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BIGELOW: OCEANOGRAPHY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 403 
PLANKTON NOTES. 
The following general notes on the plankton may be of value, 
pending the appearance of the special reports on the more important 
groups of pelagic organisms collected during the winter. 
The plankton which occupied the waters of Massachusetts Bay and 
the coast region between Cape Ann and Cape Elizabeth in August, 
1912, consisted chiefly of copepods (Loc. cit., p. 98), the most abundant 
species at the offshore stations being Calanus finmarchicus, with 
smaller numbers of Pseudocalanus elongatus, Centropages typicus, and 
Metridia lucens; Anomalocera patersoni, so conspicuous by its brilliant 
blue color, was often common on the surface, while the large boreal 
copepod Huchaeta norvegica occurred sparingly, though more or less 
regularly, in the hauls from intermediate depths. In addition to 
these copepods, the amphipod Euthemisio compressa, the schizopod 
 Meganyctiphanes norvegica, the chaetognath Sagitta elegans, and the 
coelenterates Staurophora mertensi, Aurelia, Cyanea, Plewrobrachia y- 
leus, Bolinopsis infundibulum, and Beroe, were regularly represented 
in the hauls. Other characteristic forms, less often taken, were the 
pteropods Clone limacina and Limacina balea; Tomopteris helgo- 
landica, and Sagitta serratodentata. Quantitatively the macroplankton 
was very rich, the microplankton, on the other hand, was decidedly 
scanty, consisting chiefly of the peridinian, Ceratiwm tripos, with 
copepod eggs and nauplii, and very few diatoms. 
When we resumed work at the end of November, the macroplankton 
was very much the same qualitatively as it had been in summer, Ca- 
lanus finmarchicus being much the most numerous organism, with a few 
other copepods, e. g., Metridia lucens, Centropages typcus, and Pseudo- 
calanus elongatus, and notably Euchaeta norvegica (10-0 fathoms.) 
But Anomalocera, so numerous off Cape Ann in August, was noticeably 
absent, nor did we meet it at any time during the winter or early 
spring. Next in numerical importance were the chaetognaths, rep- 
resented chiefly by Sagitta elegans, with a few S. serratodentata, the 
relative quantity in the haul with the 4 ft. net being copepods, 75 cc., 
Sagittae 15 cc. Considerable numbers of the amphipod Euthemisto 
compressa, a few pteropods, Limacina balea, many Pleurobrachia 
’ pileus, and fragments of Beroe, with a few crab and other de- 
capod larvae were likewise found in the tow. The haul with the no. 
20 silk net at the surface revealed a very scanty microplankton of 
much the same type as in summer, chiefly Ceratium tripos, with an 
