12 KJELLMAN, THE ALG^ OF THE ARCTIC SEA. 



by Corallinacece. According to Kleen a species of Litliothamnion and Chorda jilum are 

 the commonest species in the inner sounds and in shallow water in the southern part 

 of the Norwegian Polar Sea on the coast of Nordlanden ^). Farther to the North, in 

 TrorasO amt and at Finmarken, I have found extensive spaces of the lower sublitoral 

 region cov6red with species of the genus Lithothamnion. Lithothamnion glaciate is abun- 

 dant at several places on the coast of Spitzbergen; at the mouth of Musselbay it covered 

 the bottom to the extent of 4 — 5 Engl, square miles, in the form of balls that had 

 a diameter of 15 — 20 cm. ^). Even on the west coast of Novaya Zemlya I have found 

 a vegetation of Lithothamnion glaciate, rich in individuals, growing in regions af con- 

 siderable extent. **) 



In the same manner a Corallinea, Lithophyllum arcticum, characterized the vegetation 

 of a large tract at Uddebay in the Kara Sea *). That Corallinacese occur in large masses 

 even at Baffin Bay on the west coast of Greenland, is proved by Rink's above-mentioned 

 description of the marine life on this coast. It is comparatively few and generally small- 

 sized species of algae, mostly Floridese, that thrive together with the Corallinacese ; but even 

 if they appear in greater numbers, as is sometimes the case, still it is the Corallinacese 

 that stamp the vegetation with its general character. The bush-shaped Lithothamnia 

 occur in very great numbers. In such places the dredges are often brought up over-full. 



Although the litoral vegetation of algae in the Norwegian Polar Sea may be cha- 

 racterized, as mentioned before, as a vegetation of Fucaceai, it should be remarked, 

 however, that it is not uniform in its composition along the whole reach of the coast. 

 Partly the elements of which it is composed are not the same everywhere, partly the 

 same species enter into it in a greater number at some places than at others, partly 

 and principally the number of the Fucacese in proportion to other species varies essen- 

 tially in different parts of the region in question. In the southern part of the Nor- 

 wegian Polar Sea, besides species of the genera Fucus, Pelvetia and Ozofhallia, Himan- 

 thalia lorea also takes part in constituting the formation of Fucace^; in the northern 

 part, on the coast of Finmarken, it is wanting; Fucus edentatus occurs at Nordlanden 

 in lesser numbers than on the coast of Finmarken, where it is, in wide tracts, the most 

 common of all the Fucacese. At certain places of the litoral region the vegetation is 

 distinctly marked by Fucacece, at others these are so much inferior to other algse, that 

 it may be questioned, whether such ranges should really be included within the for- 

 mation of Fucacese. Nowhere, at least not over any larger space, the Fucaceae are 

 found quite unmixed. Several other species grow upon them or on the rocks and 

 stones beside them, some of these even in large numbers, although they are never 

 able to influence essentially the general aspect of the vegetation. Amongst these the 

 following ought to be mentioned specially: Rhodomela lycopodioides, Polysiphonia fasti- 

 giata, Rhodymenia palmata, Delesseria alata, Ptilota elegans, Elachista fucicola, Spongo- 

 morpha arcta and Cladophora rupestris. Those portions of the litoral zone, where 



') Kleen, Nordl. Alg. p. 9. 



^) Cp. Kjellman, Spetsb. Thall. 1. p. 4. 



^) Cp. Kjellman, Algenv. Murm. Meer. p. 66. 



*) Cp. Kjellman, Kariska hafv, Algv. p. 10' — XI. 



