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HISTORY

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AND OTHER ANIMALS OF THE CLASS ECHINODERMATA.

BY

PROFESSOR EDWARD FORBES, F.RS., F.G.S.

and numerous pictorial or anatomical tail-pieces. 8vo, 15s.;
arge paper, 30s. 3

_ “A charming work, the offspring of a man of genius—a publication
which promises to unfold to us a great deal of instructive natural history,
a fit companion in every respect for Bell's British Quadrupeds, and
ritish Reptiles, and Yarrell’s British Birds and British Fishes.”— Literary
azette.

a JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW.

A HISTORY

- BRITISH MOLLUSCA ~

AND THEIR SHELLS.

By PROFESSOR EV. FORBES, F.RS., src, AND
SYLVANUS HANLEY, B.A., F.LS. |

Illustrated by a figure of each know
shells. Engraved on 203 copper plates. Four vols. 8vo. —

él. 10s. Royal 8vo., with the plates coloured, 13/,

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JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW.

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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF EUROPE.

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THE EUROPEAN SEAS, -

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PROF. EDW° FORBES, E.RBS.,

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JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLIX.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,
ANGEL COURT, SKINNER STREET.

CH AP.

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CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY . ‘ ;
ArotTic PROVINCE : ; ; ’

BoREAL PROVINCE. . , ‘

. Cettic PROVINCE F : :

. LUSITANIAN PROVINCE , ;

MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE ; ;

. Tae Buack SEA :

THe CASPIAN SEA. p : :

On THE DISTRIBUTION oF MARINE ANIMALS

. EARLY History OF THE EUROPEAN SEAs .

CONCLUSION, AND EXPLANATION OF THE MAP

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BPR Es C Ee

THis volume requires a few words of explanation
and apology. It is now some years since its
Publisher proposed to issue a series of volumes on
the “Outlines of the Natural History of Europe.”
Prof. Henfrey undertook the subject of “The Vege-
tation of Europe,” Prof. Ed. Forbes that of “The
Natural History of the European Seas,” and he
proposed to me that I should write the “ Geological
History of the European Area.”

Prof. Henfrey’s volume appeared in 1852, and it
was then announced that the second volume of the
series would be by Prof. Ed. Forbes, and would ap-
pear in 1853. The volume, however, did not make
its appearance, nor (by those who were acquainted

al PREFACE.

with the Author) could it be reasonably expected ;
at that time much work and many engagements
pressed heavily on him. Apart from this, his own
special studies, as well as the researches of others,
particularly those of his friend Mr. M‘Andrew,
caused him, I think, to wish for a little delay
before he committed himself to any general views
as to the History of European Marine Fauna as a
whole.

In 1854 Ed. Forbes was elected to the Natural
History Chair at Edinburgh, and it was his intention
to have finished this work in the course of that
winter, so that it should appear in 1855. But it
was not to be so; and that active life, which in
the last few years had accomplished so much,
which was then proposing so much for the future,
and of which the past was the ample pledge how
productive the succeeding years would have been
made, was brought to its too sudden close.

It was some time after this event that I received

a portion of the present volume—as far as page
102, this had been corrected and printed off; the
latest portion of the Manuscript which the Author
had forwarded, had been set up in type, but not
corrected, and has served to bring down Prof. Ed.
Forbes’ portion as far as to page 126.

It had been my friend's last wish, founded on

PREFACE. Vil

too partial an estimate, that I should take charge of
such works as he was then engaged on. It was in
this way that I edited the “ Memoir on the Tertiary
Fluvio-Marine Formation of the Isle of Wight.”
When, somewhat later, it was proposed that I
should undertake the continuation of the “ Natural
History of the European Seas,” I shrank from the
difficulty of the task; but I saw that the com-
pleted portion of ‘the work was too slight to be
issued by itself, and I was unable to find anything
by the author which could be added, and it was
solely to promote the publication of what compe-
tent judges assured me ought not to be withheld,
that I undertook to carry out, to the best of my
ability, the plan of the author, as that may be
gathered from page 16, and some other passages.
For a continuation to be successful, the graft
must be better than the original stock. The sub-
ject of the present volume partakes, necessarily, of
the nature of an enumeration, and it was not an
encouraging task to carry on my friend’s facile style
of natural history narrative. Again, though he
repeatedly admits that the present is insepa-
rably connected with the past, yet in reviewing
my portion of this joint volume, I feel that I may
be charged with having treated the subject too
often from a geological stand-point, and that my

vill

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of.

THE NATURAL HISTORY

OF THE

KUROPEAN SEAS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

Every one knows that the same animals and
plants are not found everywhere on the surface
of the land, but that they are distributed so as
to be gathered together in distinct zoological and
botanical provinces, of greater or less extent, ac-
cording to their degree of limitation by physical
conditions, whether features of the earth’s outline
or climate. Hach province is not so entirely dis-
tinct from its neighbours as to be exclusively in-
habited by creatures peculiar to itself, but shares
more or less in the population of those regions
which impinge upon its boundaries; so that the
line between these zoological and botanical king-
doms, or rather republics, is not sharp and defined,

like that which marks the limits of political states,

B

2 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

but is softened off and melted, as it were, into the
margins of the neighbouring territories; nor, in
most cases, is it easy or possible to say where the
one terminates and the next begins. In this respect
we are reminded of the divisions or classes of ani-
mated beings which are not sharply defined sections,
but battalions of similar creatures arrayed around
distinct types or banners, yet with many irregular
troops on the skirts of each, wearing no sufficiently
marked uniform, but so attired as now to be
claimed by the one, now by the other army.

In this age of volumes, a man had needs offer
a good excuse before adding a new book, even
though it be a small one, to the heap already ac-
cumulated. He should either have something fresh
to say, or be able to tell that which is old in a new
and pleasanter way. Naturalists and others, whose
vocation is the prosecution of science, have an easier
task in this respect than their literary brethren.
Our volumes may be, and often, from the very
nature of their themes, are, comparatively dry and
heavy. Yet the adding an ear, or even a grain of
wheat to the great granary of human knowledge,
whence the brains of future generations are to be
nourished, is some small service to the good cause
of enlightenment ; although we may fold it in un-
necessarily many sheets of paper, esteeming it pos-
sibly over much because we ourselves have gathered
it. How much of the following pages is good grain,
and how much husk, it is not for me to judge ; but

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 3

having, when pursuing researches in various parts
of the European seas, found the want of some book
capable of affording a general view of their natural
history, and after a fair amount of personal expe-
rience in their exploration, still feeling that the same
want must perplex and impede the researches of
those who are beginning similar inquiries, I venture
on an attempt to fill the blank, with a fair con-
science and unabashed. Moreover it is becoming
that Britons, whether scientific or unscientific, who
boast at all fitting occasions of their aptitude to
rule the waves, should know something of the popu-
lation of their saline empire, especially of those
parts of it immediately in contact with their terres-
trial domain, and the coasts of the Continent to
which our United Kingdom appertains. In the fol-
lowing chapters I have endeavoured to lay before
my readers, in plain discourse, and with as few
technicalities as possible, the leading features of the
several regions of the European seas, to show how
they are connected, and how they differ, and to
attempt to explain the causes of their peculiarities.
“T do not pretend,” wrote Robert Boyle, “to have
visited the bottom of the sea; but since none of the
naturalists whose writings I have yet met with,
have been there any more than I; and it is a great
rarity in those cold parts of Kurope to meet with
any men at all that have had at once the boldness,
the occasion, the opportunity, and the skill to pene-
trate into those concealed and dangerous recesses of

4 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

nature, much less to make any stay there, I pre-
sume it will not be unpleasant, if about a subject of
which, though none of those very few naturalists
that write anything at all, write otherwise than by
hearsay, I recite in this place what I learned by
inquiry from those persons, that, among the many
navigators and travellers I have had opportunity to
converse with, were the likeliest to give me good in-
formation about these matters.”

Since the days of the illustrious experimental
philosopher, naturalists have made great advances
in their knowledge of submarine phenomena, and can
now speak from their own knowledge, though, for
even a good half century after Boyle’s censure had
been written, they were mainly dependent for their
acquaintance with the depths of the ocean on travel-
lers and mariners, whose powers of observation were
untrained, and who had no initiation into the ele-
ments of natural history. Naturalists have even
visited personally the bottom of the sea, for of late
years the diving-bell has, in some instances, been
used as a means of scientific research, one, however,
of limited application ; the net and the dredge are
the surest means at our command for exploration
of the ocean’s recesses, especially the last-named
instrument, the full use and value of which, how-
ever, can scarcely be said to have been understood
until within the last twenty years.

The naturalists of yore esteemed the ocean to be
a treasury of wonders, and sought therein for mon-

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 5

strosities and organisms contrary to the law of
nature, such as they interpreted it. The naturalists
of our own time hold equal faith in the wonders of
the sea, but seek therein rather for the links of
nature’s chain than for apparent exceptions. Out of
the waves they draw subjects for their most patient
and elaborate researches, for the creatures that live
beneath the waters exhibit more varied and extra-
ordinary conformations than those that dwell upon
the land. Moreover, a great part of them consists
of beings in a manner rudimentary—creatures exhi-
biting the elements of higher creatures, living
analyses of higher organized compounds, the first
draughts of sketches afterwards finished, the frame-
work, as it were, of many-wheeled machines. By
an examination and study of them we get at a
clearer conception of the nature of the structures
which, in combination, constitute the complicated
bodies of vertebrated animals, and in the end are
enabled to throw light upon the organization of man
himself, learning thereby much concerning the won-
derful construction of the microcosm, and at the
same time, through our better knowledge of the
nature and capabilities of our organization, acquir-
ing a lesser, though more practical gain, in the
placing of the science of medicine on a surer and
sounder foundation. The day has gone by when
a medical student was taught the anatomy and
physiology of man with little or no reference to
that of inferior beings.

6 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

As it is on the land, so is it in the sea; not that,
as old philosophers fancied, every terrestrial creature
has its double beneath the waves, but that the sub-
marine population is grouped into geographical pro-
vinces, which, though well marked in their more
central and most developed portions, are merged at
their bounds indistinguishably into the edges of
neighbouring realms. These submarine provinces
have a more or less distinct correspondence with
those of the neighbouring lands, though sometimes
they differ very considerably from the latter in their
extent, since the physical features which may con-
stitute boundaries in the one, may not be sufficiently
extended or developed in the other as to impede the
spread of peculiar species of animals and plants, or
of one or the other only, as the case may be. Ma-
rine creatures, owing to their organization and the
transporting powers of the element in which they
live, are much more capable of diffusion as a whole,
than terrestrial ; hence we should expect to find the
regions into which they are grouped beneath the
waves, of much vaster dimensions than those con-
stituted by the geographical assemblages of their
terrestrial brethren ; and such is, to a great extent,
true. Nevertheless, the inequalities of the sea-bed,
the modifications of the temperature of the ocean,
produced by currents pouring through it like mighty
rivers, and leaving with them the climate—some-
times more genial, sometimes more rigorous of the
latitudes whence they have derived their source, the —

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. t

intersection of arms or promontories of land, and
the more powerful interruptions caused by the great
eulfs and abysses of the deep, or by vast and com-
paratively desert tracts of unprolific sand, which in
many places are spread out in extensive shallows,
are all powerful influences affecting the diffusion of
marine creatures, and determining their distribution
within certain and more or less defined limits.

A province, as understood in the following chap-
ters, is an area within which there is evidence of
the special manifestations of the Creative Power ;
that is to. say, within which there have been called
into being, the originals, or protoplasts, of animals or
plants. These may become mixed up with emi-
erants from other provinces, even exceeding in their
numbers the aborigines, so to call them, of the
region to which they have migrated. The distin-
guishing of the aboriginal from the invading popu-
lation, and the determination of the causes which
have produced and directed the invasion, are among
the problems which the investigator of the distri-
bution of animated creatures, has to endeavour to
solve. When the Fauna or Flora of a province has
been thoroughly investigated, the diffusion of the
individuals of the characteristic species is found
to indicate that the manifestation of the creative
energy has not been equal in all parts of the area,
but that in some portion of it, and that usually
more or less central, the genesis of new beings has
been more intensely exerted than elsewhere. Hence,

8 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

to represent a province diagrammatically, we might
colour a nebulous space, in which the intensity
of the hue would be exhibited towards the centre,
and become fainter and fainter towards the circum-
ference. This feature of zoological and botanical
provinces gives rise to the term centres of creation,
which I and others have applied to them. There
may be minor centres within a province. Nowhere
do we find a province repeated ; that is to say,
in none, except one centre of creation do we find
the same assemblage of typical species ; or, in other
words, no species has been called forth originally
in more areas than one. Similar species, to which
the term representative is mutually applied, appear
in areas distant from each other, but under the
influence of similar physical conditions. But every
true species presents in its individuals, certain
features, specific characters, which distinguish it from
every other species ; as if the Creator had set an
exclusive mark or seal, on each living type. Species,
the individuals of which are distributed over an
unbroken area, exhibit the phenomenon of cen-
trality within themselves, 7.e., there 1s some portion
of that area, whence all the individuals of the
species appear to have radiated. As from all the
facts we know, the relationship of the individuals
of any species to each other, exhibits the pheno-
menon of descent, since every case in which the
parentage of an individual or group of similar indi-
viduals has been traced, the parent stock has been

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 9

found similar to it or them, we connect the idea of
descent with the definition of a species, and (hypo-
thetically) assume the descent of all the individuals
of each species from one original stock, monoecious
or dicecious, as the case may be. The term specific
centre has been used to express that single point
upon which each species had its origin, and from
which its individuals become diffused. In the course
of their diffusion, and during the lapse of time, the
species may become extinguished in its original cen-
tre, and exist only on some one or several portions
of the area over which it became diffused. Groups
of the individuals of a single species may thus be-
come isolated, and if they be placed far apart, may
present the fallacious aspect of two or more centres
for the same species. To get at the causes of such
_ phenomena, we must trace the history of the species
backwards in time, and inquire into its connection
with the history of geological change. We thus
trace the genealogy of the species, and unless there
has been any endeavour made to develop its pedi-
gree, and to connect its history in space with its
history in time, no man has a right to cite ano-
malous and isolated cases of distribution, as argu-
ments against the doctrine of specific centres. In
studying the geographical distribution of organized
beings philosophically, it is absolutely necessary
to call in the aid of geology ; and the time is not
far distant when no reasonable man will ven-
ture on that most interesting branch of natural

10 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

history research without a grounding in geological
science.

Provinces, to be understood, must be traced back,
like species, to their history and origin in past time. —
Paleontological research exhibits, beyond question,
the phenomenon of provinces in time, as well as”
provinces in space. Moreover, all our knowledge
of organic remains teaches us, that species have
a definite existence, and a centralization in geolo-
logical time as well as in geographical space, and
that no species is repeated in tume. The distribution
of the individuals of fossil species also indicates
their diffusion from some unique point of origin,
and, consequently, goes to support the notion of
the connection of these individuals through the
relationship of descent, and the derivation of them
all from an original protoplast.

The investigation and determination of the pro-
vinces of marine life, have as yet been but little
pursued, and there is no finer field for discovery in
natural history, than that presented by the bed of
the ocean, when examined with a view to the de-
fining of its natural subdivisions. The difficulties
which attend the inquiry add to the zest of the
research ; and there is a charm in travelling men-
tally over the hills and valleys buried inaccessibly —
beneath their thick atmosphere of brine, unbreath-
able by mortal lungs, which air-travelling, being an
easy possibility, and its results, do not possess. Yet
if we be careful never to let our imagination get

\

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. ll

the better of our judgment, and never to come to
a conclusion unless we find that, on strict and
logical examination of our reasoning, we have ar-
rived at it through fair means and firm walking,
not by leaping over difficulties with closed eyes, we
are quite as safe under water as above it, and have
as sure footing on the slippery surface of the sea’s
floor, as on the grassy plain, or rocky mountain. I
can speak personally as to the pleasure of such
explorations, the more to be esteemed, since in these
days there are few countries so entirely new as to
warrant the traveller’s boast, that he is the first
educated man to visit them, and to discover their
wonders. But, beneath the waves, there are many
dominions yet to be visited, and kingdoms to be
discovered ; and he who venturously brings up
from the abyss enough of their inhabitants to dis-
play the physiognomy of the country, will taste
that cup of delight, the sweetness of whose draught
those only who have made a discovery know. Well
do I remember the first day when I saw the dredge
hauled up after it had been dragging along the sea-
bottom, at a depth of more than one hundred
fathoms. Fishing-lines had now and then entangled
creatures at as great, and greater depths, but these
were few and far between, and only served to whet
our curiosity, without affording the information we
thirsted for. They were like the few stray bodies
of strange red men which tradition reports to have
been washed on the shores of the Old World, before

12 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

the discovery of the New, and which served to indi-
cate the existence of unexplored realms inhabited
by unknown races, but not to supply information
about their character, habits, and extent. But
when a whole dredgeful of living creatures from
the unexplored depth appeared, it was as if we |
had alighted upon a city of the unknown people,
and were able, through the numbers and varieties
taken, to understand what manner of beings they
were. Well do I remember anxiously separating
every trace of organic life from the enveloping mud,
and gazing with delighted eye on creatures hitherto
unknown, or on groups of living shapes, the true
habitats of which had never been ascertained be-
fore, nor had their aspect, when in the full vigour
and beauty of life ever before delighted the eye
of a naturalist. And when, at close of day, our
active labours over, we counted the bodies of the
slain, or curiously watched the proceedings of
those whom we had selected as prisoners, and con-
fined in crystal vases, filled with a limited allowance
of their native element, our feelings of exultation
were as vivid, and surely as pardonable, as the
~ triumphant satisfaction of some old Spanish “Con-
quisatador,” musing over his siege of a wondrous
Astlan city, and reckoning the number of painted
Indians he had brought to the ground by the
prowess of his stalwart arm.

To sit down by the sea-side at the commence-
ment of ebb, and watch the shore gradually un-

THE EUROPEAN SEAS, 13

covered by the retiring waters, is as if a great sheet
of hieroglyphics — strange picture-writing — were
being unfolded before us. Each line of the rock
and strand has its peculiar characters inscribed
upon it in living figures, and each figure is a mys-
tery, which, though we may describe the appear-
ance in precise and formal terms, has a meaning in
its life and being beyond the wisdom of man to
unravel. How many and how curious problems
concern the commonest of the sea-snails creeping
over the wet sea-weed! In how many points of
view may its history be considered! There are its
origin and development—the mystery of its gene-
ration—the phenomena of its growth—all concern-
ing each apparently insignificant individual ; there
is the history of the species—the value of its dis-
_ tinctive marks—the features which link it with
higher and lower creatures—the reason why it
takes its stand where we place it in the scale of
ereation—the course of its distribution—the causes
of its diffusion—its antiquity or novelty—the mys-
tery (deepest of mysteries) of its first appearance—
the changes of the outline of continents and of
oceans which have taken place since its advent, and
their influence on its own wanderings. Some of
these questions may be clearly and fairly solved ;
some of them may be theoretically or hypotheti-
cally accounted for ; some are beyond all the subtlety
of human intellect to unriddle. I cannot revolve in
my mind the many queries which the consideration

14 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

of the most insignificant of organized creatures,
whether animal or vegetable, suggests, without feel-
ing that the rejection of a mystery, because it is a
mystery, is the most besotted form of human pride.

The sea-board of Europe, exclusive of Iceland,
extends through four degrees of latitude, and six of
longitude, occupying three sides of an irregular
quadroid. The northern, and narrowest, side, lies
within the Arctic Circle, is partly included in the
Icy Sea, and presents a deeply serrated outline, in-
dented in its centre by the great arm or gulf, known
as the White Sea. The western side exhibits all
varieties of conformation ; in its northernmost and
Norwegian portion, it is belted with small islands,
and indented with fiords. At the southern termi-
nation of Norway we have the tortuous gulfs con-
ducting to the Baltic Sea. The coasts of Denmark
and Holland form a tame boundary to the shallow
portion of the North Sea, itself originating in the
projection northwards of the group of islands of
which Great Britain and Ireland are the chief. The
deep bend of the Bay of Biscay carries us south-
ward, with a simple outline, to the junction of
France and Spain, and to the rocky and partially
jagged coasts of Asturias, from whence to the end of
Kurope, at the Pillars of Hercules, a tame, and
but slightly-varied line prevails. The southern side
is of great extent and variety, forming as it does,
the wavy and irregular margin of the Mediterra-
nean, with its deep arms of the Adriatic and Egean,

r pry
a

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 15

and continued to make the tamer bounds of the
Ruxine. A last and isolated portion is that which
terminates Europe on the south-east, and constitutes
the north-western border of the Caspian Sea.

Along such a range of shore, extending through
various climates, from the warm and sunny confines
of Africa to the ice-bound cliffs of Nova Zembla
and Spitzbergen, we cannot fail to find many and
diversified assemblages of animated creatures. The
beings who delight in the chilly waters of the Arctic
Ocean must be very different from those which revel
in the genial seas of the south ; whilst the temperate
tides that lave our own favoured shores, cherish a
submarine population intermediate in character be-
tween both. Thus in our progress from north to
south we pass through regions or belts exhibiting
successive changes in the features of animated
nature. It is not so, however, in proceeding from
the Straits of Gibraltar to the easternmost recesses
of the Mediterranean; passing along the same
parallel of latitude throughout, we carry with us,
as it were, the creatures who met us at the gates,
and when we enter the less pleasant expanse of the
Black Sea, we find the differences lie mainly in defi-
ciencies, and not marked by the presence of new
creatures. In the inland and isolated Caspian, it
is true, we behold strange and peculiar animals,
but their presence, as we shall hereafter learn, is
rather to be regarded in connection with the past
than with the present—as the living witnesses of

16 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

preadamic ages than as members of the community of
creatures characteristic of the epoch in which we live.

This extensive range of seas I purpose to regard
as comprehending six provinces, since within them
we can fairly reckon so many distinct centres of

creation. The first and northernmost is the ARorio |
province, extending throughout that portion of the —

Kuropean seas included within the Arctic Circle.
The second is the BorEau province, including the
seas which wash the shores of Norway, Iceland,
the Faroe, and the Zetland Isles. The third is
the CELTIC province, in which rank the British seas,
the Baltic, and the shores of the continent from
Bohuslan to the Bay of Biscay. The LusiTanian
province includes the Atlantic coasts of the Penin-
sula. The MEDITERRANEAN province speaks its
own explanation ; the Black Sea is included in it.
Lastly, the CASPIAN is a region now completely
isolated from all the others.

Of these the four first named and the last are
unquestionably distinct centres of creation; the
Mediterranean and its dependencies are not so cer-
tainly entitled to that rank, and may possibly prove

to be a chain of offsets from the Lusitanian area,

just as the Baltic is of the Celtic, or the White Sea
of the Arctic province. At the same time there is
much to be said in favour of the more dignified
view of the zoological importance of the great cen-
tral sea; so much, that I will waive my prejudices
against it, and treat it as an independent state.

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 1 yi

_ The distribution of marine animals is primarily

determined by the influences of climate or tempera-

ture, sea-composition and depth, in which pressure,

and the diminution of light are doubtless important

elements. All these may be combined so as to
complicate the character of the fauna of a particular
province. This appears to be especially the case in
the Arctic seas, as I shall have hereafter to insist
upon with much stress. The secondary influences
modifying the action of the primary ones are many.
Thus the structure of the coast, so far as the mineral
character of its rocks is concerned may seriously
affect the distribution of particular tribes. Whole

families of marine animals depend for their subsist-

ence on the presence of sea-weeds, and of the crea-
tures that feed upon them. Yet all kinds of rocks
are not favourable to the growth of weed, and tracts
of sand may be wholly free from marine vegeta-

tion, or when giving support to sea-plants, cherish
forms, adapted for the subsistence of peculiar ani-
mals only. Consequently whole tribes of beings
“may be present on, or absent from, a range of coast,
according to its geological, or rather mineral struc-
ture, although every other condition be perfectly
favourable to their propagation. And, what is
more important, the course and diffusion of whole

tribes may be restricted within areas far more
limited than their capabilities for enduring ele-
mental or bathymetrical conditions warrant, in con-

sequence of the barrier interposed to their spreading

C

18 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

through a sudden change in the structure of the
land and sea-bed. The diffusion of burrowing
marine invertebrata must be very seriously affected
by such changes. Thus many shell-fish bore only
in limestones, or rocks containing abundance of
lime ; avery ordinary difference in the nature of the
coast must determine their presence or absence.

- The outline of a coast has great influence in regu-
lating the diffusion of species. A much indented
region is very favourable to submarine life, a straight
and exposed coast-line usually unfavourable, though
there are a few creatures which delight in the dash
of the waves, and hardily—though some of them
are small and exceedingly delicate—brave the full
force of the ocean-storms ; reminding us of those
sturdy people not uncommon in this stormy life, who
thrive best in troubles, and feel happiest under con-
ditions that make most men miserable.

The nature of the sea-bottom determines, to a great
extent, the presence or absence of peculiar forms of
shell-fish and other invertebrata, and of fish also,
since, according to the food, so is the distribution of
the devourers. We find very different creatures
brought up by the line, net, or dredge, according as
the bottom is of mud, sand, gravel, nullipore (coral-
like sea-weed), broken shells, loose stones or rock,
and the gradations of their intermixtures.

Tides are also modifying influences, and the ex-

tent to which they rise and fall is most important in i

determining the presence or absence of the species — 2

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 19

inhabiting the littoral zone. The shape and size of
testacea found in tideways are very considerably
influenced by their situation, and it is in such loca-
lities we seek with most success for the curious
and beautiful sea-jellies (medusw), whose fragile
frames seem often to delight in sporting amidst the
agitated waters.

Currents, besides their agency as modifiers of
climate, act as means of transport, and, perhaps
above all other causes, are influential in deter-
mining the diffusion of marine animals and plants,
since, through their help, the germs and larval states
of numerous creatures which eventually become
fixed and stationary may be carried from district
to district, and rapidly extended over vast areas.
Even fixed creatures, when attached to bodies, such
as masses of wood, capable of easy transport, may
have their range materially enlarged by the same
cause.

