NATURE 



485 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER iS, 1884 



THE ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS OF 

 H.M.S. "ALERT" 

 Report on the Zoological Collections made in the Indo- 

 Pacific Ocean during the Voyage of H.M.S. " Alert," 

 18S1-S2. (London r Printed by Order of the Trustees 

 of the British Museum, 18S4.) 



WE need only remind our readers that the Alert, 

 under the command of Capt. Sir George Nares, 

 and his successor, Capt. J. Maclear, made a voyage of 

 survey which lasted during the years 1878-82, that the 

 principal parts of the survey were carried on (1) in the 

 region of the southern extremity of the American con- 

 tinent ; (2) in that of the coasts of North-Eastern Australia 

 and Torres Straits ; and (3) among the groups of Oceanic 

 Islands in the Western Indian Ocean situated between 

 Madagascar and the Seychelles. Dr. Coppinger was the 

 surgeon on board, and it will be always to his credit that 

 while ever attentive to his official duties he succeeded in 

 making and sending home immense collections of marine 

 animals taken by him at the several stations. Those col- 

 lected off the South- Eastern American continent were 

 reported on in a series of papers published in the 

 Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1881, and 

 were presented to the British Museum. Those from 

 the two other regions were also deposited in the British 

 Museum and reported on by the officers of the Zoological 

 Department, but these reports were, both in their extent 

 and importance, far beyond the scope of any periodical 

 publication, and at the suggestion of Dr. Giinther, the 

 Keeper of the Zoological Department, the trustees have 

 published the full account in the form of a separate 

 volume. Irrespective of a number of specimens set aside 

 as duplicates, not less than 3700, referable to 1300 species, 

 were incorporated in the national collection, and of 

 these more than one-third were new a Iditions, if not to 

 science at any rate to the Museum. Well may Dr. 

 Giinther write that these " pages are by themselves a 

 lasting testimony to the great service rendered by Dr. 

 Coppinger to the National Museum and to the cause of 

 science." 



The exigencies of the service prevented any deep 

 dredgings, so that though many interesting discoveries 

 were made in the western parts of the Indian Ocean, the 

 depths of this region are still waiting to be explored. 

 The account of the collections made at Melanesia form 

 the first 482 pages of this volume. The Vertebrates are 

 reported on by Mr. Oldfield Thomas, Mr. R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, and Dr. Giinther. They call for no special 

 notice ; but Dr. Giinther takes the opportunity afforded 

 him by the examination of several well-preserved speci- 

 mens of Branchiostoma in Dr. Coppinger's collection to 

 give a revision of the known species. While at one 

 time inclined to agree with J. Miiller that there 

 were no specific differences between Brazilian and Euro- 

 pean specimens, and even considering specimens from 

 Indian and Australian localities to be referable to the 

 one species, Dr. Giinther has now convinced himself 

 that this view is incorrect, and that Sundevall was quite 

 Vol. xxx.— No. 777 



right in drawing attention to the number of myocommas 

 as an excellent taxonomic character. The number can 

 be ascertained even in specimens in an indifferent state 

 of preservation, and varies very little ; whilst the extent 

 in depth and length of the delicate fin which surrounds 

 the posterior part of the tail is a much less reliable cha- 

 racter, subject to much alteration by the spirit unless great 

 care is taken in the preservation of the specimens. The 

 species may be briefly enumerated as (1) B. elongatum, 

 Sund., Peru ; (2) B. bassanum, G., Bass Straits ; (3) B. 

 belcheri, Gray, Borneo and Torres Straits ; (4) B. cari- 

 beciim, Sund., Rio de Janeiro ; (5) B. lanceolatum, Pallas, 

 Europe, Atlantic coast of North America ; and (6) B. 

 cultellum, Peters, Moreton Bay and Thursday Island. 

 A species of this genus is common on the sandy shores 

 of Mahe", one of the Seychelles, but does not appear to 

 have been dredged by Dr. Coppinger. 



Mr. Edgar Smith's Report on the Mollusca forms quite 

 a monograph of this group as found in North and North- 

 Eastern Australia : many new species are described, and 

 most of them are figured. The Echinoderms are de- 

 scribed by F. Jeffrey Bell. " Though there are no new 

 Echinoidea, there are some very precious series of some 

 species, Maretia plamilata being notably well repre- 

 sented " : 22 species are catalogued. Thirty-one species 

 of Asteroidea are enumerated, 4 being new ; and 26 spe- 

 cies of Ophiuroidea, four of which are new, and a new 

 genus, Ophiopinax, is established for Pectinura stellata 

 of Lyman. Of the Holothuroidea 19 species are men- 

 tioned, and 6 arc described as new, and figured. As to 

 the Crinoidea, tho author acknowledges the help he re- 

 ceived from P. H. Carpenter, and details 27 or 28 species. 

 " The proportion of undescribed to described species is 

 no doubt appalling." Of 15 species of Antedon, 12 are 

 described as new ; and of 12 species of Actinometra, 4 

 are described as new, and 2 are recorded for the first time 

 on the manuscript names of Herbert Carpenter, to be 

 more particularly described in his forthcoming Report 

 on the Comatula; of the Challenger. 



The Crustacea, reported on by Mr. E. J. Miers, chiefly col- 

 lected "on the north-western, northern, and north-eastern 

 coasts of Australia, are very numerous, and are interesting 

 not only on account of the large number of new or rare 

 species obtained, but also on account of the careful man- 

 ner in which, in nearly every instance, the nature of the 

 sea-bottom and the depth of water, &c, were recorded;" 

 203 species are enumerated, and 45 are described for the 

 first time. The depths seem to have been from off shore 

 to 30 fathoms. Eighteen plates of figures accompany this 

 part of the Catalogue. 



The collections of Alcyonaria and Sponges made by 

 Dr. Coppinger are described by Mr. Stuart O. Ridley, 

 whose reports are very welcome additions to our knowledge 

 of these forms. Although not containing deep-sea forms, 

 these collections give a good general insight into the 

 character of the fauna of the shallow waters of the north 

 east and north-western coasts of Australia. The almos 

 absence of forms of Pennatulidas — only 2 species are re 

 corded, one very young, and the other very imperfect — is 

 hardly to be accounted for by the fact that no greater 

 depth than 36 fathoms was reached with the dredge, as the 

 Pennatulids are by no means exclusively deep-sea forms. 

 Of the fixed forms 36 species are referred to, of which 1 2 



