B66 



EAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. [Ch. XXI. 



Albicore swimming near made a sudden dash apparently at a 

 Physalia, but did not take it ; returning, however, presently 

 to the charge, it made a clean sweep, no trace of the Phy- 

 saUa being left. Doubtless it was the small fishes which 

 accompanied it, rather than the Physalia itself, which stimu- 

 lated the Albicore's attack. 



In lat. 24° N. and long. 36J° W., we encountered the 

 Sargasso sea, and with it that crowd of animals which feed 

 upon those floating pastin-es. The Sargasso weed made its 

 appearance in large patches, usually upon the surface, but 

 sometimes, apparently sunk to some distance below it. It 

 varied considerably in appearance — was sometimes dark- 

 coloured, dense, and compact, and covered with berries — at 

 others pale and lanky, and with few berries. The masses 

 were round and shapely, and usually scattered somewhat in- 

 discriminately over the surface, but occasionally a long streak 

 of collected bunches extended as far as the eye could reach, 

 in the direction of the wind. By hooking up masses of this 

 weed many curious animals were obtained, of which per- 

 haps the most abundant were small crabs (Planes linseana), 

 many specimens being found upon each tuft of Sargasso ; 

 next to them in abundance was Scylleea pelagica, an oceanic 

 nudibranch of very peculiar form, of which usually there 

 were several on each tuft of weed. Its general colour is 

 a lightish brown, and its long narrow foot is well adapted 

 for crawling along the stems of the Sargasso ; and from its 

 back rise two pairs of broad, somewhat rectangular pro- 

 cesses, while a pair of large rounded ones spring from the 

 head. When these animals were placed in a glass of sea 

 water they immediately turned over by the weight of these 

 processes, and sank to the bottom, having a most grotesque 

 appearance — ^the two pairs of body processes looking like 