The influence of climate is conspicuously mani-
fested in the diminution of the number of genera
and species of marine animals in the European
seas, as we proceed from south to north ; this de-
crease we can scarcely attribute to other cause than
the diminution of temperature. In the warm
waters of the southern provinces, whether mediter-
ranean or oceanic, the variety of types and the
abundance of kinds ranged under them are equally
multiplied ; in the colder waters of the north, the
forms are not so varied, nor are the species so

20 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

numerous, though, as if in compensation, the num-
ber of individuals is so great as to prevent incon-
venience from the comparative scarcity of kinds.
In both vertebrate and invertebrate divisions of the
animal kingdom this is manifest. We may exem-
plify the fact by reference to the best investigated
sections of each. ‘Thus, whilst the number of
generic types of fishes in the Mediterranean region
is 227, in the British seas we have only 130, and in
Scandinavia there is a still further decrease to 120 ;
of mollusca, in the first-named region there are 155
genera, in the second 129, and in the third 116.
The number of species of fishes in the Mediterra-
nean seas is 444; in the British seas 216; in the
Scandinavian seas 170; and of marine mollusca
(exclusive of Nudibranchiata and Tunicata, data for
computing which tribes are insufficient), Mediter-
ranean 600, British 400, and Scandinavian 300.

But climate alone is not the only cause of change
in our course from north to south. The changes
in the geological structure of the Huropean shores
are frequent and striking in that direction, and
affect materially, or rather determine the physical
aspect of the coasts, and the conformation of
the neighbouring sea-bed. Geologists have to deal
not merely with the land as it is exhibited above
water ; they must prosecute their science in the
recesses of the sea, and trace in the depths and
shallows of its floor the continuations of the plains
and hills, and valleys of the contiguous lands, and

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. ot

seek for an explanation of its inequalities in the
Same gradual changes and sudden cataclysms to
which their undulations, and levels, and ravines
have owed their origin. These variations in the
form of the surface, whether of dry, or of submerged
land, importantly affect the distribution of living
creatures, now furthering their progress beyond the
regions to which they strictly appertain, now arrest-
ing their diffusion, and restricting them within
limited areas far more circumscribed than the ex-
tent of climatal conditions, for which, were there
fitting ground to favour their range, they are adapt-
ed by their organization.

The composition of the waters in which aquatic
animals live, is a most important influence in its
effect on their distribution. The degree of salt-
ness or freshness determines the presence or absence
of numerous forms of both fishes and invertebrate
animals.. Within the European area unusual con-
ditions of this influence are manifest in the most
northern, and a part of the most southern provinces.
In the Arctic: region, where unquestionably the
small number of testacea in the shallows 1s in great
part due to the comparative freshness of the upper
layer of waters ; in the Baltic Sea, where the waters
are entirely modified ; in the Black Sea, where the
phenomena of the limited and peculiar fauna are in
part determined by the peculiar character of this
portion of the Mediterranean basin, modified as it
is by its nearly complete isolation, and by the great

22 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

rivers that flow into it; and in the Caspian, where
the waters are of a nature very different from that
of the ocean. In many confined localities, as in the
lochs of Scotland, and the fiords of Norway, also in
many estuaries, the surface waters may be fresh, or
nearly so, whilst their depths are as salt as the open
ocean, so that in the same place we may have
creatures organized for very different states of sea-
composition living not merely in the immediate
neighbourhood of each other, but even, as it were,
superimposed. I was once greatly struck with this
fact, when dredging in the Killeries, along with
Robert Ball and William Thompson, an arm of the
sea in the wild and rocky district of Connemara, in
Ireland. The depth was some fifteen or twenty
fathoms, and the creatures inhabiting the sea-bottom
were characteristically marine. When taken out of
the water, they seemed to be unusually torpid, and
it was in vain we placed them in vessels filled with
the element of their native bay in order to tempt
them to display their variously-shaped delicate
organs. The cause of their languor soon became
evident, when we remarked a fisherman dipping a
cup into the water by the boat-side for the purpose
of procuring some to drink. The uppermost stra-
tum of the narrow and lake-like bay was purely
fresh, or nearly so, derived doubtless from the
numerous streamlets flowing into it, and from the
rain, over-sufficiently abundant in that mountainous
and picturesque district. ‘The mollusca and radiata

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. ye

drawn from the salt waters beneath, became con-
vulsed and paralysed in their involuntary ascent
through the fresh waters above. They were more
dead than alive when we placed them in basins, and
none the livelier for having a new supply of water
given them taken from the surface of the sea. Yet
whilst these truly marine creatures were living and
thriving below, numerous forms of entomostraca,
incapable of enduring the briny fluids of the depths,
might be sporting in the lighter and purer element
above. This phenomenon, which I have often ob-
served since, suggests the possibility of a mode of
destruction of fishes which would aid in explaining
the peculiar aspect not unfrequently presented by
the fossil remains of those animals. In many places
where petrifactions of fishes are found, their bodies
are observed to be more or less contorted and con-
vulsed. Many marine fishes when suddenly plunged
into fresh water—and this is the case also with
numbers of marine invertebrata—die rapidly, almost
instantaneously, in convulsions, their bodies becoming
suddenly stiffened, their fins spread and beautifully
displayed. I have availed myself of this method of
prscvcide when desirous of obtaining sea-fishes in
the state best adapted for delineation. Nowitis not
improbable that fishes of strictly marine habits, and
incapable of enduring sudden immersion in fresh, or
nearly fresh water, when too eagerly pursuing their
prey, or too timidly flymg from their pursuers in
localities such as those I have referred to, might

24 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

suddenly rise from the salt into the fresh water, be
as suddenly paralyzed, and precipitated in their con-
vulsed attitudes into the abyss below, where, sinking
rapidly in the soft mud of the sea-bed, their remains
would become enveloped and potted, before the
numerous animals that creep and swim, watchful
for carrion everywhere in the habitable depths of
the ocean, had become aware of the neighbourhood
of such acceptable prey.

The influence of depth is everywhere manifest in
the European seas, for everywhere we find creatures
whether animal or vegetable, distributed in succes-
sive belts, or regions, from the margin of the high
water-mark, down to the deepest abysses, from
which living beings have been extracted. Peculiar
types inhabit each of the zones in depth, and are
confined to their destined regions, whilst others
are common to two or more zones, and not a few
appear to have the hardiness to brave all bathy-
metrical conditions. Nevertheless, so marked is
the facies of the inhabitants of any given region
of depth, that the sight of a sufficient assemblage of
them from some one locality, can enable the natu-
ralist to speak at once to the soundings within
certain limits, and without the aid of line or plum-
met. Throughout the oceanic portion of the seas
of Europe, four distinct and well-marked zones of
life succeed each other. The first of these is the
littoral zone, equivalent to the tract between tide-
marks, but quite as manifest in those portions of

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 25

the coast-line where the tides have a fall of a foot
or two, or even less, as in districts where the fall is
very great. This important belt, which is inhabited
by animals and plants capable of enduring periodical
exposure to the air, to the glare of light, the heat of
the sun, the pelting of rain, and often to being
more or less flooded with fresh water, when the
tide has receded, claims many genera as well as
species peculiar to itself. These again are not dis-
tributed at random within the littoral space, but

are ranged in sub-regions, which may be traced on

rocky shores when the tide is out, even by the most
inexperienced eyes, forming variously-coloured belts,
banding the base of the land. Their peculiarities
will be best pointed out when we treat of the fea-
tures of the littoral zones as exhibited in the several
European provinces. Succeeding this great shore-
band we have the region of sea-weeds—the lamina-
rian zone. It extends from the edge of low-water
to a depth varying in different localities, but seldom
exceeding fifteen fathoms. The laminarian zone is
itself divided into sub-regions, marked by belts of
differently-tinted alge. It claims a numerous popu-
lation of animals peculiar to itself, and is the chosen
residence of fishes, mollusks, crustaceans, and inver-
tebrata of all classes, remarkable for the brightness
and the variegation of the patterns of their colour-
ing. This region, above all others, swarms with
life, and when we look down through the clear
waters into the waving forests of broad-leaved tan-

26 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

gles, we see animals of every possible tint sporting
among their foliage, darting from frond to frond,
prowling among their gnarled roots, or crawling with
slimy trail along their polished bronzy expansions.
To the laminarian succeeds the coralline zone,
wherein the horny plant-like polypidoms of hydroid
zoophytes delight to rear their graceful feathery
branches, whose flowers are animals rivalling plants
in symmetry and beauty. This region hasa wide ex-
tension, well on to some thirty fathoms or more in
most places, commencing at the termination of the
zone of sea-weeds, especially at that portion of the
latter where the coral-like nullipores, vegetables
simulating minerals in figure and consistence, abound
and furnish a ground well fitted for the spawning
of fishes. Here we have great assemblages of ma-
rine animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but
plants are “few and far between.” Last and lowest
of our regions of submarine existence is that of
deep-sea corals, so named on account of the great
stony zoophytes characteristic of it in the oceanic
seas of Europe. In its depths the number of pecu-
liar creatures is few, yet sufficient to give a marked
character to it; whilst the other portions of its
population are derived from the higher zones, and
must be regarded as colonists. As we descend
deeper and deeper in this region its inhabitants be-
come more and more modified, and fewer and fewer,
indicating our approach towards an abyss where life

is either extinguished, or exhibits but a few sparks to — 4

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. yar

mark its lingering presence. Its confines are yet
undetermined, and it is in the exploration of this
vast deep-sea region that the finest field for sub-
marine discovery yet remains. Such is the general
subdivision of the sea-bed as exhibited in the Euro-
pean seas ; in the Mediterranean, however, as might
be expected, when we consider the peculiar condi-
tions under which that great land-locked basin is
placed, there are peculiarities in the distribution of
both animal and vegetable life which require special
consideration, and which we shall examine when we
come to the description of the Mediterranean pro-
vince.

CHAPTER II.
ARCTIC PROVINCE.

OF the six centres of creation shared by the Eu-
ropean seas, one of the least prolific in number and
variety of species, is the Arctic province, within
which are included the snowy and inhospitable
islands of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, the north-
ern coasts of Russia, the coasts of Finmark, and,
though rather as an intermediate and bounding
state, the greater part of the shores and islands of
Nordland—in short, all those continental portions
and insular dependencies of Europe that lie within
the Arctic Circle. In the strictest sense, the exten-
sive, though barren, islands of the Arctic Ocean,
and the very northernmost points of the continent
only can claim to exhibit the true and typical fea-

tures of the Arctic province. We should probably —

be justified in comprehending within it the north-
ernmost shores of Iceland; for the margin of this.
region, which is itself much more extensive than its
European portions indicate, extending, as it does,
through the icy seas of Arctic America, becomes

more and more southern towards the western side

of the Atlantic, and in the New World impinges on _
the shores of Labrador and Newfoundland. From Y

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 29

its easternmost bound in Europe it is extended,
moreover, along the whole of the northern coastline
of Asia, onwards to the Icy Cape. It would appear
also to be intimately connected as a zoological pro-
vince with the seas of Kamtschatka and Ockhotsz,
which, as we shall see hereafter, share in its fauna,
carried down on the western side of the North
Pacific to equal latitudes, and with a similar distri-
bution to that which it exhibits on the western side
of the North Atlantic. Unlike all other marine
zoological provinces, unless there be an exception in
the Antarctic regions, it is continuous, and belts the
globe around the North Pole; not, however, with
an even circular boundary, but as we have seen,
with a variable and undulating edge. Wherever
arms of the sea branch from it, they carry its fauna
and flora with them, to the exclusion of all other
populations. Of this the White Sea presents a most
instructive example, for extending inland from that
portion of the Arctic province where the Arctic
Circle is rather without than within its bounds, this
ereat offset of the Arctic Ocean carries its peculiar
fauna and flora into the heart of the land, and
beyond their natural bounds, placing them, as it
were, side by side with the population of the Gulf of
Bothnia, which, extending from the Baltic, itself an
arm of the Celtic province, carries the remnants
of a fauna exclusively Celtic, to the verge of the
Arctic Circle.

The region in which the sea is permanently frozen

30 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

in winter is equivalent to the typical, or main por-
tion of this Arctic province, and the line of the
winter ice to the boundary of that section of it. The
shores of Norway, or rather Finmark and Nordland,
from the North Cape to the Arctic Circle, are
debatable ground, sharing in the features of the
Boreal province, yet presenting besides such marked
indications of the Arctic fauna, that I ae it best
to include them here.

In this realm, where King Frost holds despotic
sway, where the long year is longest, and yet con-
sists of but a day and a night, where man shrivels
into a dwarf, and has plainly no just claim to a do-
minion, the power of the Creator has called forth
the mightiest and the minutest of the inhabitants
of the ocean. The kinds of living things there are
few, but those few display peculiarities which mark
them as members of an assemblage of organized
shapes, whose home and birth-place are in the icy
seas. The polar regions are not negations so far as
animated nature is concerned. Bleak and desolate,
cold and dreary as they are, they do not consti-
tute merely the boundaries of the regions of life ;
they have their own peculiar beast-people on land
and in the sea. They are no deserts whence the
Caller-forth of life has been absent; among the
glassy icebergs there has been a genesis.

“‘ That sea-beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim the ocean stream,”

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. OL

first rose amongst the floating mountains of crystal ;
and many a beauteous bubble endowed with life first
sported in the chilly waters washing their polished
sides.

The physical influences that affect the distribu-
tion of marine animals in the Arctic province are
various, and somewhat complicated. The sea bound-
ing the northern extremity of Europe is, in the
main, deep, and very deep in parts. Between Spitz-
bergen and West Greenland twelve hundred fathoms
of line have not reached the bottom. There are
fathomable depths enough, however, and sufficient
ground within the range of the laminarian, coralline,
and deep-sea coral zones to cherish the development
of animal and vegetable life, if unfavourable influ-
ences did not interfere. Cold is the great arrester
of organization in these northern regions. Its in-
fluence is chiefly exerted in the littoral and lamina-
vian zones, partly through the low temperature of

the air, partly through the cold waters of the Arctic

eurrent flowing from the eternal ice of the pole
onwards towards the south-west. But the unfavour-
able effects of the surface waters are modified by
the higher temperature of the depths, for in the
Arctic seas (and also in the Antarctic) the tempera-
ture increases as we descend, contrary to what takes
place in the seas of temperate and warm regions.
The consequence is, that instead of the marginal
zones of these seas being most favourable to the
development of animal and vegetable life, they are

on ARCTIC PROVINCE.

the most unprolific, and we have to descend into
the depths to find an abundance of ground-living
creatures, which moreover appear to range much
deeper in high latitudes than they do in more
favourable climes. Their bathymetrical range will,
in the end, probably be found to accord with the
breadth of the stratum of water of the temperature
they require. It is the warmer currents flowing
from the south northwards, and passing beneath
the cold waters of the arctic current, that originate
this distribution of temperature and animals in
depth. A very important fact is this—for, as we
know from observation, the animals of the depths
are members of the fauna of the Boreal or next
southern province ; whilst it is in the shallows, or
along the littoral and laminarian belts on the coast,
or in the colder upper waters, unfavourable as they
are to life, that we find the characteristic and pecu-

liar members of the Arctic province. 'The presence

of the former is, in all probability, due to their dif
fusion northwards by the under current. The pau-
city of numbers of the marine creatures inhabiting
the higher zones may also be in part dependent on
the composition of the waters of the Arctic seas, for
their upper stratum is less salt than in seas more to
the south ; whilst the greater saltness of the under
layer, taken in connection with the exceeding clear-

ness of the waters, through which the bottom and _

the shells upon it are plainly visible, even at a
depth of eighty fathoms, go far to favour the de-

—. hen =

Se
=

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 33

velopment and extraordinary bathymetrical range
of the animals inhabiting the depths. For light is
an influence of great power in the development of
marine life. On the other hand, we may attribute
to the general deficiency of light during a great part
of the year, the dulness of hue which is so marked
a feature of Arctic animals. |

The existence in Spitzbergen of great beds of clay,
forming cliffs one hundred feet high, and an exten-
sion of land of considerable dimensions,* containing
fossil shells, all of Arctic species, and indeed, cor-
responding exactly with the characteristic inhabi-
tants now living in the Arctic seas, shows that the
existing zoological condition of the Arctic province
has been of long standing, and dates back, in all
probability, from the Pleistocene epoch—that which
immediately preceded the present. Yet, at an infi-
nitely distant period in time, very different condi-
tions of climate must have prevailed in this now
barren and inhospitable region ; for beds of coal,
and traces of an extensively developed vegetation,
and limestones abounding in organic remains, form
parts of the structure of that ice-bound island,t
which is mainly made up of paleeozoic rocks of sedi-
mentary origin. The strange tower-like mountains
and spindle-shaped peaks, that call forth expres-
sions of admiration and wonder from all who have
sailed along its rocky shores, mostly owe their ec-

* Keilhau. + Robert.
D

34 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

centric outline to the crumbling away and weather-
ing of great beds of conglomerate and brecchia.
Whether it is that the paucity of objects for ob-
servation induces attention to such as are seen, or
that the cold air sharpens men’s wits, voyagers to
the Arctic seas, not being professed naturalists, have
paid much more attention to the animals which
inhabit them, and described those they have met
with much more intelligibly than travellers in
warmer and more favoured climates. Most of the
writers on northern latitudes give some account of
their natural history. In the region under review,
the early adventurers in the whale fisheries did not
omit to observe, with considerable care, the charac- —
ters, differences, and habits of the animals they pur-
sued, and, at the same time, were not so blinded by
the magnitude of their prey as to pass without
notice some of the more striking among the minute
organisms vivifying the polar waters. Among other
places, Spitzbergen, the delineation of the fauna
of which is of great consequence in the history
of the European Arctic region, since it is clearly
the part of it where we should expect to meet with
the type of that fauna, has fortunately not been
neglected. In the expedition towards the North
Pole, undertaken in 1773, under the charge of
Captain Phipps, important data for the determi-
nation of the natural history of Spitzbergen were
collected, not at hazard, but with evident judgment,
and a clear understanding of their value. These

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 39

were published in a strictly scientific shape. In the
most valuable and interesting “Account of the
Arctic Regions,” by Dr. Scoresby, Spitzbergen, well
known, through personal research, to that now emi-
nent author and philosopher, receives full attention,
and its natural history features are carefully noted.
Although a practised naturalist would scarcely fail,
if he visited it, greatly to enlarge the published
catalogues of the inhabitants of this barren but pic-
turesque island, the enumeration given by the author
cited, is of such a character, that we cannot doubt
that it includes the main features of its marine
fauna.

Were it not for the peculiarities of its zoology,
Spitzbergen might rear its spiry peaks for ages un-
scanned by human eyes, and no voice of living man
be heard among its frozen solitudes. But strange
and bulky creatures, whose organization and habits
constitute their links between the land and sea,
throng in these dreary regions, and have chosen
them for their own. Seals of various kinds are
_ gathered there in herds; the fearless and bulky
walrus crowds on the icy edges of the desert island,
and with its human head and powerful tusks, seems
as if it were the guardian spirit of the enchanted
wastes. Than this animal there is none more cha-
racteristic of the Arctic province. Not less so, how-
ever, are the mighty whales, who career through the
waters of the Arctic Ocean :—

36 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

“¢ Enormous o’er the flood, Leviathan
Looked forth, and from his roaring nostrils sent
Two fountains to the sky, then plunged amain
In headlong pastime through the closing gulf.”

Headlong pastime truly! for down into the ocean’s
abysses, four hundred fathoms and more can the
gigantic monster plunge when seeking for his food,
or flying from his pursuers.

The Greenland whale (Balena mysticetus) is, or
rather was, the grand feature of these seas, and the
great temptation to adventurous voyagers. This
mighty beast of ocean, whose bulky body reaches a
length of sixty feet, has been the source of much
wealth, and the theme of many fables. All his
bigness was not sufficient to content the lovers of
the marvellous, and his dusky skin had needs have
been made of India rubber, to have borne the
stretching endured by it in the writings of some
of its wondering describers. But the whale has
his diminishers as well as his magnifiers, and all
his bigness cannot save him from destruction. In
the year 1814 the whale-fishers killed no fewer than
fourteen hundred and thirty-seven whales, and one
lucky skipper had the marvellous fortune to bag
forty-four whales for his own share in the neigh-
bourhood of Spitzbergen. But whale’s blubber can-
not put up with incessant persecution any more
than human flesh, and the golden mine of the Spitz-
bergen seas has been exhausted. Well on to two
centuries and a half have passed away since the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. ai

whale fishery was commenced by English enterprise
in the Spitzbergen seas, and rich, indeed, must have
been the products of the venturers, since, so late as
the year I have just noticed, the fish were abun-
dant. When Mr. Scoresby, in the year 1820, pub-
lished his “History of the Whale Fishery,” the
whales still frequented those seas in considerable
numbers. In 1840 they had left them apparently
for good and all. Professor Jameson, in a note on
the state of the fisheries, published in his valuable
journal during that year, states that “the whale
fisheries between Spitzbergen and Greenland are
abandoned. Fishers now prefer Davis Straits, Baf-
fin’s Bay, or the seas to the east of Greenland.”
Davis Straits is now likely to be deserted, and the
whale fishery is diminishing, the number of whale-
Ships decreasing yearly. ‘Thus has the activity of
man done much towards rendering one of the
mightiest of living animals well nigh extinct. If
this fishery be pursued for a century longer, the
Greenland whale may take its station with creatures
that have been.

The rorquals, or, fin-whales, still hold their places
in these seas. Their rapid movements defy the
efforts of human enemies, though probably all their
activity would be of little avail were they suffi-
ciently remunerative for the trouble of killing them.
The mightiest of all leviathans, the balenoptera
boops, is among their number, growing to the vast
length of one hundred feet and more. The B. boops, -

38 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

musculus, physalis, and rostrata are all inhabitants of
the Spitzbergen seas.

This, too, is the realm of the sea-unicorn, a crea-
ture quite as strange, but not as fabulous as the
terrestrial animal, whose golden image is so familiar
to us in England. The narwhal (dZonodon mono-
ceros) derives his popular misnomer from the enor-
mous tusk, projecting from its upper jaw, the
fellow tooth being undeveloped. What purpose
this formidable weapon serves, has not yet been
clearly made out, and the balance of opinion inclines
to decide that it is no instrument of defence, but
rather a mark of superior dignity ; a sceptre wielded
by the male sex alone, to assert in the most promi-
nent fashion their superiority over their gentler
mates. Be that as it may, this curious creature is
certainly one of the most interesting and age
inhabitants of the Arctic seas.

Of the dolphins that frequent the Spitzbergen
seas, the “White Whale,” or Bjeluga (Delphinus
leucos) is the one chiefly turned to account in the
North. But they are much more numerous near
the continental portions of the Arctic province than
in its remoter abysses.

A striking feature is the paucity of fish at Spitz-
bergen. In Scoresby’s zoological summary but six
species are indicated, to four of which names are
attached. Phipps met with two kinds of fish only,
although he seems to have made diligent search for
them, and to have used the trawl freely with that

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 39

view. These were the green cod or sez (Pollachius
virens), abundant enough in Nordland and Finmark,
and a little sucker (Liparis vulgaris). Scoresby
notices and describes a more characteristic fish, in the
Greenland shark (Lemargus borealis), a large animal,
twelve or fourteen feet in length or more, and six
or eight feet in circumference. It is harmless to
man, but an enemy of whales, biting and tearing
its superior monsters when alive, and eating them
up when they die, gorging itself with blubber like
an Ksquimaux, or other northern person, scooping
hemispherical pieces, each as large as a man’s head,
_ out of the whale’s body, and swallowing as much as
ever it can, until it has so filled itself with its dinner
that it has no place wherein to stow away any
more ; heeding no annoyance, not even the stab of
knives at dinner-time, and contenting itself with a
fasting diet of small fishes and crabs on those days
When whale’s beef is forbidden, because not to be
procured.

_ This scarcity of species of fish does not hold good
throughout the Arctic province, for in its southern
and transitional portions there are not only large
fisheries established, but numerous kinds taken.
Travellers to the North Cape have often remarked
the abundance of fish seen in the clear waters of the
Finmark seas. Thus Capel Brooke* observes that
the different levels of the sea in the bay of Ham-
merfest seemed swarming with different kinds; the

* Tour in Lapland, &c.

40 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

upper layer of the water being thronged with young
cod, the middle depths abounding with sei, whilst
on the floor of the sea, studded with sea-urchins
and star-fish, and but rarely with shell-fish, huge
plaice and halibuts might be seen gliding or lurk-
ing. The sei fishing is indeed a chief branch of
Finmark trade. The capelan is stated by Nilson to
visit the shores of Nordland and Finmark in spring,
for the purpose of depositing its eggs.

Crustacea seem to be more abundant at Spitz-
bergen, and more than half-a-dozen kinds are men-
tioned by Phipps and Scoresby, which number,
when we bear in mind the proportion of species
scarcely taken note of to those that attract atten-
tion, must indicate a very considerable list, and of
late years, not a few remarkable new forms have
been described from this quarter. Ten kinds of
mollusca are enumerated. Of these, two are bivalves
(Mya truncata and Hiatella rugosa), both of com-
mon forms, and ranging in abundance to the
British seas; three gasteropodous univalves (a
Chiton, a Bucconum, and a Margarita) ; two ptero-
pods; one cuttlefish, taken abundantly from the
stomach of narwhals, and apparently constituting
their favourite food ; and three Ascidians (enume-
rated as Ascidia gelatinosa and rustica, and Synoicum
turgens) ; the circumstance of these last curious but
unattractive animals receiving attention, shows how
zealously our voyagers laboured. In an excursion
on shore Mr. Scoresby appears to have searched for

[
|
hy

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 4]

mollusca, but was unsuccessful and found none.
As he notices, however, the presence of Mucus vesi-
culosus, Laminaria saccharina, Alaria esculenta and
other large sea-weeds of the Laminarian zone, I do
not doubt that a minute search, rightly directed,
would bring to light some of the species of Avssoa
and Lacuna which inhabit those plants on the
coasts of Greenland. Of late years the Z'rophon
scalariforme, an elegant kind of whelk, found abun-
dantly fossil in our British drift, and common
on the coasts of Labrador, has been taken in the
Spitzbergen seas, but does not range as far south
as Norway on this side of the Atlantic.

