18 



KR. BONNEVIE. 



[REP. OF THE "MICHAEL SARS" NORTH 



the circumtropical zone (see Meisenheimer 1905). Omitting 

 all uncertain records in the literature, L. balea is known 

 from Greenland (Moller, M0RCH, Locard), North America 

 (Stimpson, Gould), the Norwegian coast (G. O. Sars), 

 and doubtfully from the North Sea and the coasts of 

 England and Ireland. In the southern hemisphere it has 

 been taken off Cape Horn (Eydoux and Souleyet, Munthe). 



Station 



1 



66 



69 



70 



80 



82 



Date 



Vi 



26 /e 



29 /e 



s % 



n/ 7 



ia/ 7 



_ N 

 Position ^ 



49° 27' 

 8° 36' 



39° 30' 

 49° 42' 



41° 39' 

 51° 4' 



42° 59' 

 51° 15' 



47° 34' 

 43° 11' 



48° 24' 

 36° 53' 



Depth in m. 



0— 50 



50—100 



100-250 



250—500 



swarm 



1100 

 10 



100 

 100 



300 



16 



400 



Fig. 17. 



a. Spiriale australe Eyd. & Soul. 1852, pi. 13, fig. 21. 



b. Heterofusus balea Gould. 1870, pi. 28, fig. 349. 



c. Spinalis balea G. O. Sars 1878, pi. 29, fig. 2. 



d. Limacina balea Munthe 1887, fig. 5. 



e. Spinalis Mc. Andrei Forb. & Hani. 1850. 



Like earlier authors (Boas, Munthe, Meisenheimer 

 etc.) I feel fully justified in uniting Spiriale australe 

 Eydoux & Souleyet with Limacina balea Meller (see 

 textfig. 17 a-c), the descriptions and figures of these two 

 species differing in no essential point from each other. 

 But I cannot agree with those authors who 

 identify Spirialis Mac Andrei Forbes and 

 Hanley, with this species. As will be seen from 

 textfig. 17 e (a copy of the original figure), 

 Spirialis Mac Andrei is much more slender 

 than Limacina balea, and in the original 

 description we find that the body-whorl is 

 "not equal in length to the spire"; such a 

 description would not fit even the most slender 

 individuals of L. balea. Spirialis Mac Andrei 

 looks more like Limacina bulimoides than any 

 other species of Limacina. 



Munthe (1887) has described and figured 

 under the name of L. balea some young shells, 

 which however seem to be very different from 

 the young stages of this form. As will be seen 

 from my textfig. 9 (pag. 13), the young stages 

 of L. balea do not differ essentially from the 

 older stages with regard to their shell-form. 



Geographical distribution. While/.. 

 retroversa seems to have a very wide distribu- 

 tion throughout the warmer waters of all 

 oceans L. balea belongs to the temperate 

 zones between the Arctic and Antarctic and 



Number of individuals of Limacina balea. 



During the "Michael Sars" expedition swarms of 

 L. balea were met with on the continental bank off Ireland 

 (St. 1), and also at several stations in the western part 

 of the Atlantic (see textfig. 18), partly at a more southern 

 latitude than might be expected of a species belonging 

 to the temperate zone (St. 66: 39° 30' N.). A consideration 

 of the hydrographical conditions (textfig. 19) proves 

 however that the occurrence of L. balea at this latitude 

 accords with our opinion that it is a northern species, for 

 a wedge of cold water was found just at the place (St. 66) 



Fig. 18. Distribution of Limacina balea in the North Atlantic. 

 For explanation see fig. 16. 



