346 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
parts of the basin of the gulf, and it is only near shore or over comparatively shoal 
water that we have encountered it in any abundance (p. 345). 
Staurophora, like Cyanea, breeds on Georges Bank as well as in the coastal 
zone — witness the young medusa taken there by Mr. Douthart in April, 1913 (Bige- 
low, 1914a, p. 414), and the specimen of 40 millimeters mentioned above at station 
20127. Very likely it is commoner and more widespread there than the actual records 
suggest, its seasonal history in Massachusetts Bay suggesting that it may grow to 
maturity on Georges Bank and die there in the seasonal interval (late May to mid 
July) between the dates of our visits. Our failure to find it at all over the coastal 
bank west of Nova Scotia, including Browns Bank, may have been equally accidental. 
The preponderance of records for this medusa in the western side of the gulf, as 
contrasted with the eastern, evident on the chart (fig. 96), can not be explained away 
in this manner, however, but suggests that its chief center of abundance is in the zone 
between Cape Cod and Penobscot Bay. 
Vertical distribution . — The youngest medusae recognizable as Staurophora swarm 
on top of the water, as do the medium-sized specimens so often cast up on the beach, 
but although the large adults of midsummer occasionally rise to the top (most often 
at night and in regions of active vertical circulation— e. g., in the Grand Manan 
Channel) they are usually at least a meter or more below the immediate surface at 
this season, a fact that has been noted elsewhere (Bigelow, 1914, p. 124). On calm 
days they may often be seen from the ship’s side as deep down as the limit of visibility, 
but, on the other hand, we have no evidence that Staurophora ever descends to any 
considerable depth, most of the records being from hauls shallower than 100 meters. 
As our largest catches have been made at 40 meters or less it is probable that this is 
the lowest level of its common occurrence and that the occasional Staurophorse taken 
in the deep hauls have been picked up by the net on its way down or up through the 
water. 
I should emphasize that the status of Staurophora as a regular endemic inhabi- 
tant of the Gulf of Maine is thoroughly established; was, indeed, to all intents and 
purposes by Alexander Agassiz (1865) many years ago. Inasmuch as its geographic 
range when it is in the medusa stage covers the whole of the inner waters of the gulf 
from Massachusetts Bay to the Bay of Fundy, no doubt it breeds successfully all 
along the New England coast north of Cape Cod and perhaps farther west as well, 
for the medusae appear in most years both at Woods Hole (Hargitt, 1905a) and at 
Newport (Fewkes, 1888). 
It is certain that many Staurophora pass through their hydroid stage in water as 
shallow as that of Gloucester Harbor, where we found the very young medusae in 
great numbers in 1913 and 1920 (p. 43; Bigelow, 1914a, p. 407). In fact, it is probable 
that the majority of the stock live through their attached stage within 20 to 30 meters 
of the surface within a few miles of the coast line, as is the case in Massachusetts 
Bay. The wide distribution of Staurophora in the offshore parts of the gulf, however, 
and especially the fact that its medusae are set free on Georges Bank suggest that 
it may also pass through its development in considerably deeper water. How 
deep is not yet known. Probably Platts Bank, Cashes Ledge, and Jeffreys Ledge 
are also nurseries for it. 