Small as they are, two little pteropods (Limacina
arctica and Clio borealis) are among the most im-
portant inhabitants of these seas, since they consti-
tute no inconsiderable part of the food of the whale.
Like other members of their family they are swim-

‘mers, active and graceful in their motions, moving

through the water by means of their wing-like
muscular fins, and seeming, as has often been re-
marked, the butterflies of the sea. The Limacina
is covered with a spiral shell of extreme tenuity, and
elegant curvature ; the Clio has no such appendage.
Mr. Scoresby remarks of the former, that it is found
in immense quantities near the coast of Spitzbergen,
but does not occur out of sight of land ; and of the
latter, that though met with in vast numbers in
some situations near that island, it is not distributed
generally throughout the Arctic seas.

49. ARCTIC PROVINCE.

Yet more noticeable are the jelly-fish, or medusz,
of these regions, which, indeed, along with the
cetacean giants, who either directly or indirectly
derive their subsistence from them, constitute the
main and characteristic zoological feature of the
Arctic province. The minuter meduse throng the
icy seas in countless myriads, and their abundance
and exceeding beauty have attracted the attention
of all northern voyagers. Great shoals of them are
met with discolouring the water for a vast extent.
Scoresby observed that the colour of the Greenland
sea varies from ultramarine blue to olive green, and
from the purest transparency to striking opacity,
appearances which are not transitory but perma-
nent. The green semi-opaque water mainly owes
its singular aspect to minute medusz, and infusorial
animals. It is calculated to form one-fourth part of
the surface of the Greenland sea, between the paral-
lels of 74° and 80°. It is liable to alterations in its
position from the action of the current; but is
always renewed, near certain situations, from year
to year. Long bands or streams of it, having a
direction of north and south, or north-east and
south-west, sometimes extending two or three de-
erees of latitude in length, and having a breadth of
from a few miles to fifteen leagues, are met with.
The whales throng in this muddy water, for to them >
it is good wholesome soup, nourishing enough, as
may be judged from the curious calculation of the
observant voyager I am quoting. “The number of

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 43

Meduse,” writes Mr. Scoresby, “in the olive-green
sea was found to be immense. They were about
one-fourth of an inch asunder. In this proportion,
a cubic inch of water must contain 64; a cubic foot
110,592 ; a cubic fathom 23,887,872 ; and a cubical
mile about 23,888,000,000,000,000! From sound-
ings made in the situation where these animals were
found, it is probable the sea is upwards of a mile in
depth ; but whether these substances occupy the
whole depth is uncertain. Provided, however, the
depth to which they extend be but two hundred
and fifty fathoms, the above immense number of
one species may occur in a space of two miles
square. It may give a better conception of the
amount of medusz in this extent if we calculate the
length of time that would be requisite, with a cer-
tain number of persons, for counting this number.
Allowing that one person could count a million in
seven days, which is barely possible, it would have
required that eighty thousand persons should have
started at the creation of the world” (the writer
refers to popular, not geological reckoning), “to
complete the enumeration at the present time.”
The microscopic thread-like infusorials, called Galio-
nelle, appear to have a considerable share, as well
as the minute jelly-fishes, in producing the discolo-
ration of the water. Judging from the imperfect
figures given in the plates to the “Account of the
Arctic Regions,” the little animal to which the name
Appendicularia has been applied, probably plays no

44 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

small part in producing this phenomenon, especially —

where the tint of the water may be inclined to
red. The minute globular animalcule, with a dark-
coloured tail, advancing by a curious zigzag motion,
figured in Plate 16, No. 19, of the work referred to,
seems to me to be this anomalous creature. I once
examined a track of reddish water off the Zetlands,
and found the Appendicularia to be the cause of
the colour. Its true position in the animal king-
dom has just been made out, and Mr. Huxley has

established its claims to a higher rank than that held

by the jelly-fishes with which it keeps company.
The members of the medusa tribe, which appear
to abound most in the Arctic seas, are ciliograda,
creatures which are, for the most part, more or less
spherical in shape, or else simulate strips of rib-
band, always as transparent as the purest crystal,
and moving through the water by means of vari-
ously arranged bands of thread-like hyaline fins,
which, as they flap, all in each long row keeping
exact time, decompose the rays of light, and glitter
with the hues of the rainbow. More exquisitely
beautiful creatures than these -Beroide (for so the
tribe is called) do not exist among all the won-
drous beings that people the sea. The elegance of
their shapes is equalled by the grace of their
movements; and when the prismatic lustre of their
bands of cilia marks the course of their crystal
bodies, as they swim with gentle motion through

the water, they seem as if they were diamonds

i
mw
‘a
»*
*
¥

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. Ad

endowed with life. Some, such as the Beroe cucu-
mis, one of the most characteristic of the northern
forms, yet having a wide range to the south,
although in fewer numbers, are tinged with a
charming amethystine blush. This is the “ Foun-
tain-fish ” of the early voyagers to Spitzbergen,
who, mistaking the cause of the eight bands of
iridescence, gleaming along the sides of its body,
fancied they were so many rivulets of lustrous
water. Another, the Cydippe (of which the species
represented by Scoresby, is probably my Cydippe
Flemingu, and not the true pileus), is furnished
with two long pinnated filaments lodged in. sig-
moid cavities, one on each side of its stomach.
By these filaments it can moor itself, as well as
guide its path through the waters, retracting and
expanding them at pleasure, and, when in rapid
motion, usually withdrawing one or the other alter-
nately. A third kind, the Mnemia (of which
Scoresby’ figures, pl. xvi. fig. 3 and 95, are most
probably imperfect representations), has no fila-
ments, and in general contour resembles the Beroe,
but differs in having its sides developed anteriorly
into great flaps, or swimmers, and the possession of
four lanceolate tentacula surrounding its mouth,
which, like the Beroe, it carries downwards when
swimming, whilst the contrary position is customary
with Cydippe. These delicate and beautiful Cilio-
grada are abundant throughout the Arctic seas, and
seem to have attracted the attention of all the

46 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

voyagers to Greenland. They range to our own
shores, and south of them, but are comparatively
scanty, and are scarcely observed even by our
fishermen, who, when they notice them, designate
them as “spawn.”

It appears probable that two of the most anoma-
lous of the swimming animals of the Ocean, species
of Sagitta and Briarea, are abundant in the Arctic
seas, though unrecorded by name. The former is,
as its name implies, an arrow-shaped creature ; it is
of exceeding simplicity of structure, and in shape
resembles, as it were, a miniature draught of a
Cetacean, for the regularly formed fin which ter-
minates its tail, is transverse, and the general
outline of its body bears out the comparison. It is
very minute, and perfectly transparent, resembling
an arrow of glass, and shooting through the water
with the rapidity of a dart. Its only hard parts
are the comb-like jaws with which its mouth is
armed. The creatures figured by Scoresby in his
Plate XVI. figs. 1 and 2, are evidently Sagitte, a
fact which does not appear to have been noticed by
commentators. The Sriarea is also a small and
transparent creature of glassy texture ; it is fur-
nished with many lobes, each bearing two fin-like
expansions at their extremities, and has two long
tentacles which, being strengthened by cartilaginous
rods, it can bend stiffly back on its body in a most
dexterous fashion ; its internal organization is of the
simplest order, Lriarece were met with plentifully,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 47

and for the first time recognised in the Arctic seas,
during the passage of the lost expedition of Sir John
Franklin, through Davis Straits. I mention these
two curious animals, the true systematic position of
which is as yet doubtful and disputed, with some
stress, since they have been met with in almost all
parts of the ocean, central and southern, but have
as yet not been put on record from these regions.
_Zoophytes appear to be few and scarce, and those
enumerated are not peculiar. Echinoderms, on
the other hand, are not only plentiful, but so far
as star-fishes are concerned, there is a marked and
peculiar assemblage of species and even genera.
The Pteraster militaris, Ctenodiscus polaris, Ophio-
lepis Sundevalli, Ophiocoma arctica, Ophiocantha
spinulosa, and Ophioscolex glacialis, are star-fishes
not known out of the Arctic province. Comatule,
the curious and beautiful feather-stars, are, I am
informed by Professor Goodsir, on the authority of
a collector employed by him to dredge at Spitz-
bergen, so abundant in moderately deep water
there, that their bodies frequently filled the dredge,
to the exclusion of all other creatures. This is a
fact of no small significance, when we recollect
that the abundance of the remains of Crinoids in
some ancient strata, has generally been regarded by
geologists as supporting the notion of the prevalence
of a warm climate within the British area at the
time of their deposition.

The marine calcareous vegetable, Vullipora poly-

48 i ARCTIC PROVINCE.

morpha, appears to be common in the Arctic seas;
nor are the olive-coloured Alge deficient.

The natural history of the coasts of Nova Zembla
we know, from the researches of Von Baer, to
combine the features of Spitzbergen with those of
the continental shores of the Arctic Ocean ; the
former island presenting the characters of an arm
of the mainland, and consequently possessing a
oreater number of both terrestrial and marine in-
habitants. It is frequented by seal-hunters, who
take here several valuable species (Phoca leporina,
barbata, groenlandica, and hispida), as well as the
walrus. The Bjeluga (Delphinus leucos) is also an
object of search. The Greenland whale never strays
as far as Nova Zembla, from which fact Von Baer
infers, that the fishery carried on by Northmen in
the ninth century, between it and the North Cape,
must have been for the fin-fish (Lalenoptera), com-
paratively difficult as that monster is to capture.
It seems more probable, however, that the great
whale retired from this sea, as it has lately retired
from the Spitzbergen seas. In all other respects
so far aS marine mammalia are concerned, Nova
Zembla resembles Spitzbergen. But nine species of
fish, whether marine or anadromous, were met with,
and of these two only served to play an important
part in the fauna, Gadus sarda and Cyclopterus li-
paris. Small crustaceans, more especially Gammari,
are abundant, and the vast number of aquatic birds,
especially guillemots and gulls, are evidence that

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 49

there must be abundance of living food for them in
the surrounding waters.

The mollusks of Nova Zembla, and the neigh-
bouring coasts of Russian Lapland, have been made
known by Middendorff. The total number observed
by that eminent naturalist and Von Baer, was
sixty-eight species, of which forty were univalve tes-
tacea, and twenty-five bivalves, the remaining three
being naked pteropods, or nudibranchs. In this
number we have the minimum of species pre-
sented in a class by any truly marine province,
and the entire assemblage represents molluscan life
under the influence of the severest conditions.
Fifty of these denizens of the Icy seas are identical
with species found fossil in the drift beds of Great
Britain or the south of Sweden. Between fifty and
sixty range to the east coast of Arctic America, and
considerably more than a third of the entire num-
ber reach Behring’s Strait, or even range into the
sea of Okhotsk. Among the forms which appear
to range completely through the Polar seas, are
the Natica helicoides, Natica clausa, Cancellaria
wridula, Purpura lapillus, Trophon scalariformis,
Fusus islandicus, Terebratula psittacea, Pecten islan-
dicus, Modiola modiolus, Mytilus edulis, Astarte
elluyptica and corrugata, Saxicava rugosa, Mya trun-
cata, Mya arenaria, and Panopea norvegica. How
strikingly does this assemblage remind us of the
fossil fauna of the glacial epoch! Species that
have, countless ages ago, deserted our British waters

E

50 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

are still found flourishing in the frigid recesses
of the Arctic Ocean.

The uniformity of the fauna of the Arctic regions,
is such, that in default of information from the
European side of the ocean, we may turn, without
much danger of error, to the seas of Arctic America. »
Systematic observations on the distribution of animal
life in depth, are greatly to be desiderated from
these seas ; and, if ever (there are those who still
hold hope) Sir John Franklin and his brave com-
panions return to us, we may expect such informa-
tion. My very dear friend, Mr. Harry Goodsir,
sailed in H.M.S. Erebus as assistant-surgeon and
naturalist. No more able or better qualified person
could have been chosen for the scientific duties to
which his attention was directed. He had already,
though very young, gained a high reputation for
his researches among marine animals, and had
especially investigated the more critical and unpre-
servable tribes. He entered upon the dreary and
dangerous voyage filled with scientific zeal and
determined, among other inquiries, to prosecute a
series of dredging observations, and to keep full
records of the results. In a letter which I received
from him when the ships were at Disco, on the west
coast of Greenland (70° N. lat.), he dilates enthu-
siastically on the prospects of his Arctic studies,
the promise held out by some observations he had
already succeeded in making, and the zeal and delight
with which all his companions, officers, and crew,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 51

entered into his pursuits. “Ever since I have begun
work,” he writes, “the officers have been exceed-
ingly zealous in procuring animals for me, so that
my time is completely occupied, almost day and
night, for, from the constant light, and having
generally lots of animals on hand, I am anxious
that none should be lost. All are anxious to assist,
down to the men, who have got several very good
things for me. The boatswain is sometimes seen
running after a specimen with the large net in
hand.” On the 25th of June (1845), when in
Davis Straits, soundings were taken in forty
fathoms, when a small dredge was put over. It
brought up starfishes, echini, mollusca, crustacea,
and annellida. Among the shells was a small
Terebratula. On the 28th, they sounded in three
hundred fathoms, and sank the dredge at that great
depth. The bottom proved to be of greenish mud,
and they had “a capital haul,—mollusca, crustacea,
asteridze, spatangi, corallines, a nondescript /usus,
Isopoda, and what is interesting to me, my genus
Alauna, and your Brissus lyrifer (a curious sea-
urchin), and some fine corals.” The floor of the
sea was composed of very fine green mud, which
when placed under the microscope, appeared to
be composed “of granitic particles.” The next
day they sounded in two hundred and forty fathoms,
and met with the same green mud, but when,
this time, it was placed under the microscope, it
appeared to be composed of sandstone particles,

52 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

with small fragments of shells, and of spines of
Echinus, and Spatangus, mingled with great quanti-
ties of mucus. | 3

In the “ Fauna Groenlandica,” of Otho Fabricius,
there are forty-one species of marine fish enume-
rated, and more have been added of late years,
by Kroyer, and other northern naturalists. The
additions have been chiefly of purely Arctic forms.
Several of those which Fabricius regarded as iden-
tical with more southern species, have proved
to be distinct. In his list he indicates differences
in the distribution of the species, a considerable
number being confined to the southernmost parts of
Greenland. These are exactly such as, on the
European side of the Atlantic, fall into the southern
or boundary portion of the fauna of its Arctic
province. One fish preeminently plays a typical
part in the Greenland Fauna; this is the capelan,—
it is also, though not so abundantly, present in the
Arctic fauna of Europe, and reaches the northern
shores of Iceland. Of it I shall have to speak more
fully in a future chapter. The lump-fish and the
wolf-fish also have a prominent place in the Green-
land fauna. The latter is in the habit of crunching
into fragments strong shell-fish and crustacea by
means of its powerful jaws. A curious and in-
genious attempt has lately been made to refer* the
fragmentary condition of the shells contained in the
clays of the pleistocene formation, to the voracity

* Mr. Craig in “ Geological Journal ” for 1850.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 53

and destructive power of this formidable animal,
which, whatever may be thought of the speculation,
in all probability frequented our seas in vast num-
bers, during the glacial epoch, and had doubtless
the same predacious habits then as now.

The number of Annellides procured in the Green-
land seas is large, and the researches of Oersted
would lead us to estimate the development of the
dorsibranchiate tribes to be greater in the Arctic
than in more southern seas. But in the present
state of science, the sea-worms have not been suf-
ficiently investigated in any part of Europe to afford
a just basis for comparison. Much less have they
been examined out of Europe.

In the enumeration of Scandinavian mollusca, by
Professor Loven, a certain number of testaceous
species are mentioned as not found south of Fin-
mark and Nordland. ‘These may be regarded as
characteristic animals of the Arctic province, as it is
presented in its southern and continental portion.
The Pteropods Clo and Limacina, already men-
tioned, are among them. Of Gasteropoda there are
Phliline scutulum, Trophon harpularvum, Trophon
Gunnert, Cancellaria viridula, Lamellaria prodita,
Natwa clausa and aperta, Lacuna labwsa and
frigida, Margarita cinerea, Scissurella angulata, Ac-
mea rubella, and Chiton nagelfar, the largest Euro-
pean chiton. Of Brachiopods, there is Terebratula
septigera. Of Lamellibranchiate bivalves, there are
Pecten wnbrifer and Groenlandicum, Modiolaria

54 _ ARCTIC PROVINCE. ec

levigata and Mactra ponderosa. These are either
species described for the first time, or old ones
common to both sides of the Atlantic. Thus
Trophon harpularium, Cancellaria viridula, Natica
clausa (and probably also NV. aperta), Margarita
emnerea, Pecten groenlandicum, Modiolaria levgata,
and Mactra ponderosa, not only range to the strictly
Arctic shores of America, but most of them descend
as far on the western side of the N. Atlantic, as the
banks of Newfoundland, and the neighbourhood
of Cape Cod. This is the case, also, with Scalarva
groenlandica, and with Terebratula septigera and As-
tarte corrugata, two bivalves recorded from Finmark
only, in the northern fauna, but known under very
exceptionable circumstances farther to the south.
It is a striking and important fact, that several of
these species—so widely diffused on the American
coast, whilst, on the European they are restricted
to the Arctic circle—ranged, at the epoch of the
drift, as far south as the middle of Engiand, and
the south of Ireland ; their fossil remains, undis-
tinguishable from recent specimens, are found in
the strata of the drift epoch in numerous British
localities at the present day. This fact cannot be
too strongly impressed on geologists, many of whom
have an impression that there is no marked dif-
ference between the fauna of the drift, and that
of the British seas at present, because the species _
of shells found in the former are species still living.

But the presence of three or four such species—to —

Fo!
Wg

4 ae BOMAPa rn White, ty sey,
4 , Nene ape
Rape corn ee

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 55

find which alive in the European seas, we must now
travel to the bounds of the Arctic Ocean—combined
with the absence of the great body of Celtic species,
has a significance of deep import. Not even on
the verge of the Arctic province are we to seek
for the analogue of the fauna of the drift, but
within its strictest bounds. Of this, however, more
hereafter.

The number of mollusca recorded from the coasts
of Finmark, affords an indication of the degree of
fertility of that region in species. There are three
Cephalopods, of which one is peculiar and new ;
three Pteropods, one of them ranging as far south as
Scotland ; four Nudibranchs, two of them peculiar ;
sixty-six univalve Testacea, of which thirty-six range
as far south as the British seas, or farther ; four
Brachiopoda, one of which is new ; and forty-five
ordinary Bivalves, of which all but eight range to
the British seas ; making a total of one hundred
and sixty-nine species. This number is consider-
ably larger than that of the Greenland molluscan
fauna, which amounts to one hundred and thirty-
four species. The difference is due to an infusion
of species advancing from the south, along the
continuous shores of Norway, in the one case,
whilst the Arctic fauna is isolated on the other.
The Greenland number is therefore a truer expres-
sion of the Arctic molluscan fauna (exclusive of
Tunicata, which I have not counted in either case),
than the Finmark number. The authorities I

56 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

follow, with some slight revision, are H. P, Miller
for Greenland, and Loven for Finmark.

About fifty univalves and bivalves are enumerated
among Greenland testacea, which do not appear in
the European lists; but this number, since most
of them are said to be new, and many are known
only by very brief descriptions, will probably, on
close investigation, require considerable reduction.
On the other hand there are about fifty-four tes-
tacea common to Greenland and the Scandinavian
seas, and out of this number, thirty range to the
Scottish seas. It is a very remarkable fact that the
species of shell-fish common to Greenland and
Finmark are not all inhabitants of deep or mode-
rately deep water, but that among them we find
periwinkles (Littorina rudis, var., Groenlandica, and
Inttorina retusa), the dog-whelk (Purpura lapillus),
and the little Skenea planorbis, all of which are
inhabitants of the belt between tide-marks ; also the
tortoise-shell limpet (dcemwa testudinalis), the com-
mon mussel (W/ytilus edulis), and species of Mar-
garita and Lacuna, whose dwelling is at the margin
of low water, or in the belt of weed immediately
succeeding. That these littoral mollusks indicate
by their presence on both sides of the Atlantic,
some ancient continuity or contiguity of coast-line,
is what I firmly believe. The line of migration of
most of these shell-fish, was most probably from
west to east, from America to Europe, during a
different state of physical conditions from those

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 57

which now prevail on our side of the ocean. But
there has also been a march in the opposite direc-
tion, for we find some few littoral shell-fish (Z'rochus
cinerarius, Rissoa interrupta, Patella pellucida, and
the common cockle, Cardiwm edule), extending from
the coasts of France to Finmark, but not reaching
Greenland ; whilst, as we shall see in our account
of the Boreal province, others do not get so far.
The common limpet (Patella vulgata) is said not to
extend beyond Nordland, and the larger periwinkle
(Littorina littorea), advances as far as Vadsoe.

These are small facts, but they have a large
significance. The student of history follows, with
intense interest, the march of a conqueror, or the
migrations of a nation. The traveller traces with
almost breathless delight, every step of the progress
of some mighty hero of ancient days. I have had
my share of the pleasure when tracking the course
of Alexander and his armies in Pisidia, and deter-
mining mile by mile the route of Manlius through
Milias ; on ground, too, to the modern geographer,
wholly new. Yet, absurd as it may seem to those
who have not thought of such things before, there is
a deeper interest in the march of a periwinkle, and
the progress of a limpet. It is easier to understand
how the son of Philip made his way safely through
the sea, on his famous march from Phaselis, than
to comprehend how the larva of a Patella crossed
the fathomless gulf between Finmark and Green-
land. It is a strong saying, but not said without

ce ee ok
5

oe iy
-: ib as Fn La
aire
a Me ; “
C=
ee hy Ae
a iat de

58 ARCTIC PROVINCE. ©

a meaning, that the existence of Alexander may —
have been determined by the migration of the shell- _
fish. If I am right in my interpretation of the —
reason why we find the same species of periwinkle
in Greenland, and along the coast of Labrador, that
lives now also on the shores of Nordland and Fin-
mark,—in the unravelling of the cause and means
of its wanderings, we acquire a clue to the origin of
the peculiar physical conformation of the worldas
it is, and to the disposition of those geographical
arrangements upon which the development of na-
tions and characters of men in a great measure
depend......;

CHAPTER III,

BOREAL PROVINCE.

THERE is Something in the atmosphere of northern
regions that makes men worshippers of Nature,
unattractive as is her boreal aspect during no small
portion of the year. Whilst the short but genial
summer lasts, her charms, however, as if in com-
pensation, burst forth with multiplied attractions,
and the torpidity of the observing faculties, whilst
the long winter is dragging her not unpleasant course,
seems to give double force to their powers, when;
waking from their coerced sleep, they are attracted
by the thousand objects glowing into life and beauty
on every side around us. In the pleasant regions
of the south, where all seasons teem with creatures
“fair to see,’ and beings curious to observe, men,
living continually amid scenes replete with beauty,
are content to let their sensual perceptions over-
come intellectual efforts, and amidst a continuous
profusion of objects are happy to delight in their
presence, and to revel amid the charms of creation,
without making an effort to investigate the nature
of the things that constitute the elements of these
charms. Unremitting over-abundance has a like

60 BOREAL PROVINCE.

effect on the intellectual and the physical energies of
man ; it depresses and overpowers, and instead of
profusion being a blessing, it is too often a curse
upon his exertions. Thus, in the wide expanse of
South America, we find the regions where vegetation
exhibits a luxuriance, and the soil a richness
beyond that of every other country in the world,
where the earth and the waters alike teem with food,
man, whether the aboriginal savage or the invading
settler, smks into an animal, who makes no effort
towards improvement, and takes no thought of the
morrow. But in the most dreary, and unpromising
districts of the same great continent, the very cheer-
lessness and absence of attractions and comforts
generate energy and success in the inhabitants. To
some comparable influence on man’s mind may we
not attribute the intellectual energy of northern
men as compared with southern, and the superior
acuteness of their observing powers, and conse-
quently of their abilities and knowledge as natural-
ists? The mould in which the character of a nation
is cast, is like most moulds, a mineral one,—the soil
and its properties,—and the power which melts the
metal, and shapes it to the mould, is the influence
of temperature, whether it be a man cast by God,
or a spoon cast by man. The sun and the earth,
climate and soil, are the great ethnogenitors.

To the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties
may fairly be attributed the bias of Scandinavian

minds towards the study of Nature, in all her

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 61

aspects, and to the investigation, so energetically
pursued, of the Fauna and Flora of their region.
The naturalists of the Boreal regions are almost
always intimately acquainted with the creatures of
the countries in which they live; a remark which
cannot be applied to all parts of Europe. Linnzeus,
that mighty mind, who, unquestionably, by syste-
matizing the entire length and breadth of his science,
laid the foundations of the vast superstructure
which is fast attaining majestic dimensions, set the
admirable example of investigating, in all its details,
the natural history of his own country. And ever
since his time, the naturalists of Scandinavia have
been indefatigable in the exploration of their native
lands and neighbouring seas. ‘To mention those
who have worked with success the marine natural
history of the Boreal province, would be to fill pages
with long arrays of eminent names, a catalogue not
likely to be suddenly terminated, since the same
spirit is at work in the north, and new candidates
for fame are yearly appearing.

I must content myself by referring to a very few
among those now living, whose writings more espe-
cially concern the subjects of this chapter,—to the
veteran Nilson, to Liven, to Sars, Steenstrup,
Kschricht, Kroyer, and Oersted. One name among
the many illustrious dead, that of Otho Frederic
Muller must not be unrecorded in any work on
the “ Natural History of the Sea.”

