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8. The crinoids of the ^^Gazelle'^-Expedition. 



By Austin Hobart Clark. 



eingeg. 24. Februar 1909. 



Among the marine invertebrates brought back by the German 

 steamship »Gazelle« was a number of comatulids, taken on the west 

 and northwest coast of Australia, and on the opposite coast of Timor. 

 Although few in specimens and in species, this collection is one of more 

 than ordinary interest in that it gives us some idea of the faunal rela- 

 tions, in so far as the crinoids are concerned, of the unknown territory 

 along the shores of west Australia. From King George's Haven in 

 the southwest corner Commithus and Ptilometra. both tropical genera, 

 are known, C. trichoptera and P. macronema having been described 

 from there by Professor Johannes Müller over sixty years ago; and 

 it was, of course, to be supposed that the coast line between King 

 George's Sound and the Timor Sea would also prove to support a tro- 

 pical fauna, progressively more and more intense as one proceeded 

 northward, comparable to the conditions found on the east coast; but 

 the entire absence of data prevented any such assumption, for it was 

 quite possible that Comanthus axià Ptilometrahsià reached King George's 

 Sound by creeping down from the Arafura Sea, along the eastern and 

 southern coasts, and that the west coast either had no crinoids at all, 

 or was inhabited by peculiar local formes. We are now enabled to 

 state however , that the cririoid fauna of all the coasts of Australia is 

 purely tropical; the northwestern, northern, and northeastern coasts 

 exhibit the most intense faunal conditions, while to the southward, 

 both on the east and on the west coast, the fauna becomes progressi- 

 vely more and more attenuated, reaching its minimum intensity along 

 the southern shore, and not extending to Tasmania or New Zealand, 

 so far as known. 



The present collection was sent to the late Dr. Philip Herbert 

 Carpenter, the author of the magnificent »Challenger« reports upon 

 the crinoidea; he tentatively identified most of the specimens, but was 

 unable to complete a report upon it. After his death, the collection 

 was returned to Berlin. In the course of my studies on the récents cri- 

 noids, I came across references to the collection in the report by 

 Professor Th. S tu der on the zoology of the »Gazelle« expedition, and 

 it is due to his kindness, and to the courtesy of Drs. W. Weltner and 

 R. Hartmeyer of Berlin that an opportunity has been accorded me of 

 making some very interesting observations. 



