67 
(a. o. Eudiocrinus) being the more prominent forms. In the vicinity 
here, as also in various places at Little Kei, a very large, folded 
Orbitolites, up to 4—5 cm in diameter, was very numerous and 
formed a very conspicuous part of the material in the dredge. 
Another very rich dredging ground was found close by Toeal, the 
main town of the islands. The large, conspicuously coloured Cu- 
cumaria tricolor, large, nearly white Asthenosoma’s, Åstropyga radiata 
and various Comatulids formed here the main part of the contents 
of the trawl, while numerous small and inconspicuous forms (e. g. 
Fibularia, Pleurechinus), attractive to the specialist only, were to be 
found in the sifted bottom material. 
Merton^) describes the beautiful “coral gardens” in the vicinity 
of Toeal, consisting mainly of a great variety of Alcyonarians. I shall 
not enter here on a description of this truly fascinating animal com- 
munity, but would rather call attention to another localily, viz.Vatek, 
opposite Toeal. The steep rock wall here, which goes perpendicu- 
larly down some 5—10 Meters, extends for about a kilometer or 
more along a very narrow sound, in which the flow of the tide 
produces a strong current, which sweeps along the rock wall, thus 
affording unusually favourable conditions for numerous animal forms. 
The wall is covered from between high and low water mark at least as 
far down as the eye can penetrate by means of a water glass by 
a luxuriant growth of Hydroids, Gorgonians, Antipatharians, Sponges, 
Mollusks, Synascidians, Bryozoans, among which abound Comatulids, 
Synaptids, Annelids, Euryalids — in faet, this is one of the richest 
localities 1 ever met with. Especially the Hydroids (mainly Ågla- 
ophenia cupressina) are luxuriantly developed, hanging in long, dense, 
graceful tufts from the rock, recalling tufts of grass, or rather ferns, 
overhanging rock precipices. These Hydroids, upon the whole, form 
a very prominent feature in the shallow water fauna, and are espec¬ 
ially found attached to the large, leathery tubes of Eunicid worms, 
which rise some decimeters above the bottom, but go so deep down 
in the bottom that the divers never succeeded in getting any of 
them up complete. Another feature very characteristic of the shal- 
lower waters at the Kei Islands is the astonishing richness in Syn- 
h Hugo Merton. Forschungsreise in den Sudostlichen Molukken (Aru- 
und Kei-Inseln. Abh. Senckenb. Naturf. Gesellsch. Bd. 33. 1910. 
5* 