The Boreal province may be regarded as the

62 BOREAL PROVINCE.

meeting and mingling ground of the Arctic and
Celtic faunas. Professor Loven * remarks that the
Scandinavian Seas “belong to two different regions,
in the south the Germanic, in the north the Arctic.
The fauna of the German Ocean prevails from the
Sound to about the promontory of Stadt, on the
coast of Norway, and decreases from thence to the
Westfiord (Loffoden Islands) north of which it is
subordinate to the Arctic fauna, which predominates
from the North Cape to the Mitfiord, mingles with
the Germanic to about Bergen, and decreases south
of that point till it reaches its minimum on the
coast of Bohuslan (Sweden). The character of the
Germanic fauna is European, that of the Arctic,
Atlantic. But a time was,” continues my valued
correspondent, “when the Arctic fauna extended
over the whole of our peninsula down to its southern
parts, as is proved by the fossils in raised sea-beds
and pliocene strata, which, in places near the actual
sea, are of species now living there; but further
inland, of species now existing in the northernmost
parts of Scandinavia, or only in the seas of Spitz-
bergen and Greenland, or even in some few cases,
perhaps, extinct, and at these localities all the more
southern species of the present German Ocean are
wanting. Now this ancient Arctic fauna indicates
an Arctic climate over the whole of Scandinavia.
It is probable, that the currents of the sea during
that period, were Polar currents, with a general

* In Letter, January 1847.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 63

direction from north to south, and that since then
their direction has been changed to that now pre-
vailing, from south to north. The consequence of
this was the migration of southern (Mediterranean)
species northward, until they reached our coasts,
and of the original Arctic species also to the north-
ward, till some of them were actually driven from
the ‘land of their fathers’ to the cold seas of Spitz-
bergen—migrations that are going on, perhaps, at
this day, though of course very slowly. But before
the Mediterranean species arrived, our shores were
peopled with a number of species probably from the
Celtic regions, which, being at present neither Medi-
terranean nor Arctic, and obtaining in the Germanic
region their maximum of development, appear to
have finally settled in that sea, guibus mare Germa-
mecum germana patria. So I get in each of my two
regions, Regio Germanica and Regio Arctica, three
tribes, Hospites e mare Srculo, cives Germant and
aborigines.”

Some years must elapse before we can determine
the category (according to the ingenious distinctions
suggested by Professor Loven), to which each animal
form (and vegetable also) should be referred. When
a stranger species of prolific habits, and capable of
adapting itself readily to the new conditions under
which it is placed, has colonized an area for some
time, it is exceedingly difficult to RISE between
it and a true aboriginal.

Throughout the Boreal region Cetacea are abun-

64 BOREAL PROVINCE.

dant, the smaller whales especially, and every here
and there, becoming more and more frequent as we
proceed northwards, great “finners” may be seen,
the giants of the ocean, steaming rapidly across the
deep, and, in spite of their enormous bulk, rivalling
vivacious porpoises in their gambols, as I once
witnessed even as far south as the Zetlands. But
the great Greenland whale is wholly absent from
the Boreal province, a negative character of no
small importance. Some of the dolphins are found
here in wonderful abundance, especially the bottle-
nosed whale, shoals of which occasionally strand
themselves on the islands and the mainland of this
region, bringing a rich harvest of oil and blubber to
the fortunate fishermen, in whose neighbourhood
they make their luckless landing. 'The numbers of
the caa’ing whale (Delphinus. melas) cast ashore in
Faroe in 1843, according to Sir Walter Trevelyan,
was 3146, from which 87,404 gallons of oil, the
value of which was 56657. were obtained ; the flesh,
moreover, was cut into long strips, and dried for the
purpose of feeding cows, who throve upon this novel
food, and produced very excellent cream. The lives
of no fewer than 600 cows were calculated to have
been saved in one winter by this means. |
The Boreal region is well characterised by its
more peculiar fishes, especially those inhabiting the
deeper parts of the Norwegian seas. Nowhere in
Europe are fisheries habitually conducted at such
great depths. Roving among groves of gigantic

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 65

-zoophytes, at a depth of one hundred fathoms or

more, where the bottom is rocky, lives the red-fish,
Sebastes Norvegicus, a sea-perch much sought after
for food, and caught by the hook. Along with it
are the Macrurus Norvegicus, and the “ King of the
Sea,” as the Norwegian fishermen style him, the
Chimera monstrosa, grotesque and ferocious in
habit ; also, strange as it may seem, the Coregonus
silus, a fish of the salmon tribe, belonging to a genus
of which almost all the species are confined to fresh
water, whilst this one is a dweller in the deepest
and saltest parts of the habitable ocean. A curious

shark, the Sponax niger, remarkable for the glisten-

ing aspect of its rough skin, which, when seen fresh
from the water, appears as if frosted with needles of
glass, is another citizen of these abysses. In great
depths—as much as two hundred fathoms—not far
from shore and never far out at sea, lives the
Lota abyssorum, a fish of the cod tribe, not found
southwards of this province. Members of the cod
tribe are, indeed, very characteristic of this Boreal
region ; the ling, the tusk, the various kinds of
Merlucius, Pollachius, Merlangus and .Gadus, give
a facies to its ichthyology. The Srosmius vul-
garis, or tusk, is especially representative of this
fauna, extending its range from the Zetland seas
to the Polar circle. It is an excellent fish for
the table, as I have experienced; it has a lobstery
consistence and flavour, which tastes on the pa-
late as fish and sauce conjoined. Epicures should
F

66 BOREAL PROVINCE.

make voyages to the north to eat tusk. The ling
- (Lota molva) and it are both dwellers in the deep
sea, usually far from land, and the pursuit of these
fishes employs thousands of fishermen, whose adven-
tures are most perilous, and whose lives often fall
sacrifices to their scantily-rewarded toil. The true
cod, the hake, and the coal-fish frequent most the
region between fifty and fifteen fathoms, the cod
preferring the lower part of this region, the hake
the upper. In shallower depths, and to the verge
of the shore, the pollack prevails, and takes the
place of its congeners. Mingled with these, on the
Norwegian shores, is the green cod, or sei, the
Pollachius virens, which, however, is more charac-
teristic of the southernmost portion of the Arctic
province, where it furnishes abundant employ to
the fishermen of Finmark and Nordland. In this
nursery of Boreal fishes, we must not forget that
the herring and the halibut have their share in
these northern seas.

To the clergyman of a remote country parish,
in the wildest part of Norway, we are indebted
for our knowledge of the more remarkable marine
animals of the Bergenstift, or district of which the
prettily-situated and flourishing town of Bergen is
the capital More complete or more valuable
zoological researches than those of Sars, have rarely
been contributed to the science of Natural History,
and the success with which he has prosecuted in-
vestigations claiming not only a high systematic

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 67

value, but also a deep physiological import, is a
wonderful evidence of the abundance of intellectual
resources which genius can develope, however se-
cluded and wherever its lot be cast. How many
an involuntary recluse, in far more favoured climes,
drags heavily his time as if it were a chain, and
bemoans piteously his hard fate in being shut out
from all community with the intellectual world
and the objects of its studies. Let him take a
lesson from the course of the Norwegian priest,
and learn that everywhere there is employment for
the active mind, sources of continual enjoyment and
instruction ; that, in the most lonely places, God’s
book of nature lies open on the mountain and by
the sea-side, with many a page in it unscanned as
yet by mortal eye, and many a new and wondrous
history as yet unperused. Even if the excitement
of fame be sought for, it is not forbidden; the name
of Sars, who reaped reputation when seeking no
more than knowledge, familiar to every naturalist
in Europe and America, in Asia, and at the Anti-
podes—for there are great naturalists settled far
in the south, and many in the far east—is a
sufficient proof that able work brings the rewards
of applause and veneration, even when they be
unasked for.

Sars has especially directed attention to the dis-
tribution of marine animals and plants on the coasts
of the province in which he has fixed his habitation.
In the tract from high-water mark down to the

68 BOREAL PROVINCE.

great sea-weed belt, he recognizes four regions.
The highest of these is the region of Balani, where
the barnacles grow in such numbers on the rock-
side as to belt the coast, when the tide is out, with
a white girdle. The second is the region of Lim-
pets, at the upper bounds of which the sea-weeds
fucus vesiculosus and Mucus nodosus grow, and,
lower down, Fucus serratus and siliquosus; in this
region are seen numerous littoral shell-fish, species
of Lnttorina, Patella vulgata, and, less plentifully,
the tortoiseshell limpets (Acmea testudinaria), Pur-
pura lapillus and Mytilus edults, the common mussel.
Also, shell-framing annellides of the genus Spirorbes
and red Actinece, probably A. mesembryanthemum.
Many Gasteropoda and <Ascidiew live here. His
third belt is the region of Corallines, meaning by
that term the pretty calciferous sea-plant, Corallina
oficnalis. This is the home of the horse-mussels
(Modiola modvolus), of the large and showy Actimia
_ coriacea, of Lucernarice, Ascidians, sponges, and
Alcyoniums. In sandy portions of this region
numerous soft worms live (Arenicola, Mephtys,
Terebellum, Cirratulus and Aricia), and, burying
in the sand, we have bivalve shell-fish, of the genera
Mya and Solen—to use their popular names, gapers
and razor-fishes. This is the home of Ciona in-
testinalis and Holidia papillosa. The fourth, and
lowest of these coast-line belts, is the region of
Laminarie, of the great sea-flags or tangles, which
lies beyond the lowest ebb. On the frond of these

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 69

- sea-shrubs live numerous and beautiful species and
genera of Nudibranch mollusca and other Gaste-
ropoda, the blue-dotted limpet, Patella pellucida,
star-fishes, many Actinew and numerous species of
Caprella and Nymphon; and, on their sturdy stems
are assembled Ascidians, Alcyonia, Tubularve, coral-
lines and Ophiure. Sea-urchins, and the larger
forms of star-fishes, including Goniaster equestris—
so rare to the south of the Boreal province—live
on the rocks. Beyond the boundary of this Lami-
narian region, multitudes of invertebrata reside.
With the details of their distribution on the Norwe-
gian coasts we are, however, insufficiently acquaint-
ed, but have reason to believe that they do not
differ materially from the arrangements presented
by the similar animals in the sea around the Zetland
Isles, where I have personally investigated them.
The observations of Professor Loven,* on the Ba-
thymetrical distribution of submarine life in the Scan-
dinavian seag, bear out those of Sars, and carry our
knowledge of them into the depths. “The littoral —
and Laminarian zones,” he states, “are very well de-
fined everywhere, and their characteristic species do
not spread very far out of them. The same is the case
with the region of frondaceous Algze, which is most
developed nearer to the open sea. But it is not so
with the regions from fifteen to one hundred fathoms.
Here there are at the same time the greatest number
of species and the greatest variety of their local

* Brit. Assoc. Rep. vol. xiii.

70 BOREAL PROVINCE.

assemblages; and itappears to me that their distri-
bution is regulated not only by depths, currents,
&c., but by the nature of the bottom itself, the
mixture of clay, mud, pebbles, &c. Thus, for in-
stance, the same species of Amphidesma (i. e. Syn-
dosmya), Nucula, Nata, Hulima, Dentalium, &e.,
which are characteristic of a certain muddy ground
at fifteen to twenty fathoms, are found together at
eighty to one hundred fathoms. Hence it appears
that the species in this region have generally a
wider vertical range than the littoral, Laminarian,
and perhaps as great as the deep-sea coral. The
last-named region is with us characterized in the
south by Oculina ramea and Terebratula, and in
the north by Astrophyton, Cidaris, and Spatangus
purpureus of immense size, all living, besides Gor-
gonie and the gigantic Alcyonvum arboreum, which
continues as far down as any fisherman’s line can
be sunk. As to the point where animal life
ceases, it must be somewhere, but with us it is un-
known. As the vegetation ceases at a line far
above the deepest regions of animal life, of course
the zoophagous mollusca are altogether predominant
in these parts, while the phytophagous are more
peculiar to the upper regions. The observation of
Professor E. Forbes that British species are found
in the Mediterranean, but only at greater depths,
corresponds exactly with what has occurred to me.
In Bohauslan (between Gottenburg and Norway), we
find, at eighty fathoms, species which, in Finmark

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. Tl

(on the north), may be readily collected at twenty,
and on the last-named coast, some species even as-
cend into the littoral region, which, with us here
in the south, keep within ten to eleven fathoms.”
The great tree Alcyoniwm, a branched zoophyte
of leathery texture, alluded to by Professor Loven,
is a very wonderful and characteristic production
of the abysses of the Boreal seas. The lines of the
fisherman, when fishing for the red-fish, or uér,
become entangled in its branches, and draw up
fragments of considerable dimensions, so large, in-|
deed, that the people of the country believe it to
grow to the size of forest-trees, an exaggeration, in
all probability, but nevertheless one founded in un-
usual magnitude. It appears to me that many of
the bodies to which geologists have given the name
of Fucoids, and too hastily assumed to be plants,
were creatures allied to these Alcyonia, and, pos-
sibly, some of them to Alcyonedium, a similar body
of a different class. This notion of their nature is
much more consistent with the character of the
strata in which they occur and that of the fossil
fauna with which they are occasionally associated.
The number and beauty of kinds of sea-urchins,
star-fishes, and sea-cucumbers, give a characteristic
feature to the Boreal seas, which, in this respect,
are more prolific than the Celtic, and probably also
than the Mediterranean province. It is true that
we count as many species in our British lists, but
then a portion—and no inconsiderable one—of the

72 BOREAL PROVINCE.

array is derived from that part of Britain which
falls within the Boreal area.

The Norwegian Echinodermata have been made
the subject of an excellent monograph by Von Du-
ben and Koren.* They enumerate two species of
Crinoids ; three of Huryales, a group especially
characteristic of this region in the Atlantic ; ten of
Ophiuride, one of which is not known to the south
of Norway ; eighteen of Asteriade, including a pecu-
liar Solaster, and species of Astragonwwm, Pteraster,
and Ctenodiscus, in all seven, not known as Celtic
forms ; thirteen sea-urchins, two of them confined
to the Norwegian seas, and fourteen sea-cucumbers,
of which three are not known out of Norway. The
majority of species are distributed all along the
coast of Norway, both south and west ; but several
forms common to the Arctic province, occur in the
latter district only. The crinoids, the species of Astro- —
phyton (or Huryale), the Cidaris papillata, and Bris-
sus fragilis, are remarkably characteristic of the
region of one hundred and more fathoms. It is
worthy of note that extreme brilliancy of colour is ex-
hibited by the Boreal Echinodermata. For vividness
of painting, and elegance and variety of pattern, few
marine animals can equal the northern brittle-stars.
The cushion-star is of the most dazzling vermilion ; ;
and almost every kind of star-fish and sea-urchin |
displays gorgeous contrasts of red, blue, green, pur-
ple, and yellow.

* Vide Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akad. Handlingar, 1844.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. ta

The distribution of submarine creatures in the
fiord of Christiana at the south-eastern angle of
Norway has been inquired into by Orsted, and the
result of his researches* shows that the features of
the Boreal province are there slightly modified by the
Celtic fauna. Such mollusks as Chiton marmoreus,
Nucula tenuis, Syndosmya wntermedia, Cemoria
noachina, and Astarte elliptica, accompanied by the
Echinoderms, Hchinus neglectus, Goniaster granu-
laris, Brissus lyrifer, Cuviera squamata, and Holo-
thuria elegans, determine, however, the strict connec-
tion of the fauna of the southern shores of Norway
with that of her western coast. From the coast-
line downwards there appear the usual sequence of
green, brown, and red Algee, and the depths are cha-
racterised by the beautiful coral Oculina prolifera.
The Goniaster above noted ranges between thirty and
sixty fathoms, and the Holothuria lives at a depth
of eighty fathoms. The worm-inhabited tooth-
shell, Ditrupa, occurs in fifty fathoms water, with the
sea-rod, Virgularia, which ranges to sixty fathoms ;
the animal-flower, Anthea cereus, to eighty fathoms ;
and that most curious of sponges, the Zethya cranium,
so like an infant’s head that we might almost fancy
it the capital extremity of some new-born merman-
child whom our dredge had decapitated in its
mother’s arms, is found there, as in Zetland, at a
depth of eighty fathoms.

Iceland sharing in the features of the pees and

* See Kroyer’s Tidoskrift, for 1845.

V4 BOREAL PROVINCE.

Boreal provinces, and constituting, so far as Europe
is concerned, the westernmost boundary of both,
appears to present a fauna which is very closely
comparable with that of Finmark and Nordland.
The vaagmer, the tusk, the abundance of cat-fish
and lump-fish, the presence of herrings in consider-
able shoals, and of ling, skate, and halibut, is an
assemblage which gives a truly Boreal character to
its ichthyology, whilst the visits of the capelin
show how it passes into the Arctic province, further
indicated by the visits, few and far between, of the.
Greenland whale. Fin-fish, bottle-nosed porpoises,
and seals, including the P. barbata, leporwna, and
groenlandica, show a similar rule among the ma-
rine mammalia. A full account of its marine inver-
tebrata is a desideratum which we may look to the
able naturalists of Denmark to supply. Sir Wil-
liam Hooker was struck with the scarcity of shells
on the Iceland shores ; among the few he saw were
the Mya truncata and Venus wlandica. Judging
from the list of Iceland sea-weeds given in the account
of the voyage of the “Recherche,” there is, however,
in all probability a considerable population of
Mollusca, Crustacea, and Annellida, inhabiting the
Laminarian zone.

The natural history of the Zetland Islands clearly
indicates their position within the Boreal province,
and their marine zoology is conspicuously of the
Norwegian type. This group of bare and barren
islands, so bare that the unique tree, some ten or

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 75

twelve feet high, is shown as a curiosity ; and so
barren, that the unproductiveness of the soil pro-
duces more famines than food for the people, offers
but few attractions to the terrestrial zoologist, or to
the botanist; their birds, chiefly of remarkable
northern types, and their one peculiar plant, the
pretty little Arenaria Norvegica, excepted. But
the deficiency in the land is fully compensated for
by the redundancy in the waters ; and in no part of
the British islands is the naturalist so sure of reap-
ing a rich harvest as in the Zetland seas. The
coast-line, the bays or voes, and the deep sea or haaf,
equally abound in singular and interesting forms of
Boreal life. The tides have but a small fall ; yet
between high and low-water mark an ample harvest
of curious creatures and marine plants may be
gathered. In the Laminarian zone the great roots
of the tangles are inhabited by thousands of crea-
tures, specifically new to the zoologist who comes
here from the southern shores of Britain. Jd/arga-
rita undulata and T'richotropis borealis, appearing
in numbers, soon inform him of his latitude. But
above all, the quantity of Holothurve, sea-pudding
as the natives call them, attracts and astonishes the
dredger. The great Cucumaria frondosa, whose body,
resembling a huge sausage, when extended reaches
a length of three feet, occurs in abundance and fur-
nishes admirable subjects for the skill of the anato-
mist. The sheltered bays swarm with meduse;
many of these kinds not seen elsewhere in the Bri-

76 BOREAL PROVINCE.

tish seas ; countless shoals of the curious little Liza
octopunctata, with its jet black eyes; swarms of
Thaumantias pilosella, like so many coronets cir-
cled with rubies ; Circe rosea, the most elegant of sub-
marine mitres ; and Steenstrupia rubra, jerking itself
in ail directions, trawling its single tentacle after it,
as if it were attacked by some ferocious vermilion
worm, mingled with the graceful Briaria, the swift
Sagitta, and iridescent crowds of Mnemice, Beroe,
and C'ydippe, give a distinctive character to these
our northernmost British waters. When the dredge
is plunged into the depths, whether near or far from
shore, it comes up filled with Norwegian animals.
Echinus neglectus in the shallower localities, H'ch:-
nus Norvegicus in the deeper, especially distinguish
the region, and deeper still there is the rare and
beautiful Crdaris, whose long and slender spines
have suggested the local name of “piper.” With it
is associated the true Medusa’s hand, that strange
star-fish with arborescent arms, known scientifically
as the Astrophyton or Huryale. The rude yet not
unintelligent fishermen are attracted by the curious
creatures which cling to their lines when they are
engaged in the perilous occupation of fishing for the
ling, itself a characteristic feature of these seas, on
deep-sea banks, some twenty or thirty miles from
shore, far out in the clear ocean, whence occasionally
resisting their superstitious prejudices they bring to
the shore specimens worthy of national museums.
One of their favourites is the “sea-apple” (Zethya

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. Te

cranium), a curious globular sponge of a bright sul-
phur-yellow colour, and as large as an orange. Occa-
sionally they bring up the great Madrepore, striking
among Boreal productions. A rare but excellent fish
is the tusk, and another of their curiosities is derived
from among the vertebrata, being that extraordinary
shark, the Chimera monstrosa. These seas are fre-
quented by the lesser cetacea, and not unfrequently
by finner whales of considerable dimensions.
The Zetland seas were the scene of the earlier
researches of Professor Jameson, and of Dr. Fleming,
names that will ever shed a lustre on British natu-

ral history. ‘The seals which frequent them (the

great Phoca barbata is one) have been carefully

studied by Dr. Edmonston, himself a Zetlander,

and whose most promising son, the author of a
“Flora of Zetland,” held out hopes of high scien-
tific distinction, alas, prematurely arrested by his

accidental death when prosecuting his researches

on the coast of Peru. Of late years, Mr. M‘Andrew

has cruised with great success in this interesting
district, cruises in which I have had the great

pleasure of sharing, and of aiding in gathering an
abundant store of valuable observations in all de-
partments of our science.

78

CHAPTER IV.

CELTIC PROVINCE.

THE Celtic province is our home-circuit. Above
all other maritime regions it has been chosen by
naturalists for their minutest observations. If their
science, so far as it concerns the sea, was born, as
some have said, in the Mediterranean, it was brought
up in the British Channel, and on the mid-western
coasts of the Continent. From the bay of Biscay
to the Baltic sea, there has been and continues a
diligent and searching investigation into the nature
and species of the animals and vegetables that live
beneath the waters. Their abundance, and the fa-
cility with which they can be procured, have been
main causes of the attention devoted to them. But,
however plentiful, or however easily procurable, we
should have learned comparatively little about them
had the spirit of energetic research and minute
enquiry, characteristic of the enlightened portion of
the human population of these regions, been absent.
In the British Islands, Natural History has long
been a favourite pursuit; one indigenous, in a man-
ner, to the people, and attractive to them for its
own sake. It leads to no profit, no high places, no

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 19

honours, no social position; it has no academical
distinctions accorded to it, and the few official posts
connected with the study of it are but poorly re-
munerated and unattractive. N evertheless, the
number of naturalists, of one grade or another, is
very considerable, and greater in Britain than in
any other civilized country. The majority are men
highly enlightened and of a liberal and far-seeing
spirit. They are to be found in all classes of the
community; mostly in the middle ranks; not un-
frequently among the lower classes, and sometimes,
though unfortunately but seldom, among the aris-
tocracy; this is the more to be regretted, since for
men with cultivated minds, and abundant leisure
and wealth, the study of Natural History is pecu-
liarly adapted. The neglect of this science in our
universities is the cause of the defect. Sooner or
later, it will be remedied, when its unquestionable
educational value shall be turned to account. It is
in vain that we erect museums and amass valuable
and extensive collections, if we discourage the ac-
quirement of the knowledge for the illustration of
which all this scientific display is prepared. We
boast of our vast cabinets of objects of Natural His-
tory, and, in the same breath, question the propriety
of teaching men the meaning of these treasures of
divine workmanship. We complain of the want of
teachers, yet make but unwilling efforts towards
training students for the duty of instructing others.
If there be one land above all other lands favoured

80 CELTIC PROVINCE.

for the study of Nature under all her various ava-
tars, it is the goodly island that Providence has,
in favour, given us for a birth-place and home. If
there be one region above all other regions fitted to
be constituted the type and model, whether through
the variety of its inhabitants, their abundance, or
their convenient collocation, it is the Celtic province
of which the British Islands seem to constitute the
centre. !

The Celtic province is the neutral ground of the
Kuropean seas; it is the field upon which the crea-
tures of the north and those of the south meet
and intermingle. It has its own special inhabitants,
the aborigines of the province, but these are far
exceeded in numbers by the colonists who are dif
fused among them. It includes within its proper
population the survivors of an epoch when the
seas of Kurope were differently parcelled out than
they are now. Here and there, these old people
still retain limited tracks of the sea-bed, whilst the
vast mass of the nations to which they originally
belonged have retired far to the north, or west, or
south, according to their tribe. These must not
be confounded with the immigrants who have gradu-
ally made their way into the Celtic area during the
ages that have past since its first constitution intoa |
distinct province. They are like the Basques
among the Spaniards, or the Cornish among Eng-
lishmen, relics of ancient possessors of the country
whose epoch of dominance has ceased to be, but

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 81

who still remain in fragmentary masses, as if to
show what and where they once were. These varied
natural-history features, combined in the Celtic pro-
vince, render it of all European areas that most
interesting to the zoologist and botanist; from their
abundance and interest, they incite the human in-
habitants to the study of the living creatures ga-
thered so profusely around them: hence it is, that,
in spite of all the discouragement just alluded to,
in no part of the world has marine natural history
been so thoroughly pursued as in Britain.

The area of the Celtic region has its southern
limits about Cape Finisterre, and at the entrance of

the English Channel. All the German Ocean, with

the exception of a belt skirting the southern coasts

of Norway, may be said to belong to it, and all the

seas immediately around the British islands, except-
ing about Zetland. The Baltic appears to be an
arm or extension of it, carrying its fauna far to the
north of its normal limits. A great part of this
region is comparatively shallow. Very deep water
(depths below the hundred-fathom line) approaches
nearly the western coasts of Ireland and Scotland.
These abyssal gulfs probably limit this extension of
the characteristic Celtic fauna. Occasional tracts
of very deep water, ravines, or pits, as it were, such

as the line of deep below 100 fathoms, between Gallo-

way and the opposite coasts of Ireland, here and there

occur. In the instance mentioned, an insulated

ravine, its sides from 60 to 80 fathoms below the
G

82 - QELTIC PROVINCE.

surface of the sea, and its bottom 150 fathoms deep,
extends for 30 miles, with a breadth of not more
than 2 miles.

The floor of the Celtic province may be regarded
as an elevated platform with steep sides, deep iso-
lated pits and furrows, indenting bays and gulfs.
In its southern and western divisions this sub-
marine table-land supports a numerous population,
but that section of it constituting the bed of the
North Sea is comparatively thinly inhabited. The
deep parts of this latter portion, however, swarm
with fish and other animals. The little silver pit,
330 feet deep, may be cited as an instance. The
line of 100 fathoms may be taken as the southern
Celtic boundary. It pursues its course wavily and
with a general outward curve from off the coast of
Kerry to near the northern extremity of the Bay
of Biscay. The fifty-fathom line runs from Scilly
towards Ushant, with a deep inward sinuosity, and
between Scilly and the southernmost coast of Ire-
land makes a profound bend up St. George’s Chan-
nel. The shallows of the inner extremity of the
English Channel are impediments to the spread of
many species.

