CHAPTER XXI 



OF THE ZOOPHYTES, SPONGES, AND CERTAIN OTHER MARINE 

 INVERTEBRATES COLLECTED BY THE INVESTIGATOR " 

 IN THE DEEP SEA 



Many kinds of Zoophytes grow in the depths of the 

 sea, and not a few have been dredged up by the 

 Investigator, though often at the expense of much 

 dredging-gear, for these beautiful flowers of the sea 

 flourish most on rocky ground where the trawl is apt 

 to foul and get broken. There is plenty of such 

 ground off the west coast of the Andamans, and off 

 the south and east coasts of Ceylon, and also in the 

 neighbourhood of the Laccadives, and in these differ- 

 ent regions many species of Alcyonacea have been 

 collected. At one spot, not far from Trincomalee, 

 M'Ardle found abundance of a beautiful pink coral 

 which appears to be identical with the precious coral 

 of the Mediterranean. 



In the open plain of the Bay of Bengal, sea- 

 anemones and sea-tassels ( UmbellMla) have been dredged 

 in the greatest depths (1803-1997 fathoms), at which 

 the trawl has been worked. 



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