No. 401.] MARINE BIOLOGY AT BEAUFORT. 341 
urans crawl about over the shells, and burrowing shrimps bury 
themselves in the mud beneath and between them. 
Passing from the shoals into the deeper water of the harbor 
channels, the bottom is found in places to be sandy, elsewhere 
muddy or covered with a shelly detritus. In many places one 
may collect with a long-handled scraping net, working from a 
skiff or sailboat. But for any extensive bottom collecting the 
dredge and trawl, with a steam launch, are necessary. Sponges, 
sea feathers and fans, the beautiful Renilla, Astrangia and 
rarely other corals, starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, bottom- 
loving shrimps, crabs, mollusks are thus taken. 
The sea bottom outside the inlet, within five or six miles off 
the coast, has been pretty well explored with dredge and trawl. 
Near shore, in many places, the bottom is a sticky mud, cov- 
ered with sand dollars and with abundant medusz (Chiropsal- 
mus). A sandy bottom is more common. The slope is gradual, 
the depth at five miles from the beach line being, in general, 
eight to nine fathoms. Many forms which are commonly seen 
on the beach, cast up after a storm, grow in abundance in lo- 
calities within the five-mile limit. Certain crabs (Persephona, 
Hepatus) and starfish (Astropecten, Luidia) may especially be 
mentioned as conspicuous examples. The beach collecting 
after a southerly blow is often good. Quantities of anemones 
(Paractis), holothurians, compound ascidians, spongon; and 
stranded jellyfish are to be had. 
The wharf piles at Morehead City (railroad terminus) and 
Beaufort, and the stone jetties on each side of the inlet de- 
serve to be mentioned. They are among the best collecting 
places for attached forms — algæ, hydroids, sponges, polyzoa, 
anemones. Beaufort is a capital place for the study of pelagic 
types. A strong tide sets into the harbor, bringing a great 
variety of hydromedusæ, Entomostraca, pelagic worms, and a 
wealth of larval forms. Certain interesting Protozoa (Acantho- 
metra, Noctiluca) are very abundant. The proximity of the 
gulf stream (the roo-fathom line, which marks the western 
bank of the stream,! is some fifty miles distant) frequently 
leads to the presence in the harbor of many forms character- 
1 Agassiz. Three Cruises of the * Blake,” vol. i, p. 257- 
