AMERICAN DREDGINGS IN THE CAKIBBEAN SEA. 
353 
Nothing of special interest came up in any of the casts made 
either with the trawl or dredge. Wound around the steel-wire 
rope on this line, however, we found a few pieces of the deep-sea 
Siphonophores (Rhizophysa), described lately by Studer in the 
“ Zeitschrift fur wissensch. Zoologie.” Subsequently we frequently 
found more or less complete specimens of these Siphonophores, 
generally entangled on the wire rope or attached to the trap of 
the trawl. Studer gives a long list of the depths from which 
they came up attached to the sounding line, but it is by no 
means certain that these Siphonophores belonged to the depths 
indicated by the wire. They may have become caught on the 
wire while it was reeling in at only a short distance from the 
surface.* The fact that Studer never succeeded in bringing up 
any of these species in the tow-net, even when lowered to a 
considerable depth, is as little conclusive, since, at any rate in 
the Caribbean Sea, their isolated parts and fragments are not 
uncommon floating on the surface. It is probable that they 
usually live at a certain depth below the surface, and some of 
them may, like Cassiopea, prefer to dwell near the bottom ; but 
until we possess a net so constructed as to give some sure indi- 
cation of the intermediate depths at which the animals living 
at various distances between the surface and bottom have been 
gathered in, it seems hazardous to define the bathymetrical 
range of a large number of pelagic animals, such as the Acalephs, 
Siphonopores, Heteropods, Pteropods, numerous Foraminifera, 
Radiolaria, and the like, the habits of which are scarcely 
known. 
In the case of fishes, when dredging in deep water at a 
moderate distance from the land, we ought not to take it for 
granted that they invariably live at the depth to which the 
trawl may have been lowered. The young of many of the 
deep-water fishes are undoubtedly pelagic, often till a late 
period of growth ; and thus many of the deep-water fishes 
have probably come to light, especially in the proximity of 
oceanic islands, or along coasts situated near deep water. We 
made three casts off the coast of Cuba between Nue vitas and 
Cape Maysi. In lat. 21° 2' N., long. 74° 44' W., off Cay de 
Moa, in 1,554 fathoms, we found a patch of green sand, made 
up of large Grlobigerinse, similar to that mentioned by Mr. 
Pourtales in his 66 Deep-Sea Corals.” 
We also obtained, in 994 fathoms, off Nuevitas, large blocks 
of genuine white chalk, composed mainly of Gflobigerinse and 
* In one case, dredging in 1,000 fathoms, numerous fragments of a Rhizo- 
physa came up after drawing in 100 fathoms of wire ! On another occasion, 
the same species came up after drawing in 300 fathoms, while dredging in 
i 500 fathoms. 
NEW SERIES, VOL. III. — NO. XII. A A 