To the physical phenomena of the Celtic area,
and the geological changes it has undergone, are
due those varied features which its fauna and flora
present : warm currents from the south, cold cur-
rents from the north, coast-currents, and oceanic
currents, all converge to it as a centre. In their

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 83

course migrate fishes, crustacea and mollusks

slowly but surely, and migrations, conducted during
a long series of ages, have mingled together the
creatures of many climes and regions. The ancient
meeting-place of glacial and warmly-temperate seas,
as successive geological events changed the oro-
graphy of the land, and the hydrography .of the
ocean, the animals dwelling side by side under
those opposite climatal conditions, did not wholly
disappear, but remained in part to bear living wit-
ness of their ancient extension. All the changes
within the Celtic areahave been beneficial, and to the
establishment of a Celtic and strictly-temperate

_ province in the interval made by the recession of

opposing climates, its richness at present in orga-
nized treasures is mainly due; for on the events
which brought out such a result, depended the pe-
culiar arrangement of currents, such as we now find
around the coasts of Britain, which, by their con-
stant action, have had so powerful a share in
determining the natural history of the British

— seas.

Along the coast of Belgium and Holland, and on
to the low and sandy shores of Denmark, the ma-
rine fauna and flora are scant and poor. ‘Tracts of
sand, when of great extent, are unfavourable to the
spread and variety of aquatic forms of life, even as
they are obnoxious to terrestrial creatures. In a
confined and sheltered space, such as the strait be-
tween Denmark and Sweden, however, there is a

84 CELTIC PROVINCE.

more abundant development of the population of
the sea, even though its extent be limited by the
deleterious influence of the brackish waters that flow
from the Baltic. An excellent account of the con-
ditions and phenomena of submarine life in the
Strait of Oresund, has been published by A. S.
Orsted.* This essay should be studied by every
naturalist interested in such inquiries. In the lo-
cality explored, this able observer distinguishes
three regions of submarine vegetation. The first is
that of green sea-weed, Recio CHLOROSPERMEARUM,
It extends from the highest sea-mark to a depth of
from 2 to 5 fathoms. Its upper portion is the
sub-region of Oscillatorinee, and is that part most
frequently exposed to the air. Its lower portion is
the sub-region of Ulvacee, where the sloke-plants,
Clva lactuca and latissema, with various Conferve
and species of Hormiscia, Ulothriz, and Cruora,
flourish. A few olivaceous alge, and some purple
ones, but never those that are of brilliant hues, also
occur. The second region is that of the olive-
coloured seaweed, Recio MELANOSPERMEARUM, ex-
tending to 7 or 8 fathoms. It is constituted also
of two sub-regions ; the uppermost is that of /ucoids
and Zostera. “This,” remarks the describer, “ is, as
it were, the savannah of the sea, for the Zostera
marina, which, here ruling, has so much of the as-
pect of a grass, that the fishermen call it sea-grass,

* “Te Regionibus Marinis. Elementa Topographic Historico-
Naturalis freti Oresund.” Havnie. 18644.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 85

extends over a great space on the sea-bottom, with
an uniformity comparable with that of a tropical
savannah.” On a stony sea-bed, as usual elsewhere,
Fuci take its place. The lower sub-region is that
of Laminarie. “ Heec subregio silva maris haberi
potest ; Laminarie enim, 10—15 pedes alta, erect
velut arbores silvee, confertze sunt.” The third and
lowermost region is that of the purple sea-weed,
Recio RHoDOSPERMEARUM. Its proper range is from
8 to 20 fathoms: it is confluent with the last. Its
characteristic alge are Iiridea edulis, Delesserre,
Hutchinsie, Callithamma, Ceramu, Gigartine and
Odonthalia dentata. If this classification of zones
of vegetable life be compared with the brief notice
I have given of the subdivisions of the littoral and
laminarian zones on the British coasts, a close cor-
respondence will be perceived; indeed, the chief
difference lies in the stress laid upon the relative
value and connection of the sub-regions.

M. Oersted has given some interesting tables of
the relations of the Algze to light, sea-composition,
and depth in the locality explored. These I abstract,
in order to call attention to this most interesting
subject, and because the memoir in which they are

contained, is not likely to be within the reach of
many British naturalists, having been published in
the form of an inaugural thesis.

86 CELTIC PROVINCE.

The first concerns colour, in its relation to depth.

COLOR. ALG. PROFUNDITAS.
Radii violacei_. Algze viridiccerules-
» -cyanei centes Superficies
» coerulei (Oscillatorinee
oth Algze virides }
1° virides { ( Choresperneay.-i} eda
ANE 1 sare Algee olivaceze
99
95 aurantiaci (Melanospermee) \ ree! 7
. Algze purpureze
» vobri Rae i Ped. 50—65

The second exhibits the influence of sea-compo-
sition, intensity of light, and motion of the water
upon the three groups of green, red, and olive sea-
weeds.

( magna — Ihodospermee.

Salsitudo minor —WMelanospermee,
minima—Chlorospermee.
; : magna —Chlorospermee.
, intensitas 5
Maris ites minor —Melanospermee.
: minima— Rhodospermee.
Profunditas |
magna —Chlorospermee.
undarum :
: : minor —Melanospermee.
violentia ols
minima—hodospermeé.

M. Oersted, after having described his vegetable
zones, then proceeds to constitute three zones of
animal life. The first is the ReGIO TROCHOIDEORUM,
ranging from the shore sea-mark to 7 or 8 fathoms.
He remarks that the shells of the testacea in this
province are strong, in order to endure the force of
the waves ; those that have no shells can hide or
bury themselves. Its inhabitants are, for the most
part, phytophagous animals. It may be separated

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 87

into several sub-regions. The first and uppermost
is that of Littorine, where these mollusks are asso-
ciated with bivalves of the genus Mya, and with
worms of the genera Vereis, Spro, and Arenicola (lug-
worms). The second is the sub-region of Mytilus
edulis, the common mussel. It corresponds to the
sea-wrack’s domain. Here we find the Akera bul-
lata, the A scidia intestinalis, the common sea-urchin
(Lchinus sphera), and the harry-crab (Carcinus
menas). The third sub-region is that of the little
whelk, Vassa reticulata, which, with the small bi-
valve, Corbula nucleus, prevails here. Several fishes
are dwellers here, as Spinachea vulgaris, Cottus scor-
pius, the gunnel, the viviparous blenny, the fluke,
and the sand-eel. Certain shell-fish, normally fresh-
water species, intrude under Baltic conditions here,
such as Limneeus Balticus (2. e. a var. of L. pereger),
and Neritina Baltica (t.e. a var. of V. fluviatilis).
The second animal province is the Recio GyMNo-
BRANCHIORUM. It corresponds with the Laminarian
and Rhodospermean plant belts. It is but partial
in this locality. Its inhabitants are often remark-
able for colour and variety. Among mollusks there
are Limpets, Chitons, Ascidee and nudibranchs;
among crustacea, Caprellide and Pycnogonide.
Most of its characteristic inhabitants are soft, or
at least not strongly protected. The third, and
lowest animal province, is the Recio Bucctnot-
DEARUM ; occupying the deeper part of the straits,
mostly on a muddy bottom. Its population are

88 CELTIC PROVINCE.

chiefly carnivorous, and apt to live immersed in
mud. When covered by shells, these are not re-
markable for thickness. Hermit-crabs and spider-
crabs are here; sea-mice (Aphrodite); large sea-
worms; whelks (Luccinum undatum and Fusus
antiguus) in abundance with A porrhais, screw-shells

and tooth-shells, quantities of Leda rostrata, also.

Cyprina islandica and Hiatella arctica. Sea-pens
are also found here.

The scanty fauna of the Baltic is too decidedly
Celtic to be regarded either as belonging to a sepa-
rate province or to the Boreal region. The number
of fishes of this sea, enumerated by Nillson, is under
thirty. Several of these only range far through the
southern portion of the Baltic, and none among
them is peculiar to it. The herring is remarkable
for presenting some peculiarities, and that of the
northern half has been distinguished from that found
in the southern part. These have been regarded
as distinct from Clupea harengus by some ichthy-
ologists, who have designated the former Clupea
membras, and the latter Clupea Cimbrica: they
seem, however, to be only slight varieties, due to the
influence of peculiarities in the degree of freshness
of the waters. The spratoccurs. The gar-pike fre-
quents the southern district, and the fresh-water
pike occasionally takes to the brackish waters; an
important fact, when we consider the wide circum-__
polar distribution of this fish. Two or three mem-
bers of the cod tribe make their way to greater or

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 89

less distances, Gadus callarvus having the farthest
range. Of flat fish, the Plewronectes platessa thrives
throughout; also the P. limandus and P. maximus.
Both our Celtic sand-eels occur, and a pipe-fish or
two. The mackerel rarely enters this sea; the nine-
spined stickleback is common, and a fresh-water
species descends into the sea. Gurnards are rare,
gobies and bull-heads common. The gunnel, the
viviparous blenny, the sea lamprey, and the stur-
geon, make up the summary of Baltic fishes. The
invertebrate inhabitants of this sea are as few in
proportion as the vertebrata. This character of its
zoology is strikingly seen when we regard its mol-
luscous population. Were the area, in any respect,
the centre of a peculiar fauna, we should expect to
find indications of a special creation, manifested by
the mollusks. Instead of this being the case, once
we have passed some way within the Sound, these
animals become exceedingly few, whether we regard
the number of genera or of species. <A single peri-
winkle, the Littormma rudis, and its minute ally, the
_ Rissoa (Hydrobia) ulve, slightly modified, miserably
represent the long list of Celtic gasteropoda. <A few
bivalves, such.as Z'ellina solidula and tenuis, Donax
anatinum, Cardium edule, Mytilus edulis, and Mya
arenaria, constitute the Lamellibranchs of this sub-
region. Some of these, Zellina solidula for example,
become slightly modified through the influence of
local conditions, and have been elevated by over-
anxious patriots into distinct species, with the dis-

90 CELTIC PROVINCE.

tinguishing epithet of Baltica or Balticus, but a little
consideration and comparison prove, beyond a ques-’
tion, that these are the merest local varieties. High
up in the Baltic, there is a tendency towards a ming-
ling of such marine and fluviatile mollusks, as can
be inured to brackish water. Hence we find com-
mon forms of Limneus, as L. palustris and pereger
(var. Balticus), Planorbis as P. albus, Bythinia and
Neritina, enumerated as inhabitants of the Baltic
sea.

In the Channel Islands, and on the French coast
of this region, we have evidence of the influence of
a. southern element, manifested by various well-
known forms of fishes and mollusks, which either
do not visit the shores of Britain, or are but rare
and occasional visitants. The tracing out the course
of this element, especially. of so much of it as is
littoral, would be a task well worthy of the atten-
tion of an expert field-naturalist. We must look
to some of our able neighbours in France for the
undertaking of this investigation. Along her At-
lantic shores, some excellent naturalists have been
at work : indeed, the first impulse to the scientific
investigation of the distribution of marine animals
was. given by French zoologists working amid the
sea-fauna of their own country. I allude especially
to the researches of Milne Edwards and his col-
league, Audouin. . In their work, entitled “Recherches
pour servir a |’ Histoire Naturelle du Littoral de la
France,” published in 1832, they give an account

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 91

of the result of their observations on the bathy-
metrical distribution of marine creatures, chiefly
made upon the coast between Granville and Cape
Frehel. They distinguish four littoral belts: a first
and highest, dry at ordinary tides, where, when the
coast is rocky, barnacles can live, but, if it be sandy,
few or no marine animals are found: a second,
which, in rocky places, is marked by a population
of periwinkles, limpets, Purpura, Nassa, and red
actinese ; and where sandy, crustaceans of the genera
Talitrus and Orchestes, and the worms Zerebella
and Arenicola ; when muddy, besides these, occur
Nephthis and small siphunculi. The third zone is
chiefly characterized by the presence of corallines,
and is only uncovered at low tides ; mussels, lim-
pets, &c., are found on its rocks, green Actineas and
compound Ascidians ; in other places nudibranchs,
sea-ears, Polynoes, Serpule, and Planarie,; sponges,
lobularize, and Ascidize garnish the interstices of
large stones; millions of small Cerithia and Rissoa
live among the grass-wrack, on its softer ground,
and cockles, razor-shells, and clams, bury themselves
in its sandy mud. The fourth zone, exposed only
during the lowest tides, presents tangle-covered
rocks, often studded with star-fishes. This is the
domain of Patella pellucida; peculiar crustaceans
and mollusks of the genera Bulla and Pandora live
among the fine sand. At a lower level, never un-
covered, is a fifth region, inhabited by oysters, cap-
limpets, scallops, many forms of crustacea, sea-mice,

92 CELTIC PROVINCE.

large star-fishes, and peculiar worms. And, deeper
still, there appears to be another region, in which
none of these animals are known to be found. The
energetic and philosophical naturalists, who, record-
ed these phenomena of distribution, foresaw how
important such studies would become eventually
through their geological bearings. “ La distinction
des divers niveaux quhabitent exclusivement, et
quelquefois dune maniére fort tranchée, les animaux
marins, nous a paru d’autant plus importante 4
faire ressortir, que cette étude, poursuivie avec
quelques soins, peut étre un jour d'un grand secours
a la géologie, et jeter une vive lumiére sur plusieurs
théories fondamentales de cette science.”

In a catalogue of the marine testacea of the de-
partment of Finisterre, by M. Collard des Cherres,
published in the fourth volume of the “ Transac-
tions of the Linnean society of Bordeaux,” are some
interesting indications of the southernmost limits of
the Celtic province. The general assemblage of
mollusks and radiate animals in this locality is de-
cidedly Celtic. Interspersed, however, are a few
well-marked southern forms, either Mediterranean
or Lusitanian, which do not reach to the British
Channel. Thus we find in this list the names of
Purpura hemastoma, the whelk, which takes the
place of Purpura lapillus, more to the south,
though, in this district, the two species are together ;
Nassa neritea, a curious little whelk, resembling a
Nerita in shape, abundant on sandy shores in the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. | 93:

Mediterranean, creeping on the sand, and burying
in it near low-water mark, often in company with
Donacilla Lamarcku, also a Finisterre shell; Arca
barbata and Lima squamata, Mediterranean bivalves
that live among rocks close to the water's edge:
Triton nodiferum and cutaceum, whelks of a genus
that has no representatives elsewhere in the Celtic
province, and 7'rochus Laugiert, a sublittoral shell,
not noticed further to the north. It is worthy of
remark that the greater number of these species are
dwellers on the verge of low-water mark, either above
or below it. Moreover, they are mostly rock-shells,
so that their presence here, separated frequently as
they are from their brethren by the sandy shores of
the southern half of the Bay of Biscay, is an
anomaly not easy, at least by ordinary causes, to
be accounted for.

Everywhere around the British shores the subdi-
visions of the littoral zone are strikingly marked by
both animals and plants, especially on the more
rocky portions of the coast. It matters not how

great or how small may be the fall of the tide; the

several belts of the zone are equally well distin-
guished where there isa very small and where there
is a very considerable fall. There are local differ-
ences, especially noticeable when we compare the
eastern with the western provinces, or the extreme.
north with the extreme south; but in the main the
belts or subordinate zones are characterized by the
Same species throughout. Thus, the highest of them,

94 CELTIC PROVINCE.

that on the very verge of continual air is distin-
guished by the abundant presence of the seaweed
named fucus canaliculatus, among whose roots may
be found crowds of small varieties of the periwin-
kle, called Littorina rudis, especially those forms to
which the epithets patula and saxatilis have been
applied. ‘These, indeed, range out of the water con-
siderably and may be found adhering to the rocks
many feet or several yards above high-water mark.
On the South-Western, and most of the Western
provinces it 18 accompanied by a neat little black
periwinkle called Littorina neritoides, a species which
has a wide spread in the world, but is everywhere
to be found in similar localities. The second sub-
region is marked by the abundance of a small dark
rigid sea-weed, called Lichina, painting the rock
sides as if with a dingy stripe. With it we find
the larger forms of Littorina rudis, abundance of
the common limpet (Patella vulgata), the common
mussel (Mytilus edulis) and myriads of small seaside
barnacles. On parts of the coast where the shore
is steep and rocky, even perpendicular, this belt
may be seen striping the sea-wall like a broad
white band, as if the strong boundary were over-
grown by some hoary lichen. When we approach
and peer into the cause, we find the whiteness to be
owing to the presence of the shells of myriads of
barnacles, all of one species of the genus Balanus,
crustaceans, but very unlike crabs. Among them,
on the barer portions of the rock, are fast-adhering

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 95

— limpets (Patella vulgata). Where the shore shelves

a little, and rocky ledges decline gradually into the
sea, numerous creatures are found living in this

sub-region. In such a locality the common mussel

delights to live, moored by its byssal cable in the
crevices of rocks or, still more numerously, often
in great companies, anchored among masses of gra-
vel, the pebbles of which are tied together by its
silky filaments. The rocksides and the floors of
transparent pools are here often thickly coated with
a hard pale red crust. This is a nullipore, in re-

ality a seaweed, though putting on the aspect of a

coral. Not very long ago it was regarded even by
naturalists as a zoophyte, and is fairly believed to
be a coral even at present, by fishermen who draw
up branching varieties of it in their nets, from
depths that are never uncovered by the tide. The
region of half-tide forms a third subdivision of the
littoral zone, one exceedingly prolific in marine ani-
mals and plants. Here we find Mucus articulatus,
with its graceful even-edged rich brown fronds

growing in profusion, mingled occasionally with

the less elegant Mucus nodosus. Here limpets
throng, and dog-periwinkles (Purpura lapillus),
crawl observantly, seeking to bore more passive
mollusks, and extract their juicy substance. This
is the home of the best of periwinkles, the large
black Luttorina littorea, gathered in thousands for
the London market. On our western coasts we find
it in company with the purple-striped top shell

96 CELTIC PROVINCE.

(Trochus umbilicatus), and towards the south with
the larger 7'rochus crassus. Here are sea-anemones,
especially Actunea mesembryanthemum, like masses .
of brilliant crimson or bright green pulp, but when
covered by the water, expanding into many-armed —
disks, and displaying shapes and colours of exquisite
beauty. A fourth sub-region succeeds, the lowest
belt above low-water mark, distinguished by the
presence of Mucus serratus, the saw-toothed shining
black sea-weed, so much used in the packing of
lobsters for market. It takes the place of Mucus
articulatus. On its fronds creeps the lowermost in
succession of the periwinkles, the variously tinted
LInttorina neritordes, exhibiting every colour in its
obtuse and thickened shell, pure yellow, bright red,
rich brown, dark olive, and all possible changes of
striping and mottling. With it is associated every-
where Z'rochus cinerarius, except, and this exception
applies generally to all the creatures whether ani-
mal or vegetable, where the coast 1s composed en-
tirely of fine sand or clean gravel.

At the verge of low-water mark, immediately
below it, wherever the coast is rocky, there are all
round the British shores, within a space of a few
inches, a remarkable series of more or less distinctly
defined belts, each consisting of a different species
of seaweed. These, in succession, are the Lawrencia
pinnatifida, uppermost ; then the green Conferva
rupestris ; then the elegant and firm, often iri-
descent fronds of Chondrus crispus ; and, lowermost,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 97

the thong-weed or Himanthalia lorea. Even when

the others are absent, the last is usually present.

Beneath all these, and extending to several fathoms
deep, are the great Lammarva or tangle-forests, or,
on sandy places, the waving meadows of Zostera or
erass-wrack. Hverywhere among the tangles, in
the Celtic region, we find species of the periwin-
kle called Lacuna, and of the Limpet known as
Patella pellucida, remarkable for its horny texture
and translucency, and for the radiating rows of
Opaque spots of turquoise-blue decorating its sur-
face. Here, too, are innumerable little univalve
shells of the genus Azssoa, wonderfully varied in
sculpture, colouring, and outline. This is the chosen
haunt of the nudibranchiate mollusks, animals of
exceeding delicate texture, extraordinary shapes, ele-
gance of organs, and vividness of painting. Their
bodies exhibit hues of a brilliancy and intensity
such as can match the most gorgeous setting of a
painter’s palette. Vermilion red, intense crimson,

pale rose, golden yellow, luscious orange, rich purple,

the deepest and the brightest blues, even vivid

greens, and densest blacks are common tints, sepa-

rate or combined, disposed in infinite varieties of
elegant patterns, in this singular tribe. Our hand-
somest fishes are congregated here, the wrasses
especially, some of which are truly gorgeous in
their painting. Here are gobies and more curious
blennies, swimming playfully among these submarine
groves. Strange worms crawl, serpent-like, about
H

98 CELTIC PROVINCE. —

their roots, and formidable crustacea are-the wild
beasts who prowl amid their intricacies. The old
stalks and the surfaces of the rocky or stony
eround on which they usually grow are incrusted,
like the trunks of ancient trees or faces of barren
rocks, with lichenous investments. But. whereas in
the air these living crusts are chiefly, if not all, of
vegetable origin, in the sea they are more often.
constructed out of animal organisms. Some of them
are sponges, compound animals of the very lowest
types; others are true zoophytes, polypes of simple
structure, but often combined in complicated com-
munities ; others—perhaps a majority — resemble
true corallines in general aspect, but differ impor-
tantly in essential nature, being Polyzoa or Bryozoa,
beings that have proved to belong to the class of
mollusca, however unlike they may seem to shell-
fish. <A Plustra, for example, is really a common-
wealth of shell-fish, exceedingly minute, but each
citizen, if we would compare it with the animal
to which it has most affinity, is an inferior kind
of Terebratula, or Crania. Each community is the
result of the budding of some one individual, and
wonderful indeed is it to contemplate the exquisite
and defined beauty of each separate being, and the
equally wonderful and regular conformation of the
entire assemblage composing a single mass.

In the middle and lower part of the Laminanan
region around our shores, the tangles become less
plentiful as we descend, and at last become excep-

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 99.

tional and disappear. But other sea-weeds are very
abundant, especially those that delight in red or
purple hues.

Sea-Vegetables of the Dulse tribe td its allies
are very plentiful here, species of Delesseria, Kho-
domenia, Rhodomela, &c. Tender sea-mosses, exqui-
sitely delicate in form and colouring, species of
Hutchinsia, Callithamnium, and Ceramium abound.
Where none of these are very plentiful, we often
find the coral-weed or Nullipore, in vast quan-
tities, and assuming many strange modifications of
_ form, growing in some places into miniature cab-
bage-heads or fucus-like expansions, in others as-
suming a truly coral-like aspect and deserving its
popular designation. Among these vegetable corals
numbers of peculiar fish, shells, and articulate ani-
mals delight to live; and probably not a few derive
subsistence from their stony fronds. The Lima (a
shell-fish related to the Scallop) gathers the broken
branches by means of prehensile tentacles, and con-
structs for itself a comfortable nest, lined with a
woven cloth of byssal threads. Numerous fishes
resort to these rugged pastures in order to deposit
their spawn among the gnarled branchlets.

The destruction of a nullipore ground is sure to
drive away its finny frequenters, and, consequently,
enactments have been made at various times in
statutes concerning fisheries, for the preservation of
this valuable variety of sea-bed.

The zoological and botanical peculiarities and

100 CELTIC PROVINCE.

characteristics of the Celtic province are chiefly,
almost entirely, marked by the inhabitants of the
higher zones. This is strikingly exemplified by
the mollusca, especially by those genera of them
which are represented in the Littoral and Lami-
narian zones only; as Patella, Purpura, Littorina,.
Otina, Lacuna, Scrobicularia, and Donax. Similar
instances might be adduced from among’ fishes,
articulate animals and radiata. The comparatively
few genera which have their species entirely con-
fined to deeper zones within this area, extend in
other regions to the shallower belis.

The inhabitants of the median or coralline zone
around the British shores are numerous and vari-
ous, but scarcely so peculiar as those of the preced-
ing belts. Yet the general assemblage presents an
unmistakable aspect of its own. Shoell-fish, espe-
cially carnivorous mollusks, the whelk tribe above
all, abound throughout it, varying numerically ac-
cording to the nature of the sea-bed and the
amount and kind of prey furnished by their hunt-
ing grounds. Bivalves of considerable beauty, espe-
cially clams and scallops, are found buried in num-
bers in its gravels and muddy sands, and Sertu-
larian zoophytes throng so as to form miniature
gardens, and around their graceful branches crawl
and hang diversified kinds of worms and nudi-
brancheous sea-snails, not unfrequently of consi-
derable beauty. The spider crabs are here plenti-
ful, with many peculiar crustaceans. And, as a

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 101

natural consequence of this accumulation of good
food, fishes abound, and many of our deep sea and
white fisheries owe their value to the zoological
features of the coralline zone.

The abyssal regions of the Celtic seas are scarcely
included within their more characteristic portions.
The depths of ocean that bound the shallower
soundings along the western side of Ireland and
Scotland would, doubtless, if carefully explored,
reward the naturalist richly for his labour, if not
with new or extraordinary forms, at least with a
knowledge of facts, desired, but not yet obtained.

- Some indications of the conditions of animal life

in the Atlantic depths near our shores were ob-
tained by Captain Vidal during his deep-sea survey,
and, such as they were, held out good prospect.

It would seem that the tribes of annelides of the
genus Ditrupa, tooth-like shells, very similar to
Dentalium in their shapes, are especially abundant.
The approach to land at the entrance of the
Channel has long been inferred by mariners, from

the presence of the shells, called Hake’s teeth (De-

trupa Gadus), among the soundings on the lead
obtained from deep water. It is probable that
there is little difference between the fauna of the
great depths hereabouts and that of the abysses of
the Mediterranean, and we may hope, by their
exploration, to track the course from north to south
of certain species (such as Limea Sarsii among the
mollusca) that have not as yet been noticed in the

102 CELTIC PROVINCE.

interval. But deep-sea dredging is at all times a
difficult operation, and amid the roll of the Atlan-
tic demands a good boat, plenty of zeal and leisure,
unusually fine weather, and a strong stomach for
its successful execution.

