Miscellaneous. 415 



as well as the yachts * Actif ' and ' Melita,' we have both of us 

 always examined with great care all those which chance brought 

 within our reach, and especially the Turtles. 



Two of these animals, Thcdassochelys caretta, L,, were captured in 

 1892 between Algeria and the Balearic Isles during the last scien- 

 tific voyage of the schooner ' Melita.' On July 7th, in lat. 37° 55' 

 N. and long. 0° 40' E., two turtles were descried. One was floating 

 on its back, beating the air with its feet ; the other was swimming 

 at considerable speed round its companion, and on the arrival of 

 the boat it dived and disappeared, while the latter allowed itself to 

 be taken without endeavouring to escape. 



The carapace of this turtle was fairlj^ clean, but a few Cirripedes 

 were attached to it, including specimens of Lepas Hilli, Leach, some 

 very young ConcJwderma virgatum, Speng., and a fine example of 

 Platyleixis bissea'Iohata, Blainv. A certain number of Amphipods 

 (sixteen Hj/ale Grimaldii, Chevreux, one Platoj-'hium clielonophilum, 

 Chevreux and de Guerne, and one Caprella acntifrons, Latr.) were 

 collected among the Lepas ; four specimens of 2\inais Cavolinii, 

 M. -Edwards, were ensconced in the interstices of the dorsal plates ; 

 and, lastly, three JS'autihgrapsus mhiKtKs, L., were attached to the 

 tail of the Chelonian, shielded by the posterior margin of the cara- 

 pace. 



The second turtle was captured in the same region on August 2nd, 

 in lat. ST"" 26' N. and long. 0° 50' E. Its carapace was plentifully 

 garnished with Cirripedes (of the same species as those above, in 

 larger numbers) and Alga3 {Pohjsiphonia serttdanoides, Grat., a 

 Mediterranean species common on the coast of Algeria. In the 

 Algae were found two hundred and fifty-nine specimens of Hyale 

 Grimaldii, one Plaiophium chelonopldlinn, and several hundred 

 Caprella acntifrons. Five Tanais Cavolinii were hidden between 

 the plates of the carapace and two Nautilograpsus minidus were 

 attached behind in the position already indicated. 



These crabs are adult specimens of large size ; on the first turtle 

 were found two males and an oviferous female, on the second one 

 male and an oviferous female. It will be noticed what is apparently 

 the constant position occupied by these Crustaceans upon Chelonians. 

 It is the only one where they are almost certainly protected from 

 the pursuit of the Thalassochelys, which devour them readily, just 

 as they free one another from the stalked Cirripedes attached to 

 their carapaces by eating them *. 



Hyale Grimaldii was recently described by one of us from two 

 male specimens collected upon a piece of wreckage among the Ulva 

 during the fourth expedition of the ' Hirondelle,' in lat. 42° 9' 24" 

 N., and long. 23" 33' W. It is the only species of the genus Hyale 

 which, so far as is known at present, can be considered as exclusively 

 pelagic. It is true that in the Azores Hyale camptonyx, Heller, 

 and H. Stehbingii, Chevreux, have been found by M. Th. Barrels 

 upon a beam covered with barnacles, which was stranded not long 

 since in the Bay of Ponta-Delgada. But these two species are 

 common on the shores of the Archipelago ; the former abounds in 



* G. Pouchet and J. de Gueme, " Sur I'alimentation des Tortues 

 marines,'' Comptes Rendus, April 12, 1886. 



