448 



DISTRIBUTION IN SPACE AND TIME 



very beautiful Corals and Sponges are found in the deep sea. 

 Some of the latter resemble elegant vases in shape, with walls 

 supported by glassy threads interwoven like lace (fig. 1301). 

 Others are moored in the soft deposits of the sea-floor by long 

 bundles of slender spicules of similar nature. 



PELAGIC ZONE— SURFACE LIFE 



It will here be convenient to consider separately animals which 

 are powerful swimmers (Nekton) and those which float or drift 



(Plankton). 



Pelagic Nekton. 

 — Among Mammals 

 we find that the 

 Pinnipede Carnivores 

 (see p. 436) spend 

 more or less of their 

 time in this zone, to 

 which they partly be- 

 long. More purely 

 pelagic, and alto- 

 gether independent of 

 the land, are Whales 

 and their allies 

 {Cetacea). There are 

 also Birds which are 

 pelagic, notably the 

 Albatross {Diomedea 

 cxiilans) and the 

 Tropic Birds {Pha- 

 ei/ioii): while the Sea-Snakes lyHydrophincr) of the Indian Ocean 

 and part of the Pacific belong here in the main. A number of 

 Fishes are chiefly met with in the open sea, among them being 

 the Blue Shark (Carcharias glaiiais) and the Rondeletian Shark 

 {Carcharodon Rondclctii). The Flying-Fish {Exoctrtiis volitans) 

 and its enemy the Bonito [Albicorc bonitd) are also pelagic, 

 and so is the remarkably-shaped Sun-Fish {Orthagorisciis mola, 

 fig. 1303). Many of the best swimmers among the Cuttle-Fishes 

 and Squids are also found at or near the surface of the sea, far 

 awav from land. 



Fig. 1303. — Sun-Fiili {Orthagorisctis tnola] 