The aspect of the Celtic fauna is peculiar and
modest. The shapes of its constituents of different
tribes for the most part are but slightly diversified
by eccentricities, and their hues seldom glaring
or even vivid. The smaller kinds of sponges are
not unfrequently brilliantly dyed, especially a few
species of vermilion or golden yellow hue, but the
more conspicuous kinds are tawny or brownish.
The sea-anemones are elegantly variegated with rich
colours, but the majority of zoophytes are not
strikingly tinted. The Starfishes, as a group, are
most remarkable among the invertebrata for gor-
geous painting, but our other echinoderms are
sombre when compared with their relatives from
warmer seas. The sea-jellies are occasionally
tinged with delicate hues, and some of the smaller

kinds even showily ornamented; but those which.

make most figure in our waters are not conspicu-
ous on account of colour, however elegant in their
contours. ‘T'iaken as a class, our mollusks are like

the men and women of the lands around their habi-.

tations, very neatly but not gorgeously attired.
The patterns of their shells, though often pretty, are
not gaudy or attractive, except in rare instances.
The same may be said, with slightly lesser truth,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 103

for our marine articulata. On close inspection,
however, the elegance of device on the carapaces
of many of our crustaceans is exceedingly admi-
rable.

The fishes of the Celtic seas are not remarkable
for brilliancy of painting. Their hues are quaker-
like, though sufficiently lustrous for sober tinting,

The Cod and Flounder tribes are among the most

characteristic, and such of the more common fishes

as belong to families of which we have but few

representatives, are in most instances clothed in
sober grey and silver. Beauty of no mean charms

may, however, be displayed by these modest vest-

ments; witness the mackerel and the herring.
Among the Celtic Wrasses are several exceptions
to this rule; gorgeously decorated fishes. But

these belong to a family more characteristic of

seas to the south; for though there are a dozen or so

species of Labride, haunting the mid-western coasts
of Europe, more than thrice that number are indi-
genous to the Mediterranean. A like deficiency in

the numbers of Sparide, Triglide (the Gurnet
tribe), and Scombride (the Mackerel tribe), seriously
affects the showiness of aspect of our piscine fauna,

when compared with that inhabiting the Mediter-

ranean. ‘The Sharks and Rays too are compara-
tively deficient, although a few species are over-
sufficiently abundant. The sea-eels are also few,
although in the common Conger and the larger
Sand-eel (Ammodytes lancea) we have two very cha-

104. CELTIC PROVINCE.

racteristic: Celtic species. The sea-perches are few,
and the dolphins absent.

Among the Blenny family we have in this region
the southern limits of the Gunnels, the viviparous
Blennies, and the Cat-fishes, and the whole tribe of
Cottoids attains its equatorial limit, so far as the
northern hemisphere is concerned.

Within the British section of this province we
find distinct indications of a transition, as it were,
from a northern to a southern type. Several cha-
racteristic boreal forms find their southern limit
within the northern half of the British area, and
there some of the most striking and abundant
kinds are chiefly developed in numbers, such as the
cat-fish (Anarhicas lupus), the seythe (Merlangus
carbonarius), the ling (Lota molva), the cod (Gadus
morrhua), the lump-sucker (Cyclopterus lumpus),
and even the herring (Clupea herengus). On the
other hand, along the southern shores of England
we find fishes becoming frequent that are distinctly

of a scuthern type, such as the red mullet (/ullus |

barbatus), the sea-bream (species of Pagellus), and
far more plentifully, the John Dory (Zeus aper),
and the pilchard (Clupea pilchardus).

But although the Celtic province cannot boast
overmuch of the beauty of its ichthyological sub-
jects, when as yet unboiled and swimming free in
the briny waters, it can challenge the world to
match, if it can, its favourite and abundant fishes
when they have undergone the gastronomic ordeal.

SS oe

: Bday to this merit ; aa though the yi
ongs rather to the history of the land than

nown native fishes in the British seas that deserve
commendations of the judicious epicure.

106

CHAPTER V.

THE LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

Spain and Portugal, of all European kingdoms,
have served most scantily the cause of science, and
have contributed but a very small quota to the
army of naturalists. Indeed, until within the last
few years our knowledge of their vegetation, a sub-
ject usually in advance of other branches of local
natural history, was fragmentary and imperfect,
nor are we indebted now for the most that we
know to Iberian botanists, few of whom have
laboured assiduously among the treasures of their
native land. By English, French, Swiss and Ger-
man explorers has the rich flora of the Peninsula
been sifted. Much yet remains to be done before
the terrestrial zoology of this region shall have
been satisfactorily examined. If this be the state
of science upon the land, we can hardly hope for
better things at sea; and, indeed, there is no pro-
vince of the European seas about which we know ~
so little in detail as the oceanic margins of Spain
and Portugal. Were it not manifest that the
natural history region of which they form a part,
embraces, ere it reach its southern boundaries, the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 107

seas around Madeira and the Canary Islands, where
able naturalists have laboured diligently and suc-
cessfully, our account of the fauna of the Lusi-
tanian region would be in a great measure hypothe-
tical.

The most important and extensive contribution
to our knowledge of the invertebrate animals of the
Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal which has as
yet been made public, is the account of the dredg-
ing researches of Mr. Mac Andrew, communicated
by that indefatigable friend of submarine research,
to the natural history section of the British Asso-
ciation, during the meeting at Edinburgh in August,
1850. In this document a record is presented of

all the species of mollusca, their precise depth,

locality, and nature of the ground upon which they
were taken, with notes of their relative frequency
and abundance, and notices of the animals of other
tribes found along with them. The stations ex-
amined, which are especially connected with the
region under review, were the Bay of Vigo in Gal-

licia (the investigator had previously explored part

of the coast of Asturias), Lisbon, and Cascaes, south
of the rock of Lisbon ; the neighbourhood of Faro
in Algarve ; various points between the mouth of
the Guadalquiver and Cape Trafalgar, and the
Straits of Gibraltar.

The general results of these researches may be
stated as follows: on the north coast of Spain
bordering the Bay of Biscay, we find littoral

108 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

species of mollusks of decidedly Mediterranean
types, and which do not range to the Celtic seas.
A peculiar Littorina, Chiton cajetanus, Pleuwrotoma
Maravigne, and Pollicipes cornucopia, raay serve as
striking examples. Vigo Bay is a great arm or
lough of the sea running inland in a mountainous
country. It is 16 or 18 miles in length, and as
deep as 25 fathoms in the mid-channel, with a
muddy bottom. Its most striking zoological fea-
ture is the significant circumstance discovered by
Mr. Mac Andrew, that instead of its fauna being
characteristically of a Mediterranean, or rather
Lusitanian character, as might be expected by its
position, and by the nature of the marine fauna of
the Spanish coast to the north and to the south of
it, we find the assemblage of animals and plants
inhabiting this ford, to use the Norwegian term,
mainly of a Celtic or British character. Its littoral
or coast-line animals are especially of British types.
Out of 200 species of testacea taken there, only 25
are forms which do not occur in the British seas.
Some of these are, however, remarkable, and serve
strikingly to indicate the difference between the
Celtic and Lusitanian areas, such as 7edlina serrata,
two species of the beautiful genus Solariwm, Tro-
chus Laugiert, Ringicula auriculata, and two species —
of Triton, including the great Zriton variegatum,
or Trumpet whelk. About 28, on the other hand,
are species which do not range to the Mediterra-
nean. Some of them are characteristically northern

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 109

as Patella pellucida, Velutina levigata, Trochus
tumidus and cunerarvus, Lacuna puteolus, Littorina
littoreus and rudis, Purpura lapillus, Mactra trun-
cata, Tapes pullastra and Pecten tigerinus. Now
it is very important to note that the majority of
these are characteristic, and mostly gregarious, spe-
cies of the Littoral and Laminarian zones ; species,
moreover, which could only be transmitted along
coasts presenting a line of rock or hard ground ;
and that they are univalves, which, as a general
rule, are less widely-diffused shells than bivalves.
Mr. Mac Andrew expresses his conviction that “the
marine fauna of Vigo, so far as the mollusca are
concerned, is more nearly related to that of the
British Isles than to that of the region in which it’
is situated.” Among its more remarkable produc-
tions is a large reversed /usus, which, though dif
fering in some of its features from the fossil Musus
contrariws, nevertheless so closely resembles some
varieties of that curious shell, that it is hard to
believe it to be other than the same species slightly
modified. The importance of the existence of a
British colony, so to term it, of littoral shell-fish
on the deep bays of Gallicia, depends on the geolo-
gical bearing of the fact. It is certainly a most
striking circumstance that we should find these
creatures living on the coast of Spain, only on its
most extreme western region, and in juxtaposition
with the sub-alpine flora of the Asturian type,
which is partially present also on the western coast

110 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

of Ireland. Now two years before Mr. Mac Andrew’s
discovery I maintained the theory that during the:
epoch preceding the present—during that epoch to
which the terms glacial and pleistocene have been
applied, and most probably at the early stage of
that epoch—there was an extension of the land of
Europe westward, as far as or beyond the Azores,
that the land so extended was continuous with or
more likely contiguous to, the land of Ireland, and
that over this extended land migrated an Asturian
flora, whose fragments remain on the mountains
of the west of Ireland, and are represented there
by the peculiar Saxifrages, Heaths, strawberry-tree,
and some other plants (the number has increased
since I wrote) not found elsewhere in the British
islands. I will quote from the memoirs referred
to.* “The remarkable point concerning these
(Irish) plants is that they are all species which at
present are forms either peculiar to, or abundant
in, the great peninsula of Spain and Portugal, and
especially in Asturias. No existing distribution of
marine currents will account for their presence, and
even if there were plausible grounds for attributing
it to the great current known as Rennel’s, which
sweeps the northern coasts of Spain, and strikes in
its aftercourse against the western shores of Britain
and Ireland, the plants in question, instead of being

* On the Geological relations of the existing Fauna and Flora
of the British Isles, in “ Memoirs of the Geological Survey of
Great Britain,” vol. 1.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. l]1

where they are, should be present in the southern
districts of the countries bounding the English
Channel—in the region of the Devonian flora,
where they are not. Nor can we suppose that they
have been conveyed as seeds through the air; for
besides the important fact that they are all mem-
bers of families having seeds not well adapted for
such diffusion, and that the species of Composite,
and other plants with winged seeds associated with
them in Spain, are not present with them in Ire-
land ; it would be very extraordinary if the winds
_which had conveyed them so far, had never, through,
probably, a long series of centuries, conveyed them
still farther, and diffused them in a country where
there are abundance of situations well adapted for
their habitation.

“The hypothesis, then, which I offer to account

_ for this remarkable flora is this,—that at an ancient

period, an epoch anterior to that of any of the
floras we have already considered, there was a geo-
logical union or close approximation of the west of
Ireland with the north of Spain; that the flora of
the intermediate land was a continuation of the
flora of the peninsula ; that the northernmost bound
of that flora was probably in the line of the western
region of Ireland ; that the destruction of the in-
termediate land had taken place before the Glacial
period; and, that, during the last-named period
climatal changes destroyed the mass of this south-
ern flora remaining in Ireland, the survivers being

112 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

such species as were most hardy, saxifrages, heaths,
such plants as Arabis ciliata and Pingwucula gran-
dyftora, which are now the only relics of the most
ancient of our island floras.

«This, I admit, is a startling proposition, and
demands great geological operations to bring about
the required phenomena. With such a gulf as now
intervenes between Ireland and Asturias, it may
seem fanciful and daring to suppose their union
within the epoch of the existence of the plants now
living in both countries. What then are the geolo-
gical probabilities of the question ?

“During the epoch of the deposition of the mio-
cene tertiaries there was sea—probably shallow—
inhabited by an assemblage, almost uniform, of

marine animals throughout the Mediterranean re- |

gion (tertiaries of Cerigo, Candia, Malta, Corsica,
Malaga, Algiers), across the south of France (Mont-

pellier, Bordeaux), along the west of the peninsula
(Lisbon, &c.), and in the Azores (St. Mary’s). I _

speak to the uniform zoological character of this
sea from personal examination of its fossils.
“During the miocene epoch, then, we can suppose

no union of Asturias and Ireland. But at the close
of the miocene epoch great geological operations —

took place: witness the miocene marine beds dis-
covered by Lieutenant Spratt and myself, at eleva-
tions from 2,000 to 6,000 feet in the Lycian Taurus.
The whole of the bed of this great miocene sea
appears to have been in the central Mediterranean

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. FLS

and west of Europe, pretty uniformly elevated.
This then could, with every probability, have been
the epoch of the connection or approximation of
Ireland and Spain. My own belief is, that a great
post-miocene land, bearing the peculiar flora and
fauna of the type now known as Mediterranean,
extended far into the Atlantic, past the Azores, and
that, in all probability, the great semicircular belt
of gulfweed ranging between the fifteenth and
forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, and constant
in its place, marks the position of the coast-line of
_that ancient land, and had its parentage on its solid
bounds. Over this land that flora of which we have
now a few fragments in the west of Ireland, might
with facility have migrated. This would give us a
new antedate, and enables us to declare our entire
existing terrestrial flora and fauna as post-miocene.”

This argument I further supported from the evi-
dence of the fossils found in the drift (the upheaved
bed of the glacial sea) of the south of Ireland.
“The abundance of Purpura lapillus, and the pre-
sence of Littorina littorea, may be mentioned as
especially characteristic of the shelly gravels which
in Wexford have been found by Captain (now Colo-
nel) James to contain numerous specimens of the re-
versed variety of the Pusus antiquus, known under
the name of Fusus contrarius, and common in the red
crag. At present the reversed form is as rare among
specimens of that /usus, as the dextral form was
anciently. It is difficult to conjecture a sufficient

I

114 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

cause for the prevalence of the monstrous over the
normal form during two geological epochs. The
discovery, by Colonel James, of Zurritella wmeras-
sata (a crag fossil) and a Spanish species, of a
southern form of Pusus, and of a mitra allied to
[probably identical with] a Spanish species in these
southern Irish beds, associated with the usual glacial
species, 18 an Important fact, suggesting the proba-
bility of a communication southwards of the glacial
sea, with a sea inhabited by a fauna more southern
in character than that now existing in the neigh-
bourhood of the region where those relics were
found.”

I still stand by these opinions, after a full con-
sideration of the many objections, some weighty and
worthy of consideration, some frivolous and personal,
which have been offered to my theory, to this part
of it in particular, both at home and abroad. ‘These
shall be answered fully in due time; at present I
prefer occupying myself in fresh research to wasting
time in retrospective controversy. To that theory,
I, however, recall attention here, since the Gallician
discoveries of my indefatigable friend Mr. Mac An-
drew, go most importantly to support my views.
Let the peculiar distribution and presence of the
littoral mollusca, before mentioned, on the coast of
Gallicia, be explained (always bearing in mind my
premisses respecting the unity of species) by any
other view than that I advanced without the aid of
these fresh and important facts, if they can.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 115

At Cascaes Bay, south of the Rock of Lisbon,
Mr. Mac Andrew dredged one of the most interesting
and peculiar members of the Lusitanian fauna, viz.
the Cymba olla, the only volute shell found in the
European seas, and one of the largest of our mol-
lusks. It was taken alive on a bottom of hard sand
at a depth of from 15 to 20 fathoms. It ranges
to low-water mark, and occurs abundantly in the
south of Portugal. This beautiful mollusk is of a
strikingly tropical aspect ; it does little more than
just enter the Mediterranean (I have picked up a
_ dead young specimen as far as the shore of Algiers),
and is abundant on the north-western coast of Africa,
to which region (the Senegal province) it probably
most strictly appertains. Out of a large list of
shells obtained at Faro the following may be se-
lected as strikingly marking the character of the
_ region :—Petricola lithophaga, Panopeea Aldrovandi,
Psammobia (rugosa-like species), Mrvidia castanea,
Mactra helvacea, Cardium rusticum, Mytilus mini-
mus, Solecurtus strigiullatus, Bornia corbuloides, Na-
tica intricata and Guilleminii, Phasianella interme-
dia, Trochus Laugert and canaliculatus, Turbo ru-
gosus, Cerithvum vulgatum, Murex corallinus, trun-
culus, Brandaris, and Ldwardsu, Triton variegatum,
corrugatum and cutacewum, Purpura hceemastoma,
Cassis saburon ? Columbella rustica, a large yellow
Mitra, and Conus Mediterraneus. Out of 99 species
enumerated, 59 or 60 are British species, but all,

116 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

except Z'rochus lineatus (doubtfully determined)
and 7'rochus umbilicatus, such as range into the Me-
diterranean, and many of them are found only on
the southern shores of Britain. These were taken
in shallow water, within the littoral and laminarian
zones. The record of a dredge off Cape St. Maria,
in the neighbourhood of the same locality, shows
the character of the molluscan fauna of the coralline
zone, having been worked in between 15 and 30
fathoms, on a bottom of coarse sand, and, in places,
of mud. Out of 83 species enumerated, 59 are
British, but the same remark applies to them as
to those just mentioned from Faro. Among the
remainder a few of the most striking may he speci-
fied: Tellina distorta and coste, Cytherea venetiana,
Cardita trapena, Lucina digitalis and divaricata,
Mytilus afer, Leda emarginata, Pecten polymor-
phus, Natica sagra? Turritella sulcata, Bucconum
modestum, and hinguicula auriculata. Inthe record
of a dredge in 30 fathoms, eight miles or more from
shore between Cadiz and Cape Trafalgar, we find
a Vermetus and Fusus corneus (i. e. lignarius)
taken, and the large red Oculina coral. Out of
265 species of estacea obtained in the Bay of —
Gibraltar, 135 are British species. In this list we
find species of the genera Solemya, Mesodesma,
Cardita, Bornia (as distinguished from Kellia),
Siphonaria, Vermetus, Solarium, Turbo, Cancel-
larva, Ranella, Triton, Cassis, Columbella, Rin-

THE BUROPEAN SEAS. 117

guicula, Mitra, Cymba, Marginella (as distinguished
from Hrato), and Conus, none of which are present
in the Celtic fauna.

We find also the lost traces of some northern
forms, as Venus striatula, Pecten maximus, Ostrea
edulis, Acmea virginea, and Littorima neritordes.
With the exception of the last-named species the
peculiar littoral assemblage of Testacea which holds
its place from Nordland to Finisterre, and reap-
pears, as we have seen, for a space in Gallicia, has
entirely disappeared.

The Echinoderms of the Lusitanian seas are
kinds common to the Mediterranean, and not Celtic
species. The Hchinus esculentus verus is the charac-
teristic sea-urchin.

Probably in the present state of our knowledge
the most marked distinctions between the Lusi-
tanian and the Celtic regions are to be founded on
the Testacea. The presence of members of the
series of genera I have mentioned above, is espe-
cially a most unmistakable distinction, besides
the numbers of species which do not range north-
wards of the Peninsula. The general assemblage
of species, especially those which inhabit the lit-
toral and laminarian zones, presents a much more
gay and gaudy painting than in more northern
seas. From the Mediterranean region, on the other
hand, a number of peculiar Testacea, absent there,
afford a distinction. Such are the Chiton fulvus, a
large and singular species, which, contrary to the

118 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

usual habits of its congeners, creeps on a sandy
sea-bed, and which ranges from Gijon to the ex-
treme south ; Cymba olla, the great volute already
noticed ; Lathodomus eaudigerus, a curious boring
mussel, which takes the place here of the Date-shell
(Lithodomus lithophagus) in the Mediterranean, and
which has a range equal to that of the Chiton
fulvus; Psammohia rugosa, Siphonaria coneinna,
Turritella sulcata, and Mytilus afer. We may also
cite Z’rochus umbilicatus, a species characteristic of
the oceanic shores of Europe from the north-west
of Scotland southwards. The absence of the com-
mon Mediterranean Chiton siculus, on the other
hand, a species which, if present, was not likely to
have escaped the researches of the indefatigable
explorer to whom I am indebted for so much of
this information, is a significant negative fact.

There is evidently a fine field for original re-
search unexplored in this portion of Europe. The
sea-weeds of the shores of Portugal have recently
been collected and distributed, but a large section
of their zoology is almost or quite unknown. A
good account, or, indeed, any pretty full catalogue
of the fishes of the Portuguese coast is very much
to be desired. We hope that before long some of
our naturalists will direct their attention to this
interesting and promising region.

To get a notion of the ichthyology of the Lusi-
tanian province, we are obliged to travel out of
European bounds, and have recourse to the excel-

ee oe eS ee

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 119

lent researches of the Rev. R. T. Lowe in Madeira.
There is no catalogue of Portuguese or Oceanic
Spanish fishes published, so far as I am aware.
In 1837, Mr. Lowe communicated his Synopsis
of the Fishes of Madeira to the Zoological Society
of London. Of spiny-rayed osseous fishes he had
observed 73 species in this locality. Of these 25
were peculiar to Madeira; of the remainder 26
were common to Madeira and the Mediterranean, 8
to Madeira, the Mediterranean, and the British seas,
and 4 to Madeira and the British seas only. The
species peculiar to Madeira were mostly sea-perches,
scienidee, mackarels, and wrasses. Of soft-rayed
osseous fishes, 20 Madeiran species were observed.
Of these 7 were peculiar to Madeira, 8 common to
Madeira and the Mediterranean, and 5 extending
their range to Britain. Of the pipe-fishes, 2, one
being peculiar, one Madeiran. Of Gymnodonts, the
Diodon reticulatus and the Tetrodon marmoratus
occur. Of file-fishes, one is found, a Mediterranean
form. One member of the sturgeon tribe is present.
Out of 12 sharks and 5 rays, 8 are common to the
Celtic and Mediterranean provinces, and 6 range
only to the Mediterranean in Europe. The total
number of sea-fishes enumerated is 116 ; but this
list has, we believe, through Mr. Lowe’s subse-
quent indefatigable researches, been considerably
increased.

The general aspect of the Lusitanian ichthyology
may, perhaps, be fairly judged of from these data.

120 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

The number of kinds of fish must be regarded, com-
pared with the Celtic number, as proportionately
large, when we consider the limits and peculiarities
of the district submitted to exploration. The
spiny-finned division of the osseous fishes is espe-
cially well represented. Their proportion, as com-
pared with the soft-rayed division, is greater than
in either the British or Mediterranean seas. Mr.
Lowe remarks, that, “instead of occupying a place,
considered ichthyologically, corresponding with its

latitude, Madeira seems to be intermediate between |
Great Britain and the Mediterranean.” This would |
accord with our view of its forming a portion of

the Lusitanian province. The number of fishes of

tropical forms is smaller than we might expect from _

the position of the island.

The remarks made by Mr. Lowe on the facies of
the Madeiran fish-fauna are so interesting and to
the purpose that I think it well to extract them
entire, especially as they may serve to interest
and inform many of our invalid countrymen who
may visit hereafter, in their search after health, the
beautiful island whose marine productions have
been so admirably investigated by this distinguished
and accurate naturalist.

“The list of fishes,” he remarks, “fails to con-
vey a faithful picture of the general character and
aspect of Madeiran ichthyology. It does not suffi-
ciently express the decided predominance of the
Sparidal, Scombridal, and Percidal forms above all

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 121

others. This arises from the profusion in which
the individuals of certain species in these families
occur ; while the species which compose the other
families are in general poorer considerably in this
respect. The commonest edible fishes of the island
are found in the three families just named, as well
as the more gregarious and prolific species.

“Thus the European visitor on entering the
markets, or examining the boats, is struck at once
with the almost total absence of the flat-fishes,
salmon and cod-fish tribes, which more especially
characterize our stalls in England, and with the
unwonted form of the Sargus, Pagrus, Box, Oblada,
Smaris, Thynnus, Prometheus, Lichia, &c., or with
the brilliant hues of the Serranus, Beryx, Acarus,
&e., or the grotesque deformed Scorpena and Se-
bastes.

“This impression will be somewhat different at
different seasons. The spring is characterized by
the common appearance of the splendid-coloured
Beryx in the streets ; attracting notice no less by
its form and hues of silver, scarlet, rose, and pur-
ple, than by the extraordinary size and opaline or
rather brassy lustre of its enormous eyes. With
this, or even earlier, appears abundantly the com-
mon herring of Madeira (Clupea Madeiriensis) ; and
as the season advances the mackarel (Scomber scom-
brus) ; the scarlet Peixe Cao, or dog-fish of Madeira
(Orenilabrus caninus); Carneiro, or mutton-fish
(Scorpena scrofa), and Requime (Sebastes Kuhlii) ;

AP LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

the pike-like Bicuda, or spet of the Mediterranean
(Sphyrena vulgaris); the Sargo (Sargus Ronde-
letw), with teeth resembling the human ; the ele-
gantly golden-striped but worthless Salema (Box
Salpa), and the plain-coloured Dobrada (Oblada
melanura). The herring and the Alfonsin (Berya
splendens) attain the climax of their season about
March or April; the mackarel in May and June ;
but the whole, except the herring, continue through-
out most part of the summer and autumn. In
May the magnificent Lampris lauta, the beauty of
which in the water excites the admiration even of
the fishermen, begins to make its occasional ap-
pearance in the market ; and what is of far more

importance in an economic point of view, the Tunny

fishery begins. This last is at its greatest height
in June or July ; and to it succeeds the capture of
the Gaiado (Thynnus pelamys), which is pursued
with such success, that I have sometimes watched
a single boat, furnished with scarce half a dozen
rods, pulling them in at the rate of three or four
a minute. With the Gaiado appears in almost
equal plenty, the Coelho, or rabbit-fish (Prometheus
atlanticus), and these continue till the close of the
summer by the equinoctial rains of October. The
winter months of January and February are chiefly
characterized by the presence, close along the shores,
of the little Guelro (Atherina presbyter), or sand-
smelt of Madeira, of the common Madeiran herring,
and Sardinha (Clupea sardina ?) ; the two last be-

i a ee

THE EUROPEAN SEAS, 123

ing captured, principally, after violent gales and
storms, when the swollen rivers or torrents carry
much mud into the sea.

