222 



THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGEE. 



XVII. The Auctic Region. 



The coasts of Greenland, Spitzbergen, and the seas within the Arctic circle, so far as 

 they have been explored, constitute this region. 



Cirroteuthis mUlleri. 

 Octopus arcticus ^ (also A. I. II.). 

 Sepiola atlantica (also I.). 

 Rossia macrosoma^ (also I. V.). 



Rossia 2Jalp>ebrosa. 



,, glaucopis (also I.). 



,, molleri. 

 Gonatiis fabricii (also A. C. II. V.). 



Taonius hyperhoreus (also A, II.). 



The general statements above made may be tested by reference to these statistical 

 tables. 



The species enumerated in the Oceanic lists are distributed thus :— 



66 species are recorded from only one Oceanic area. 

 15 „ „ two Oceanic areas. 



3 ., „ three ,, 



These numbers show that about 75 per cent, of the oceanic forms are confined to one 

 ocean, and that cosmopolitan forms must be regarded as exceptional. 



The species enumerated in the seventeen Littoral lists may be arranged thus : — 



199 species are recorded from only one Littoral area. 

 27 ,, ,, two Littoral areas. 



12 

 4 

 1 



three 



four 



five 



six 



ten 



About 80 per cent, therefore of these forms are confined to one region, a striking 

 confirmation of the proposition made on p. 211. 



Thirty-five species are recorded from both Oceanic and Littoral regions, but the 

 majority of these are typically pelagic, and hence their occurrence in the latter areas must 

 be regarded as accidental ; furthermore it will be seen that almost without exception the 

 littoral regions where a species has been found are those bordering upon its proper ocean, 

 which is precisely what would have been expected. 



1 Recorded by Dewhurst as Sepia grSenlandica (Nat. Hist. Cetacea, p. 263, London, 1834), and by M0Uer as 

 Octopus gmnulatus (Ind. MoU. groenl., p. 3). Most of the species enumerated above occm' in Morch's list in Rink, 

 Danish Greenland, p. 440, London, 1877. 



* This is more likely to be Rossia oweni. 



