NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 
607 
water-glass these minute algae caused it to look as if filled with chopped hay. On the 
surface of the sea there were also an immense number of small spheres of gelatinous 
matter about the size of a pea, in which no structure could be observed ; probably the 
jelly masses of some Diatoms, in which were entangled Coccospheres, Rhabdospheres, 
Radiolarians, and the threads of . Trichodesmium. The tow-nets when hauled in were 
covered with a sticky substance resembling thin glue, due to the presence of these little 
globular masses. The tow-nets when sunk and dragged at a depth contained a much 
greater variety of organisms and less of the jelly-like matter and fewer Oscillatorise, so 
that very probably these last were confined chiefly to the immediate surface layers. 
Globigerinas, Pulvinulinas, Orbulinas, and Pullenias were very numerous in the deeper 
hauls ; some of the spines of the Globigerinas were very long and delicate, being eleven 
times the diameter of the shell in length. 
The trawling in 2150 fathoms (Station 198) yielded several fragments of volcanic 
rock ; some palm fruits, pieces of wood and bark, together with numerous animals 
among which were specimens of the rare deep-sea Fishes Ipnops murrayi (see p. 239) 
and Typhlonus nasus. There were several Starfish belonging to the families Brisingidse 
and Archasteridae, two families which are referred to as characteristic deep-sea forms in 
the following notes by Mr. W. Percy Sladen, F.L.S., who is at present engaged in the 
preparation of a Report on the Asteroidea collected during the Expedition : — 
The Asteroidea . — As the Starfishes are a group of animals universally distributed 
throughout the whole of the marine portion of the globe, and inhabit alike the shallow 
waters of the coast and the abyssal depths of the ocean, the collection made during such 
a cruise as that of the Challenger is necessarily a very large one. It is also, unquestion- 
ably, the most important addition which has ever been made to our knowledge of the 
group, both from a geographical and a zoological point of view. That such should be the 
case is not very surprising when it is borne in mind how little was previously known 
about deep-water Asterids, or even about those inhabiting very moderate depths, 
excepting only the limited areas of the Atlantic, north of the Equator, which have 
been systematically investigated by European and American naturalists .within the past 
twenty years. 
“ The Challenger has contributed to the previous lists of Asterid species upwards of 
one hundred and fifty forms new to science ; and twenty-eight new genera have been 
established. A few remarks upon the most interesting of these types and upon their 
habitats will in the meantime be acceptable to the naturalist. 
“ In all the great ocean depths below 1000 fathoms the characteristic forms are genera 
belonging to the Pterasteridse, Brisingidse, Archasteridse, and Porcellanasteridse ; a few 
genera referable to the Astropectinidse proper also occur ; and the Echinasteridse and 
Goniasteridae are still more feebly represented. 
(narr. chall. exp, ---vol. i. — 1885 .) 
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