

 fauna. They were found in every zone from the gravel through the 

 mud to the rubble, both as inhabitants of the substratum and as 

 epi fauna, and occasionally as planktonic forms. At two dredging 

 stations, 477 and 741 feet, the hauls were made up largely of the 

 terebellid Pista maculata in long, sinuous, and entangled tubes. Cer- 

 tain species, such as Phyllodoce groenlandica and Autolytus fallax, 

 form an important source of food for other animals. 



From the collection of 3,324 specimens of polychaetes Dr. Mar- 

 ian H. Pettibone identified 88 species, comprising 26 families. In 

 this study she was able to reduce 49 species to synonymy, thus making 

 a material contribution toward straightening out some of the great 

 confusion into which the taxonomy of this group had fallen. One 

 new species was described (Pettibone, 1951), and the results of the 

 study of this group have recently been published (Pettibone, 1954). 

 Eighteen of the 88 species are mainly Arctic, 30 are Arctic-Boreal, 

 18 are Arctic-Boreal-Lusitanian, 21 are cosmopolitan or nearly so, 

 and I is bipolar. 



Many specimens of the polynoid Antinoe sarsi Kinberg were col- 

 lected but only four were dredged (from the mud zone). Another 

 was taken through the ice in a trap on April 11, 1950, at a depth of 

 37 feet. Specimens up to 68 mm. in length were taken. 



Like many polynoids, this species threw off its scales or elytra when 

 it was disturbed and consequently successful preservation of the ani- 

 mal presented a problem. Various methods and many different anes- 

 thetics and preservatives were tried. A mixture of 5 parts of absolute 

 alcohol to 95 parts of sea water, which is an effective and satisfactory 

 anesthetic for most polychaetes, was only an irritant to Antinoe sarsi. 



