14 G Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-1918 



Murdoch's specimens of Polyartemia hazeni all came from the vicinity of 

 Point Barrow, Alaska, and apparently these were the only ones Daday de 

 Dees had for basing his description and figures on. Through the kindness of 

 Prof. Paul Bartsch, of Washington, D.C., the Murdoch specimens of this species 

 now in the United States National Museum were sent for examination in 1920, 

 and as the collecting data in Murdoch's report are somewhat indefinite, I here 

 quote the specimen-labels: 2 specimens (male, female with eggs), cotypes, from 

 tundra-pools at Ooglaamie (Point Barrow), Alaska. July 24, 1882. J. Mur- 

 doch coll. 2 specimens (male, female with eggs), cotypes, from tundra-pools at 

 Cape Smyth (Point Barrow), Alaska. July 10, 1883. J. Murdoch coll. 3 

 specimens (one male, 2 females with eggs), from tundra pools at Cape Smyth 

 (Point Barrow), Alaska- July 16, 1883. J. Murdoch coll.i 



As to their habits Murdoch states, that "they swim swiftly and are very 

 hard to catch," but from my observations of a great many fairy-shrimps of 

 different species, including this one, this characteristic is only relative, depending 

 upon the season, age and sex. While the younger stages and the males, and 

 both sexes at the end of the season are fairly easy to catch, are the full grown 

 females in high summer very swift and agile and somewhat difficult to catch. 

 This holds good for all the fairy -shrimps I have observed. 



The farthest eastward this species (P. hazeni) has hitherto been observed 

 are represented by those collected by J. M. Jessup on the coastal tundra right 

 on the boundary line between Alaska and Yukon Territory (about lat. 69^° N., 

 long 141° W.). They have been recorded by Pearse (1913), and were collected 

 in a muskeg lake at lat. 69° 40' N., on July 25, 1912 (where they occurred 

 together with Branchinecta paludom) and in muskeg pools on flood plain of 

 Firth River (lat. 69° 20' N.) on June 23, 1912. The latter date is interesting 

 being so very early in the summer; but it must be recalled the locality is 

 about two degrees of latitude south of Point Barrow. 



There is little likelihood of this species occurring along the arctic coast east 

 of the Mackenzie delta, otherwise I think it would have been observed during 

 the Canadian Arctic Expedition, considering that a number of the two other 

 American Arctic Phyllopods {Lepidurus arcticus and Branchinecta paludosa) 

 were secured along that part of the coast. The new records of P hazeni from 

 Teller, Alaska, probably represent almost its southern limit, so that the species 

 must be termed a typical representative of the arctic fauna in Alaska, perhaps 

 very similar to the freshwater Amphipod Synurella johanseni (see Part E., 

 p. 21, in this volume). Daday (1910) has already called attention to this strictly 

 limited (high arctic) occurrence of P. hazeni, and opines that it will not be 

 found much south of the isotherm of 14° C, a proposition which the later records 

 towards the south and east have now, however, modified somewhat. But they 

 do support Daday 's opinion, that Polyartem. hazeni is the most typical American 

 Arctic Phyllopod known so far, replacing Polyartemia forcipata upon this contin- 

 ent, though its distribution seems to be far more limited than is the case with 

 P forcipata. 



1 The specimens examined and described by Ekman (1902) are in the zoological institution, Uppsala, 

 Sweden, and comprise six males and fourteen females. Only half of them are in a fair condition, and the 

 collecting data are only given as: "Point Barrow, Alaska. Internat. "Polar Expedition 1882-84. J. Mur- 

 doch." Except for the first branch of the male claspers being more in the shape of "accessory claspers" 

 these specimens agree with Ekman's description and figures. There are also two males and four females- 

 of this species, collected at Cape fmyth (Point Barrow), Alaska, in If 83, bj- thes-nme CNpedition, in British. 

 Museum of Natural History, London (Norman Collection). 