“The following species occur in great profusion,
more or less, throughout the year, but still most
plentifully in the spring and summer ; viz. Garoupa
(Serranus cabrilla) ; Cherme (Polyprion cernium) ;
Pargo (Pagrus vulgaris) ; Boza (Bou vulgaris) ; Bo-
cairao (Smarts oyert); Ranhosa, or Tronbeta
(Lichia glaucos); Chicarro, or Madeiran horse-
mackarel (Caranx Cuvierr) ; Bodiao (Scarus muta-
bilis); and Abrotea (Phycis Mediterraneus). The
well-known John Dory, or Peixe Gallo (Zeus Faber),
and the delicate red mullet or Salmoneta (d/ullus
surmuletus), are also taken at all seasons, but more
sparingly. ‘The grey mullet, or Tainha, is captured
very plentifully throughout the year, but most
abundantly, perhaps, in June.”*

How far the Lusitanian region may be said to
extend westward into the ocean, is not yet deter-
mined. If my speculations regarding the ancient

condition of this area be correct, the whole sea as

far as the Azores, and those islands themselves, dis-
tant though they be, full 500 miles, from the coasts
of Portugal, should fall within its bounds. That
the terrestrial flora of the Azores is most intimately
related by almost every species to that of the Pe-
ninsula, and to the islands on the north-western
part of the African continent, mainly to the former,

* “Zoological Transactions,” vol. ii. p. 199.

124 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

we know from authentic records. Unfortunately
our knowledge of the indigenous animals of the
land, and the creatures which live in the seas and
on the shores of the western islands, is not so com-
plete,—indeed is, for all purposes of geographical
comparison, singularly deficient. This, then, is a
field, if properly treated, open to important disco-
very, and for an energetic naturalist, sufficiently
versed in marine zoology to qualify him for the
task, having time at his disposal and the means to
meet the expenses which the nature of the investi-
gations would demand, there can scarcely be a
nearer, pleasanter, and more compact district for
monographic study. The only creatures of the
natural history of the Azerean seas that have at-
tracted attention are the Medusze, which appear to .
abound in their neighbourhood. These creatures
would seem to accumulate here in vast numbers.
Lieutenant Wilkes, of the United States Navy, the
energetic and able conductor of the great Ameri-
can exploring expedition, ingeniously suggests re-
lations between this gathering of the floating ra-
diata and the habits and distribution of the sperm
whale, an animal which is fished in the neighbour-
hood of the Azores.* He remarks that these islands
lie in the course of the great north polar stream,
and form an obstruction to its passage, arresting
and accumulating the creatures which constitute
the whale’s food. The Medusz, thus swept south-
* “Am, Ex. Exp. Narrative,” vol. v. p. 482.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 125

wards, seek strata of water of the temperature best
suited for them. The waters of the polar current
are superficial in this region. The whales feed
near the surface, instead of diving down to seek
their food, as they do in higher latitudes. Medusze
will be borne to lower latitudes in greater abund-
ance at one season than at others, according to the
variable extension and force of the polar current,
and the whales will follow them, changing their
haunts accordingly at different seasons. This may
to a certain extent be true, but not wholly so; for
in the first place, it is not the whale of the Arctic
seas, but the sperm whale, which is present here ;
and in the second, the experience of sea-going
naturalists is every day proving more and more
that Medusee, although free swimmers in the ocean,
are as definitely limited in their geographical dis-
tribution as more fixed animals; so that the Me-
duse of the Azores are not likely to come from
the north. Indeed this fact seems to have attracted
the attention of sailors ; I recollect meeting with
a paper in the “Nautical Magazine,” in which it
was proposed in some circumstances to find the ship’s

- position by means of Meduse.

The southern limits of the Lusitanian province
are extra-Huropean. I had always fancied that the
line might be traced at or a little to the north of
the Canaries, until Mr. Mac Andrew returned from
his cruise to those islands in 1852. The zoological
volume of the great work by Webb and Berthelot,

126 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

on the Natural History of the Canaries, had left
that impression, especially so far as the marine inver-
tebrata were concerned. Thus, among the shells
enumerated by Alcide D’Orbigny in that important
publication, are several tropical species of Conus,
and other Senegal forms. It would now seem,
however, that the line of boundary must lie to the
south of the Canaries. The greater portion of the
fauna consist of Spanish and Mediterranean forms.
Among 270 species of mollusks, all except a small
proportion are of this category, and no fewer than
80 or more are British forms. Some remarkable
forms of Scalaria, Aclis, and Plewrotoma, seem to
characterize the province. Among 125 species of
shells dredged off Madeira about 100 were Medi-
terranean, and of these 58 ranged to the British
seas. Some curious features are presented by the
productions of the African coast at Mogador. In
the harbour there Laminarie are as abundant as in
our own seas, and on the fronds of these sea-weeds
lives Patella pellucida as with us. Out of 98 species
of shells dredged there, no fewer than 54 proved to
be British species, and 90 out of the entire number
were Mediterranean forms. The Echinoderms of
the region around the Canaries are mostly Huropean.
We meet, however, at Madeira for the first time
large and beautiful sea-urchins of the genus Astro-

pyg.

OM UM OSE aA a Heo
Pawn ch

127

CHAPTER VI.
MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

Ir has already been intimated (p. 16) that the
Mediterranean is not entitled to take rank as an
independent marine province in respect of any very
definite assemblage of original forms which have
seemingly been called into being there; yet the
interest attaching to this area, viewed zoologically,
is so varied as will ever require that it should
receive separate and special notice in the Natural
History of the European Seas. There are its well-
defined limits, the richness of the assemblage of
forms which it contains, the extent to which from
early times these forms have been collected and
described, the ready access we have to a large
portion of its coast-line, together with the facilities

_ which its tranquil waters offer for the investigations
of the naturalist. Again, with reference to the
past, the genealogy of a vast number of forms, or
the relation of the present fauna to a former one,
the directions and extent to which the migratory
movements of large assemblages of marine animals
have taken place there, the modifications which
certain forms have experienced in the course of
such changes, are all of them points which there

128 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

receive such illustration as to make the Mediter-
ranean basin and its contents more suggestive to
the naturalist and the geologist than any other sea
with which we are as yet acquainted. It is to such
considerations as these that the present chapter
will be mainly devoted.

It will doubtless be a difficult matter with some
naturalists to divest themselves so entirely of old
prepossessions as to regard the fauna of this great
internal sea merely as a subordinate and derivative
one; such, however, it essentially is, and if we
have heretofore viewed it otherwise, it has been
owing doubtless to the circumstance that it has
been so long known. It was on this account that
with the rise of the present school of natural
history investigation it became a typical region—
one to which reference was constantly made in all
questions relating to the geographical distribution
of European forms. Cuvier and Valenciennes, in
their great work on Fishes, Deshayes, with respect
to Molluscs, habitually speak of certain forms as
ranging from the Mediterranean over a given re-
gion without, and so also with many others. This
practice will probably be continued, nor will it be
attended with any inconvenience, provided the ex-
pression does not mislead and induce the impression
that the direction which an integral portion of the
great Atlantic fauna has taken in its diffusion, was
outwards from the Mediterranean, whereas it was
the reverse.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 129

The Mediterranean Sea, viewed physically, is a
vast lateral extension of the Atlantic, and its fauna
is a full development of the most typical portion
of the Lusitanian zone or province of that great
ocean. In connection with its dependencies, termi-
nating in the brackish waters of the sea of Azof,
it repeats, and on a vast scale, all the phenomena
which have already been noticed touching the re-
lation of the Baltic Sea to the Celtic zone. We
should hardly have ventured, even now, to speak
thus confidently of the relations of the Mediter-
ranean fauna, but for the recent researches of our
own countryman, Mr. Mac Andrew, whose dredgings
from the Bay of Biscay to the Canaries, together
with the reliance which may be placed on the de-
termination of the numerous Testacea he met with,
render his labours a most timely aid in such an
inquiry as the present.

In most striking contrast to that scanty guidance
which is offered by the indigenous naturalists of
Spain and Portugal for the Lusitanian border of the
Atlantic, is the host of able investigators by whom
we are met so soon as we enter the narrow straits,
and have passed within the great Mediterranean
basin. Michaud, Risso, and more recently Jeffreys,
conduct us along the shores of Languedoc, Provence,
and Nice ; Olivi along those of the Adriatic. The
littoral of Greece has been described by Deshayes
and his brother naturalists, and the examination of
the AXigean, from its shores to its greatest depths,

K

130 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

by Ed. Forbes, produced not only a detailed local
fauna, but showed that it admitted of definite
bathymetrical distribution, and that marine animals
have their zones of depth, just as plants have their
regions of altitude. The bearing of these re-
searches on the special investigations of the geolo-
gist have hardly yet been fully appreciated. The
Mediterranean islands have not been passed over.
Mac Andrew has reported on the Balearic group;
Payraudeau on Corsica. Sicily and the coasts of
southern Italy have been illustrated by the ad-
mirable works of Delle Chiaje, Poli, Cantraine, and
Philippi. The Molluscous fauna of the Algerian
seas, which may be taken as a type of the North
African coasts, has been described by Deshayes.

The Eastern Mediterranean carries our retrospect
to earlier labours. “This sea,” says Ed. Forbes,
“which furnished Aristotle with the subjects of so
many of his admirable researches, is of no slight
interest to the student of marine zoology. In the
writings of the great founder of Natural History
Science there are allusions to its shores which
prove that he drew from them part of his informa-
tion ; it is consequently classic ground to the
naturalist as well as to the scholar.”

Though the character of the Mediterranean
fauna be not distinctive, it is yet so far peculiar
that the assemblage of forms which may be there
met with will be found as a whole to be more
typically Lusitanian than any from the Atlantic

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 131

border of that zone, a result dependent on some of
the physical features of this internal sea, which
may be here noticed. é

The portion of the Atlantic coast-line which may
be taken as characteristically Lusitanian extends
from the 30th to the 40th parallel of north
latitude. The Mediterranean Sea, according to
the estimate of Admiral Smythe, measures 2200
miles from west to east, with a breadth of 1200,
giving 6800 miles of coast ; but when the irregular
outline of this sea is taken into account, with its
great advancing peninsulas on the European side,
its promontories, bays, and countless islands, its
marginal line may be safely estimated at 13,000
miles, the whole falling between the latitudes which
are Lusitanian as to fauna. A marine fauna, in all
its elements, is immediately dependent on extent
of coast; it is that assemblage of animal forms
which is to be met with from the marginal line
down to depths of seventy or eighty fathoms ; so
that, extent alone being considered, it will be readily
seen what a wide field the Mediterranean expanse
offers for the development of the fauna of a distinct
- Atlantic region.

The inequalities of the bed of the Mediterranean
are great and abrupt; these, as well as the irregu-
larity of its coast-line, favour the development of a
wonderful profusion and variety of forms of life
within narrow limits. It may assist the naturalist
to state that these inequalities have been found to

132 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

be connected with the configuration of the adjacent
land, as was long since shown with reference to the
island of Sardinia. On the coast of Nice, wherever
the surface rises gently landwards, it will be found
that the sea-bed is continued with a corresponding
slope downwards, as off Ventimiglia ; whereas in
places where high lands come down to the coast, as
from Monaco to Mentoni, the depths are great—
immediately off Villafranca there is as much as
200 fathoms water.

In addition to these inequalities, which, it will be
shown, have an important bearing on the character
of the Mediterranean fauna, there is another
physical feature which has to be noticed, inasmuch
as it has been considered that it has exercised some
influence on the distribution of that fauna. A
submarine ridge extends from the south-western
extremity of Sicily to the advancing headland of
Tunis on the opposite coast of Africa, along which
there is scarcely more than thirty fathoms water,
so that the Mediterranean depression is made up of
two great basins—an Eastern and a Western.

Commencing with those low forms of life which
have so long occupied debatable ground between
the animal and vegetable worlds, we find the “Sponge
tribe” forming a very characteristic portion of the
Mediterranean products. “Sponges,” says Ed.
Forbes, “are abundant in the Lycian seas. The
more valued kinds are sought for about the gulf.
of Macri, along the Carian coast, and the opposite

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 135

islands. Rhodes is the seat of one of the depdts
of the sponges of commerce.

“The species which live immediately along the
shore, near the water’s edge, though often large,
are worthless: these are of many colours ; some, of
the brightest scarlet or clear yellow, form a crust
over the faces of submarine rocks ; others are large
and tubular, resembling Molothurwe in form, and
of a gamboge colour, which soon turns. to dirty
brown when taken out of the water; others again
are lobed or palmate, studded with prickly points,
and perforated at intervals with osculi. These grow
- to a considerable size, but, like the former, are
useless, since their substance is full of siliceous
spiculee.”

The larger kinds are not found deeper than thirty
fathoms, and most of them within a third of that
depth. A few small species live at very great
depths, and one, a Grantia, was taken alive in the
Gulf of Macri in 185 fathoms water.

The sponge of commerce (Spongia communis) is
found attached to rocks at various depths, between
three fathoms and thirty fathoms. When alive, it
is of a dull bluish black above, and dirty white be-
neath. There are several qualities, possibly indi-
cating as many distinct species. The best are taken
from about the Cyclades.

The common sponge of the Eastern Mediterranean
is said to occur in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean,

134 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

The Tethyce are sponges rendered firm by containing
numerous needles of flint throughout their sub-
stance ; of these, one species, 7. lyncurvum, extends
from our West British and Irish coast, along those
of Kurope, into the Mediterranean ; many others of
this tribe have a like distribution.

There are creatures to be met with in the waters
of all seas, and mostly near the marginal line, which
are so minute that the aid of the microscope is often
required to show the existence of some of them,
and which yet occur in such myriads on certain
coasts that their remains become, literally, as
countless as the sands. These animals are even
now but little known, and the names under which
they pass have been generally taken from the forms
of their shelly structures: these are the Horamim-
fera, and the animals are the Rhizopods, closely al-
lied to Sponges.

Such as occur in British seas, of which some sixty
species have been noticed, are exceedingly minute,
and our knowledge of the class has been mainly
derived from Mediterranean species, where both the
forms are more varied, and where some attain much
larger dimensions. The waters of the Adriatic, in
particular, swarm with these creatures, so that an
ounce of sand from the coast at Rimini was found
to contain no less than 6000 of these organisms.

M. A. D’Orbigny, the first naturalist who at-
tempted to methodize the Poraminifera, recent and

Wi,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS, 135

fossil, grouped them under sixty genera ; of these
forty-four are found in the Mediterranean, contain-
ing about 200 reputed species.

Such low forms of life, hardly coming within the
range of man’s vision, may seem to some to be not
deserving of notice in such a rapid sketch as this
is; but the genera of the /oraminifera have an an-
cestry in time, dating back to the earlier ages of
the earth’s history ; and, minute though they be,
their exuvize have helped to build up vaster masses
of solid sedimentary strata than any other animal
forms. ‘The conditions which these forms indicate,
are, therefore, of the highest interest to the geo-
logist.

Selecting those Mediterranean genera which are
most prolific, we have—Nodosaria, containing four-
teen reputed species, of which three are also British.
Dentalina has eight, of which two are British ; Va-
gunulina has eight, of which one is common to our
fauna. Of Textularvwe there are fourteen ; Buli-
mina, twelve ; Rotalina, sixteen ; Cristedlaria, eight ;
Nonionina, nine; Triloculina, eight, of which one
is British ; Quinqueloculina, twenty ; of which we
have two.

So far as present observations go, the Rhizopods
decrease rapidly both in numbers and in forms, as
we proceed from south to north along the European
shores of the Atlantic. The British species as yet
identified with Mediterranean ones amount only to
about six per cent. Of these are Zruncatulina lo-

136 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

bata and Quinqueloculina subrotunda, which have
seemingly a world-wide distribution.

M. Alcide D’Orbigny obtained forty-three species
of Foraminifers from two small parcels of sand
collected at Orotava and Teneriffe ; of these, seven
are well-known Mediterranean species ; four are
West Indian ; the remaining thirty-two species are
to be considered as peculiar to the Canaries ; it
is most probable, however, that many of these are
common to the African coast. With the exception
of one form, for which M. D’Orbigny created the
‘genus Webbina, the aspect of the whole assem-
blage is European ; all the genera are common in
the Mediterranean, and many species, though con-
sidered to be distinct, are evidently very closely
allied to well-known Mediterranean forms.

Of the habits of the living Rhizopods we as yet
know but little ; some are free, some live attached
to marine plants ; the great bulk of described and
figured forms of Foraminifers have been found in
coast-line sand. Such, however, cannot have been
the condition of accumulation of those thick ter-
tiary beds of Italy or France, so largely composed
of these organisms. Many of the species which
are found fossil in the Italian deposits occur, also,
in the coast-sand of the Adriatic, and we must sup-
pose that their light exuvie are mostly carried out-
wards, and deposited in the tranquil depths of zones
beyond those in which the animals themselves
had lived. Ed. Forbes observed that Poraminifera |

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. chs 'f

were extremely abundant through a great part
of the mud of his eighth region (which extends
from 600 to 1380 feet in depth), and for the most
part appeared to be species very distinct from those
in the higher zones. Hepresentatives of the genera
Nodosaria, Textularia, Rotalia, Operculina, Cristel-
laria, Biloculina, Quinqueloculina, and Globigerina,
were among the number. The difference here noticed
between these deep-sea Foraminifers and the well-
known existing species from the higher or marginal
zone is curious ; it would have been desirable that
the comparison had also been made with the series
from the Italian tertiary beds.

The Mediterranean Sponges, as seen through
the clear waters of that sea, spreading over broad
surfaces from the margin downwards, in all their
varied colours and delicate structure, suggest, as
they did to the older naturalists, that they are the
mosses and lichens of the sea. This system of re-
presentation extends beyond these cryptogamic
forms, and the analogies between flowering plants
and some of those compound animals we have next
to notice, forms the subject of one of Ed. Forbes’s
most original and happiest speculations.

The Sertularians are composite beings, built up
by individuals, each of which concurs towards a
common living structure ; and the offices of these
several individuals, and of their parts, correspond
with those which produce the composite structure of
a plant: each polyp answers to a leaf, and performs

138 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

analogous offices towards the nutrition and increase
of the common mass.

In plants, the reproductive organs—flowers and
fruit—are converted leaves. The small bodies
attached to the stems and branches of our common
Sertularie, wholly unlike the other parts of these
plant-like animals, are their reproductive organs—
the vesicles containing the ova ; it was shown by
Ed. forbes that each of these was a metamorphosed
branch ; and as this theory of plant-structure is
constantly deriving support from those vegetable
monstrosities where floral organs revert to leaves,
so also does it happen that the Sertularian vesicles
exhibit like cases of imperfect conversion. This
close analogy gives to the ovarian pods a generic
value, and defines the limits of the true Zoophytes
to the exclusion of the Bryozoa.

The Zoophytes thus limited are to be met with
throughout the Mediterranean in wonderful pro-
fusion and beauty.

Forms of Sertularia, Campanuiaria, and Tubu-
larva, which are common on our British coasts, are
found abundantly along the Atlantic shores of
Kurope, and thence many of them extend into the
Mediterranean.

Of the Anthozoa, the Z'ubrpores, so abundantly
met with in the great Indian Ocean, and in the
Red Sea, even at its northern extremity, are seem-
ingly wanting in the Mediterranean : the Alcyonde
are, on the other hand, very fully represented. Lobu-_

ars kee
eae

Me pr "
tne

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 139

laria palmata, of the Lusitanian zone and Medi-
terranean, is also found in the Red Sea. sis, with
its flexible horny axis and calcareous nodes, belongs
chiefly to Eastern seas ; one species, J. elongata, an
Indian Ocean species, was, however, met with by Phi-
lippi in the Sicilian waters. The Red Coral (Coral-
hum rubrum), though apparently not confined to the
Mediterranean (for Ehrenberg met with it in the
Red Sea), is in a high degree characteristic of it,
from its great abundance ; yet it is not equally dis-
tributed there. In the A“gean it occurs sparingly,
and only as small specimens ; it grows largest and
most abundantly in the Sicilian seas, in the gulf
of Genoa, about Corsica and the other western
Mediterranean islands, as also on the Spanish coast.

The African Coral, though abundant and of large
size, is neither so compact, nor is its colour as bright,
as that of France or Italy. It will be thus seen
that the Red Coral has a Western Mediterranean
distribution. These polyp-structures are of slow
growth ; as much as ten years, it is said, are required
ere Coral-ground which has been dredged over, is
again productive. Perfect specimens, forming minia-
ture trees, may sometimes be seen from Sicilian
seas a foot and a half in height. If the Red Coral
occurs beyond the Mediterranean in the Lusi-
tanian Atlantic zone, it must do so much more
sparingly ; it was not met with by any of the natu-
ralists who have explored the Canaries.

140 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

The genus Antipathes has several species in the
Western Mediterranean ; of these, A. subpinnata
is also Lusitanian. In the Canaries it attains a foot
and a half in height, being much beyond its Medi-
terranean growth. Gorgonic, too, are numerous,
though it may be well doubted whether all the
reputed species rest on sufficient characters; some,
such as G. placomus, ceratophyta, and coralloides,
are common to the Atlantic. G. tuberculata
attains a great size in the Gulf of Genoa and off
the Corsican coast, with a stem several inches in
diameter. It is somewhat curious that Ed. Forbes
did not meet with a single specimen of CGorgoma
in all his A’gean researches.

There is a small Gorgonian Zoophyte, which is
found attached to the so-called White Coral of the
Neapolitan seas (Oculina), for which M. Philippi has
proposed the name of erbyce.

The Gorgonie seem to set the laws of geo-
graphical distribution at defiance: there are certain
species which are said to be common to the Indian
Ocean, the Mediterranean, and to both sides of the
Atlantic ; as many as six, however, which are found
about the Canaries, are admitted by M. D’Orbigny -
as also Mediterranean.

The Pennatule, or Sea-pens, though local, are
varied and numerous. LP. phosphorea extends into
our British seas, the other Mediterranean species
are also Atlantic. Captain Spratt found two forms

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 14]

living in great abundance off the mouth of the
Hermus. J. setacea is common to the Mediter-
ranean and the Canaries.

MM. Quoy and Gaimard, who devoted a few days
to the investigation of the marine fauna of the
neighbourhood of Gibraltar, when starting on their
great voyage in 1826, amongst many new and in-
teresting objects, captured a magnificent specimen
of a compound polyp, belonging to the genus Vere-
tullum, consisting of a cylindrical body, more than
a foot in length, yellow and orange, and studded
with hundreds of white flower-like stars, each borne
on a slender transparent stalk. These compound
animals, so uninteresting and even repulsive when
cast dead upon the beach, are, when living, amongst
the most wonderful and beautiful of the strange
things of the sea.

A remarkable Zoophyte, /unicularia quadrangu-
laris, two feet and a half in length, taken by Mr.
Mac Andrew off the west coast of Scotland, is also
a Mediterranean species. 3

In none of their many zoological differences is
the contrast between the Red Sea and the Mediter-
ranean greater than in’ respect of their assemblages of
Polyp animals. Of the Actuwe, A. mesembryanthemum
and A. tapetum are the only two species in common.
This contrast is greatest as to reef-building corals ;
the Red Sea from end to end has literally been ob-
structed by them, but not only are they wanting in
the Mediterranean, but are equally so over the whole

1493 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINOE.

of the European and African shores of the Atlantic.
Bermuda has been built up by coral polyps; the
islands on the old world side, such as the Azores
and Canaries, are wholly without them. The stony
corals of the European seas are few, insignificant,
and solitary, but their distribution is very definite.
Of the Turbinolids, Sphenotrochus Andrewianus of
our western seas, and which I have found mid-
channel as high as the meridian of the Isle of
Wight, Desmophyllum Stokesw, and Cyathina Smithia,
.form our Celtic group. Desmophylum cristagall
makes its appearance in the northern Lusitanian
zone, and 2. *stellaria, Cyathina *cyathus, and
C. pseudoturbnolia are Lusitanian and Mediterra-
nean. Comocyathus Corsicus and C. anthophyllitis
complete the Mediterranean Turbinolids. From a
specimen I found in a Mount’s Bay fishing-boat, I
expect one of these last will prove to belong to our
Channel fauna.

Of the Eupsammids, Balanophylha verrucaria and
B. Ttalica, Dendrophyllia *ramea and D. corngera
are Lusitanian Atlantic, as well as Mediterranean
throughout, but the principal bulk of the forms
of this order occur in the Southern Ocean, whence
a few species range north on either side of the
African continent, our Lusitanian forms being the
remotest representatives.

Cladocera *cespitosa, C. stellaria, and C. astreearia (a
new species from the seas of Naples lately added by

Sars), with Astroides calycularis, complete the As--

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 143

treads of the European seas. Of the foregoing
forms those marked with an asterisk are also met
with in the Red Sea.

Cyathina pseudo-turbinolia and Balanophylha
Ttalica have had a long occupation of the Mediter-
ranean region. In like manner our Sphenotrochus
Andrewianus had early representatives in such fossil °
species as S. malletianus and S. intermedwus.

Of the higher division of Medusve, one—the Sea-
blubber (Aurelia aurita)—ranges along the western

shores of Europe, and throughout the whole of the

Mediterranean ; as many as half a dozen reputed
species are perhaps referable to this our commonest
form. Pelagia, an Atlantic genus, but of the Lusi-
tanian zone, just reaches our south-west shores.
They are abundantly Mediterranean, and in that sea
are so phosphorescent at times, as to show like
elobes of fire beneath the waters. hizostoma, a rare
form on our own British coasts, and Chrysaora,
swarm in the Western Mediterranean.

Of the Medusze we know but little as yet, either
of their development, the functions of their several
parts, or of their habits and distribution. Sea-going
naturalists meet with them in greater numbers
than any other forms of life; at times our internal
seas, such as the Irish and English Channels, swarm
with them; they float up into all our estuaries,
and if we venture out into the open Atlantic, in ad-
vance of our western coasts, Ueduse may still be
met with. Viewed in this way, certain forms are

144 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

more pelagic than others, whilst at the same time
we can see that there is a certain limitation, de-
pendent on latitude.

