MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT PORT ERIN. 57 



Figure 15 shows the large " Nansen " tow-net used in 

 this work, and the three collecting jars to the right show very 

 large hauls of Copepod zoo-plankton, consisting almost wholly 

 of Calanus finmarchicus, and amounting to 1,700 c.c, 1,000 c.c. 

 and 900 c.c. respectively. The largest of these hauls has been 

 calculated to contain at least half-a-million individuals. 



The Sea-Pens. 



Amongst the bottom-living animals dredged from the 

 " Runa " this year were all the three British Pennatulida or 

 " Sea-pens " — viz., Pennatula phosphorea, Virgularia mirabilis 

 and Funiculina quadrangularis, and this gave us the opportunity 

 of watching the phosphorescence of the first and last of these, 

 which are certainly amongst the most brilliantly luminous of 

 marine animals. 



We dredged Funiculina quadrangularis (fig. 16) in quantity 

 in the Firth of Lorn, and then a couple of weeks later we 

 found both Funiculina and Pennatula in the entrance to Loch 

 Sunart, opposite Tobermory. As a result the following 

 letter was sent to " Nature "* : — 



" Professor Newstead and I have had two of the few 

 British Pennatulida — Pennatula phosphorea and Funiculina 

 quadrangularis — ' phosphorescing ' to-day before our eyes, so 

 it may be worth recording the impressions while they are fresh. 

 Pennatula phosphorea, as its name indicates, has long been 

 known to emit light, and, writing from memory, I think 

 Sir Wyville Thomson, in his ' Depths of the Sea,' refers to the 

 ' lilac phosphorescence of Pavonaria ' ( = Funiculina) . Professor 

 Newstead and I have just seen the colour and distribution of 

 the light very clearly in a makeshift dark room (the lazarette of 

 the yacht), and also on the deck at midnight. In Funiculina 

 the distribution of the luminosity is very curious and quite 

 different from that of Pennatula. There are many distinct 

 * Natureiov August 7th, 1913, p. 582 " Phosphorescence of Pennatulida." 