Of the Naxrp-nyep Mapusm, Oceania, Mquorea,
and Geryonia, have a great range. Joveolia and
gina are Mediterranean forms, having southern
relations. Our British forms of Turris and Thau-
mantras, which have a range north, have as yet been
so seldom quoted from the Mediterranean as to show
that the genus is sparingly represented there.

These animals (MEepusa&) swarm about the Straits
of Gibraltar and the Western Mediterranean ; those
of the Adriatic, which have been well described
by Professor Will, are still numerous, but they are
scarce in the Eastern Mediterranean, where the
absence of varied forms is balanced by the vast
numbers of the common Awrelia which are there
met with.

Velella and Porpita.—Medusa-like animals, with
cartilaginous supports, belonging to the Lusitanian
Atlantic zone, are Mediterranean ; so also is Stepha-
nomia. Numerous forms of these and allied animals
were captured by the French naturalists Quoy and
Gaimard, p. 141; but, strange to say, the beautiful
Portuguese man of war, the Physalia pelagica, sel-
dom passes from the open Atlantic. Seroe, with a
considerable northern Atlantic range, is Mediter-
ranean. Of this group, the most remarkable is the
“oirdle of Venus” (Cestum Veneris), from five to six
feet long, and three inches broad, a long riband-like

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 145

Medusa, of translucent gelatine, fringed with a
double row of cilia, which reflect lines of all deli-
eate tints of light as it moves through the waters.

All these varied forms, as they are seen from a
vessel’s side, drifting along on calm, sunny days,
suggest that they must be the sport of winds and
currents, and be so wafted into all zones or latitudes.
But such is not the case ; and whether it is that,
except on these calm and sunny days, they keep
below, and so are not affected by the agents that
bring southern forms of plants and animals into
our British seas, still it is the case that the
characteristic Lusitanian forms seldom reach us.
It will be sufficient to compare the series of forty-
five NaKkep-EYED Merpusa, described by Ed.
Forbes as British, (a list which, for this purpose,
might be curtailed,) with about a like number from
the Mediterranean, to be satisfied how distinct are
the Meduse of these two regions. With respect to
the Arachnodermata generally, the laws of geogra-
phical distribution are not only rigidly observed,
but have also been somewhat closely drawn.

The Mediterranean Lryozoa require a somewhat
detailed enumeration and notice. These are the
forms, some of which, though they will appear
under new names, have been long and familiarly
known to our sea-side collectors as Corallines, but
whose claim to take the higher rank of Molluscs
has become universally admitted. Like some of
the Polyps, these animals live associated in colonies,

L

146 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

each forming a little cell ; and it is in the definite
shapes and modes of arrangement of these that
characters are found by which the multitudinous
assemblage of forms of bryozoa can be systemati-
cally ordered.

Not only is this class of animals of great assist-
ance in the determination of the relation of the
Mediterranean to surrounding faunas, but the
beauty and perfection in which their remains have
been preserved from the earliest times, aid us ma-
terially in interpreting the evidence of change
during the yet remoter past. M. A. D’Orbigny’s
primary division of the Lryozoa is into two great
orders,—the Cellulinear, in which, to take outward
characters, the cells are arranged end to end, or
side to side; and the Centrifuginous, in which the
cells spring from behind, or at the base of one an-
other. These two orders are by no means equally
represented among existing forms ; some few of the
latter occur in our European seas, but its repre-
sentatives have, for the most part, passed away. In
secondary and tertiary times, however, they swarmed
in the seas now occupied by our Celtic and Lusita-
nian zones. At present the forms of this order
have a wide distribution, and are known to reach
high northern or southern latitudes. Seriolaria
unilateralis, S. convoluta, and S. lendigera are Lusi-
tanian and Mediterranean ; the latter is also Cel-
tic. Orisea eburnea has a great Atlantic range
as low as the Canaries. Cresidea cornuta is

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 147

Atlantic and Mediterranean. Myriozoum cune-

atum, common to the whole Mediterranean and
so abundant in the Adriatic, is said by Ehren-
berg to occur in the Red Sea. ALeptotubigera
tubulifera, Lintalophora proboscidea, Proboscina ser-
pens, and Berenicea prominens are Lusitanian and
Mediterranean. The last two are found on the
opposite sides of the Atlantic. One species of
Hlornera completes the Mediterranean series of
Tubulinar and Foraminated Pryozoa.

Of the Cellulinear order, Acamarehis neritina in-
cludes the Mediterranean in its ubiquitous range.

Pherusa tubulosa, Reptoflustra umpressa and de-
pressa are Lusitanian and Atlantic. R. membra-
nacea of our seas ranges north, but not south.

Reptolectrina dentata and pilosa extend from the
Scandinavian region to the Canaries and into the
Mediterranean. Chelidonia cordiert and Aetea an-
guina range from the Mediterranean to the Cana-
ries ; the latter is British.

Tubucellaria opuntordes is equally common in
Sicilian seas as on the coast of Algeria ; our com-
mon Cellaria salicorna reaches the Mediterranean.

Of the Hschare of our seas, #. foliacea and LE.
fascialis, the latter reaches the Mediterranean. J.
cervicornis is Lusitanian and Mediterranean ; there
are also forms of Retepora and Semieschara.

Hippothoa, with only a few species, and with a
wide distribution, has one or two forms which have

148 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

not been observed beyond the Mediterranean ; the
genus JZollea is also represented there.

Cellepora, of which C. coccinea is a British and
northern representative, becomes amazingly abun-
dant, numerically and specifically, in the Mediter-
ranean seas. Of this genus, there are some eigh-
teen species, most of which were discriminated by
Delle Chiaje ; some of them have been recognised in
the Atlantic Lusitanian zone. Celleporee are even
more varied in the Red Sea, to which as many as
twenty-five distinct species have been referred—
these have, in some cases, Indian Ocean relations ;
the species of the two seas are essentially distinct.

Perina and its allied genera has several Medi-
terranean species.

The researches of Muller and Troschell, those of
Ed. Forbes, both in the Celtic province and in
the Aigean, together with the work of Grube on
the distribution of the Adriatic and Mediterranean
Echinoderms, have been the means of advancing
our knowledge of this great order beyond that of
some other portions of the fauna of this sea.
From these sources the Adriatic Crinoids, Ophiu-
rids and Asteriads may be estimated at about
twenty-eight ; the Holothuriads at seventeen. Sars,
who has recently described the Neapolitan Echino-
derms, finds, of the three first of these orders, as
many as forty-five, of the Holothuriads thirteen,
species.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 149

Of the forty species noticed by Ed. Forbes as
British, nine at least may be commonly met with
throughout the whole extent of the Mediterranean,
such as Comatula rosacea, *Ophiura lacertosa, Ophio-
coma scolopendroides, Palmapes membranaceus, *As-
terina gibbosa (minuta), *Astervas aurantiaca, with
its numerous varieties, Hchinus lividus, Spatangus
purpureus, Hchinocyamus pusillus. To these, accord-
ing to Grube, may be added that most singular in
its aspect of all Echinoderms, Astrophyton scutatum.

These forms, in common with all the British spe-
cies, have a considerable northern range, whilst in
the contrary direction they extend through the Lu-
sitanian zone, some even as far as the Canaries,
where those species marked by an asterisk also
occur. The European star-fishes, therefore, “do not
seem so local in their distribution as the Mollusca
and the higher classes of animals.”

Taking only the common well-known and well-
defined Mediterranean Echinoderms, it will be found
that they are also Atlantic. Hchinus esculentus,
which does not reach our seas, is common along
the west coasts of Spain and Portugal, as also on
those of West Africa and the Canaries. Such, like-
wise, is the case with Asterias tenuispina, Ophidias-
ter ophidianus, O. granifer, and Lrissus ventricosus.
In some instances extreme zones of the Atlantic
have forms in common, which, so far as we yet
know, are wanting in the intermediate space ; such
is the great Stellonia glacialis, which is found in the

150 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

Mediterranean, and as far south as the Canaries,
but which has not yet been recognised as a British
species.

When the animals of different sea-zones are
brought together and compared, it is constantly
found that variation in size is a marked character
with reference to species which are strictly identi-
cal; the British naturalist finds constant occasions
for noting facts of this kind, when pursuing his re-
searches away from his own immediate seas. With
respect to Echinoderms, Ophiura texturata and Hehi-
nus lividus, from the south coasts of France, Spain,
and the Mediterranean, exceed ours in size, and we
have a still more remarkable instance if, as is sup-
posed, the great Achinus melo be the same with our
EH. sphera. On the other hand, Spatangus purpu-
reus attains a much greater size on the coast of
Norway than it does in the Mediterranean. Size
and numerical abundance of any given form may
be taken as the surest indication that it is at home
there, or in its proper zone ; true northern forms
degenerate and become scarce as they range south,
just as southern ones do as they occur north.. The
directions in which such changes as these take place
should be carefully noted, for these forms are not
depauperized stragglers from their natural settle-
ments, but rather the remnants, and indications of
changed conditions, and are of the same value to
the naturalist that the lingering communities of
isolated races of man are to the ethnologist.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 151

With us, thecommon “egg-urchin” affords the poor
a somewhat stinted luxury ; but in the Lusitanian
area, and throughout the Mediterranean, its greater
size, as also that of its allies, Mchinus melo and L.
sardicus, renders them, when “in egg,” important
articles of food. In Sicily they are in season about
the full moon of March, there the /. esculentus is
still called the “ King of Urchins,” whilst the larger
Melon Urchin is popularly considered to be its
mother ; hence its name Mchinometra, of the old
naturalists. The size and abundance of these edible
Species is one of the striking peculiarities of the
fish-markets of the Mediterranean seaboard.

Amongst the star-fishes of the Canaries, or of the
_ south Lusitanian zone, are Stellonia tenuispina, Ophi-
diaster ophidianus, with its long, snake-like arms, O.
gramfer, and the large Brissus ventricosus ; these
all pass into the Mediterranean, as does also the
Cidaris imperialis. This form occurs also in the
Red Sea ; but as a safeguard against any false infe-
rences from such a fact, Astropyga has its north-
ern limit about the Canaries, ranging thence down
the African coast, and extending into the Red Sea
in virtue of having a corresponding zone on the
eastern side of the great African continent.

Lchimus lwidus is abundant in the Eastern Medi-
terranean, adhering to rocks a little below the
water-mark. J. esculentus is found more sparingly
and rather deeper, but the Zchinide are not largely
represented here. The Hchinus monilis, an Atlantic

152 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

species, but which had a Mediterranean settlement
as far back as the oldest tertiary deposits, was found
to be common at depths from fifteen to 200
fathoms. To these may be added the gregarious
Cidaris hystriz, and Spatangus purpureus, Echino-
cyamus pusillus, the smallest and prettiest of our
own urchins; a Srissus completes the Hchinide ;
in all eight species, all Atlantic, and of which five
extend into our seas.

Of the recognised Asterrade, these same seas
contain our western “Spiny Crab-fish” (Uvraster
glacialis, Linn.) and the Palmipes membranaceus.
The northern seas, observes Ed. Forbes, greatly
exceed the Mediterranean in the number of species
and abundance of individuals of this order. Out
of the small number of the true star-fishes taken
by him one-half occurred ouly as single specimens.
So, also, with respect to the true urchins,—the edi-
ble species, so abundant in the central and Western
Mediterranean, is individually scarce in the Atgean,
as is also Spatangus purpureus.

The Ophiuride observed by Ed. Forbes in the
/Mgean were eleven ; of these, four are Atlantic
species ; the rest, O. texturata and albida, Amphi-
ura neglecta, and Ophiothrix rosula, are new, and
were procured from great depths; one, the Ophi-
ura abyssicola, having been taken alive from 200
fathoms.

Lastly, the Holothuriade are much more nume-
rous in the Western Mediterranean than the Eastern,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 153

They all live in*shallow water, and attain a great
size. Cucwmaria pentactes, which reaches far north,
was taken there, as was also the Syrina nudus.

Some of the Echinoderms of the Mediterranean
illustrate the changes of range in latitude which
the same species exhibit when we compare present
faunas with those of past times ; a large and beau-
tiful urchin found in the Crag formation of our
eastern counties is identical with the Brissus Scille
of the Lusitanian regions.

Crabs, Lobsters, and Shrimps, belonging to the
order Crustacza, are rich, both numerically and in
species, throughout the European seas, and they
admit of a like geographical distribution to that
which has been noticed with respect to other
marine forms of lifee M. Milne Edwards, who has
devoted much time and study to these animals,
was the first to present a sketch of this sort, and
indicate those zoological provinces into which the
European seas may be divided. Some species are
peculiar to the Scandinavian region, others to the
Celtic. The Mediterranean, again, contains species
which are not to be met with in either; so that,
with respect to Crustacea, he considered that the
European seas presented three distinet regions.
The west coast of Africa has its peculiar Crusta-
ceans, constituting a fourth region, and the Atlantic
islands might, perhaps, form a fifth. This “ Celtic
region” of M. Milne Edwards is of much greater
extent than that which Ed. Forbes designates by

154 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

the same name, and includes a large portion of the

Lusitanian zone.

Owing to the works of Leach, Desmarest, and
others, we have long had a knowledge of the Crus-
tacea of our own shores as well as of those of Brit-
tany and the Mediterranean, to the exclusion of
such as occurred on the south-western coasts of
France, and the Atlantic border of Spain and Por-
tugal. As M. Milne Edwards carries his Celtic
region as low as Gibraltar, the assemblage from that
region seemed to present an amount of distinctness
from the Mediterranean which does not really exist.

The forms which may be considered Celtic in the
restricted sense of the present work, are the Swim-
ming Crab (Polybvus Hensloww) of the west of
France and England, Hyas coarctatus, Athanas
mitescens, and Pandalus annulicornis. Other species,

such as the Great Crab (Cancer pagurus), the com-—

mon “Shore-Crab,” Carcinus menas, and Portunus
puber, have their numerical maximum within our
region ; its negative character, as a Zoological pro-
vince, consisting in the absence or scarcity of Cato-
metopes, Anomoura, and Squilla. In general terms,
the Celtic Decapod Crustaceans of our coasts are to
be met with in the Mediterranean ; some of our
common forms become scarce there, and vice vers,
indicating both the changes which take place across
the Lusitanian zone, and the source or direction
in which the Mediterranean has derived a large pro-
portion of its Crustacea. 7

ae
* Cu +
eS ee

lel

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 155

If we next separate the forms which may be con-
sidered, for the present, as characteristically Medi-
terranean, we find Lupa hastata, Lrssa Gualtert ?
* Mithrax dichotoma, Herbstia nodosa, Amathia

fouxn, Acanthonyx lunulata, several species of

Lambrus, Calappa granulata, Dorippe lanata, He-
mola spinifrons (barbata), H. hispida, several large
forms of Pagurus, Scyllarus latus, and Squilla

mantis.

Catometopes becomes numerous here, and certain
southern genera make their appearance, such as
Ocypode ippeus, abundant at Cape de Verde, Gecar-
conus, &e.

The Decapod Crustaceans of the Mediterranean
may be taken at ninety described species. * Turning
to the south Lusitanian region, as it is represented
by the Canaries, we find there as many as forty
species, of which a great proportion, with the ex-
ceptions to be noticed, occur in the Mediterranean.
The south Celtic and the south Lusitanian Crus-
tacea, together with a few from the west coasts of
Africa, make up the assemblage of known Mediter-
ranean forms. The direction whence this portion
of the Mediterranean fauna has thus been derived
is, therefore, evidently western. The known eastern
Crustacea of this sea do not amount to one-half of
those to be met with in the west ; but, though less
numerous as to species, their relations are still
wholly western or Atlantic. Of the forty-three
species of Decapods collected by the French natu-

156 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

ralists on the coasts of Greece, one-third are British ;
and of the three species of Stomatopods we have
two—Squilla mantis and Desmarestw.

The Mediterranean Crustacea are interesting in

another point of view: the mineral composition of
the external crusts of these animals favours their
preservation ; hence their remains are abundant in
the old sea-beds of this area, and enable us to com-
pare the relations of the present fauna to a former
one, as readily as by the aid of fossil shells. Geo-
logical changes, and the influence they have exer-
cised in the breaking-up of former zoological
regions, or continuity of given forms, seem the sim-
plest resource by which to explain the present
apparent isolation of certain species.

The Nephrops Norwegicus has its numerical
maximum in, and is a good characteristic Crustacean
for, the Scandinavian region, but it occurs abun-
dantly in Dublin Bay ; it has not, however, accord-
ing to Mr. W. Thompson, a general distribution—
such as west and south, even throughout the Irish
seas. We may feel sure, from its excellence as an
edible species, that it has not been overlooked by
fishermen, whilst its size, form, and proportions
make it the most elegant Crustacean we have—a
prize which no naturalist would overlook; yet,
strange to say, it has not been recorded from the
western coasts of France, nor do we meet with it
till we reach the Mediterranean. It seems to be

abundant in the Adriatic, in which sea it may be

Ss SO ee ee

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 157

7

noticed, that several other outlying forms of northern
types have also been met with.

Amongst the Mediterranean Crustaceans, there is
found a species of Withrax. The genus is character-
istic of the western or American side of the At-
Jantic. When we consider the pelagic habits of some
of the Crustacea, we might expect a much greater
amount of agreement between the remoter portions
of wide seas or oceans, so far as these animals are
concerned, than could be looked for in the distri-
bution of the Mollusca or even of the fishes : of all
marine animals, certain Crustaceans are the most
oceanic ; the central Atlantic regions of the floating
weed-banks swarm with them. It will not, there-
fore, surprise us to find that the Crustacea of the
Atlantic islands present an assemblage which departs
a little from the Lusitanian character of the fauna
of that group. Of forty-three species, more than
half are also Mediterranean, and a few Celtic and
Lusitanian, as Jnachus dorynchus ; but the distinctive
character of the assemblage is derived from the
southern forms. Grapsus strigosus and Jessor,
marginal crabs, are abundant, as is Plagusia clavi-
mana ; these range down the African coast into the
Southern and Indian Oceans, and occur in the Red
Sea. The “Sea-spider,” Leptopodia sagittaria, is
common to the Canaries and the West Indian
Islands.

The Tunicated Mollusks have not as yet been
alluded to in the notices of the northern Atlantic

158 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE. —

provinces; those of our own Celtic coasts are some-
what numerous, but they are forms. which, for
the most part, do not occur very readily, whilst the
more common ones, such as Ascidia intestinalis and
A. canina, as they are usually seen attached to the
roots of weeds thrown upon the beach, are but little
attractive.

The geographical distribution of this class has
not yet been worked out. Certain genera of simple
Ascidians, such as Molgula, Peloncea, Boltonia, and
that very remarkable one, Chelyosoma, where the
leathery skin is thickened into tortoise-like plates,
seem to have a decided northern tendency. Molgula
and Pelonea are represented in our fauna, and our
Ascidians as a whole have a northern distribution.

Some forms of this class have evidently a wide
range ; of our British species, Amouwrouciwm argus,
Botryllus polycyclus, Ascidia mentula, and A. arach-
noidea are also Mediterranean.

There is a large Ascidian found in the Adriatic,
in form somewhat like our common, species, but
which becomes a beautiful object from the effect. of
colour; in this—A. papillosa, the tough skin is
thickly overset with disks of the brightest scarlet.

The genera Hucceliwm and Diazona (a Medusa-
like Tunicary) are characteristically Lusitanian and
Mediterranean. The pelagic genus Salpa is repre-
sented here by more than a dozen species. Nu-
merically these free swimmers are more abundant
about the western than the eastern division, —

ee ee

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 159

There is a large compound Ascidian, easily to be

mistaken for a Zoophyte, so abundant at times that

the fishermen’s nets become choked with it, and
which, when thrown upon the beach, is amorphous
and repulsive enough. When in the water it is
seen to be a most remarkable form of aggregate
life, consisting of a hollow cylinder closed at one
end, and made up of hundreds of distinct animals
set side by side: this is the Pyrosoma—the Fire-
body.

Though common, it has, perhaps, more frequently
attracted attention at night than day, for, of all the
numerous phosphorescent animals of Lusitanian
seas, this is, perhaps, the most so. In particular
states of the atmosphere, these animals light up the
water by their intense fire-like glow. There are
several species, but all belong to the warm regions
of the Atlantic, and have their northern limits in
the Lusitanian zone.

Many more products of the sea are eaten in
southern regions than with us. <Ascrdia microcosmus
is a favourite on the coasts of the gulf of Genoa,
and A. rustica on those of Greece and the Adriatic.

The Mediterranean Pteropods belong mainly to
the genera Hyalea, Cleodora, and Creseis, forms
wholly unknown to our own fauna except as waits.
Vast shoals of these animals frequent the deeper
parts of that sea, leaving their remains strewed over
its bed, between depths of 100 and 200 fathoms ;
they are short-lived creatures, and have their season,

160 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

being met with near the surface during spring and
winter, and were found by Ed. Forbes to have
been most abundant from about three hours after

noon till night-fall, “sparkling in the water like |

needles of glass.”

These are the winged insects of the sea, remind-
ing us, in their free circling movements and crepus-
cular habits, of the gnats and moths of the atmo-
sphere ; they shun the light, and if the sun is
bright you may look in vain for them during the
life-long day,—as days sometimes are at sea; a
passing cloud, however, suffices to bring some
Cleodore to the surface. It is only as day declines

that their true time begins, and thence onwards the

watches of the night may be kept by observing the
contents of the towing-net, as the hours of a summer
day may be by the floral dial. The Cleodore are the
earliest risers; as the sun sets, yalewa gibbosa ap-
pears, darting about as if it had not a moment to
spare ; for its period is brief, lasting only for the Me-
diterranean twilight. Then it is that Hyalea trispr-
nosa and Cleodora subula come up. Hyalea triden-
data, though it does not venture out till dusk, retires
early, whilst some species, such as Cleodora pyra-
midata, are to be met with only during the mid-
night hours and the darkest nights. This tribe,
like a higher one, has its few irregular spirits, who
manage to keep it up the whole night through. All,
however, are back to their homes below before dawn
surprises them.

ae 1

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 161

In the descriptions of the other provinces, no
notice has been taken of that large and highest
order of Mollusca—the Cephalopods, or Cuttle-
fishes ; they form, it is true, no insignificant pro-
portion of our Celtic marine fauna, amounting to
fourteen species, yet some of these can hardly be
considered as more than the summer visitants of
our seas, nor moreover are there any which are
peculiar to our province. As an order, the Cepha-
lopods increase in numbers and in representative
forms as we proceed from cold to warmer regions,
so that their history properly belongs to the Lusi-
tanian zone of the European seas. These animals
have been described in the general work of M.
D’Orbigny, whilst the forms which occur in the

Mediterranean are the subject of a monograph by

M. Verany, of which the illustrations are the truest
and most beautiful representations which have ever
been given of these forms : from these sources, and
by the notices of some few other naturalists, the
number and distribution of the species of the order
belonging to the European seas, may be easily de-
termined ; it may be fairly doubted, however,
whether our knowledge now is not relatively far less
complete than it is with reference to many of the
lower orders of Mollusca.

The Cephalopods are migratory animals, wily and
cautious, quick-sighted, rapid in their movements :
many are pelagic, perhaps nocturnal also ; the little
Spirule must swarm somewhere in Lusitanian lati-

M

162 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

tudes, for their shells are brought by thousands to
the coast of the Peninsula, yet they are never cap-
tured alive there.

Philippi met with fifteen species of Cephalopods
in the seas of the Two Sicilies ; of these, the large
and ubiquitous “poulp” (Octopus vulgaris) occurs
abundantly in the Hastern Mediterranean ; but two
other species (O. velifer and O. catenulatus) have
not been taken, neither was Argonauta argo,
though there is reason for supposing that it occurs
there. On the other hand, Hledone macropodius,
an abundant Greek species, and which was captured
by Ed. Forbes at Cerigo, is not noticed by Philippi.
The more open-sea researches of Ed. Forbes may
perhaps account for some of the differences in the
lists of these two naturalists, for in another place
(“ Travels in Lycia,” vol. ii. p. 100), we find that
Octopus, Hledone, Sepia, Sepiola, and Loligo occur
in the Eastern Mediterranean ; this is exactly the
generic assemblage given by Philippi.

From an inspection of all the lists of various ob-
servers, we may fairly infer that the Cephalopods
are scarcer in the Eastern Mediterranean than they
are in the central portion. !

Philippi is of opinion, that some of Verany’s
more western species (from the gulf of Genoa) may
be found in Sicilian seas, though from their scarcity
he had failed to meet with them. Apart from
specific forms, the Cephalopods of the Eastern as
compared with those of the Western Mediterranean,

Baty

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 163

illustrate what happens with respect to marine ani-

mals generally ; where the distinct forms are few,
the individuals are numerous, and where they are
more varied, there the common forms are individu-
ally less abundant. About the shores of the Eastern
Mediterranean the common Sepia officinalis is so
numerous, that the “ cuttle-bones” may be seen in
places heaped by the waves into a ridge, which
fringes the sea for miles. “As in ancient times,”
says Ed. Forbes, “these mollusks constitute now
a valuable part of the food of the poor, by whom
they are mostly used. One of the most: striking
spectacles at night on the shores of the Aigean, is
to see the numerous torches glancing along the
shores and reflected by the still and clear sea, borne
by poor fishermen paddling as silently as possible
over the rocky shallows in search of the cuttle-fish,
which, when seen lying beneath the water in wait
for his prey, they dexterously spear, ere the creature
has time to dart with the rapidity of an arrow
from the weapon about to transfix his soft but firm
body.”

It is this power of rapid motion, together with
pelagic habits, that gives to so large a portion
of the Cephalopods an extensive range in latitude,
and seemingly in this direction only, for with the
exception of the “poulp” (Octopus vulgaris), which
occurs in all seas, the species of the two sides of
the Atlantic are quite distinct. Though mostly
pelagic, they all approach the shore at particular

164 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

seasons, and some are very generally supposed to
migrate periodically from south to north and back
again. The successive appearance of numbers of
Loligo vulgaris, Sepia officinalis, and the little Sepiola
along the coast of France and later on ours would
seem to confirm this notion. These habits deter-
mine the distribution of the Cephalopods over the
Mediterranean area; the forms that occur there
are wholly Atlantic ones, and from the western
entrance to the central and thence into its extreme
eastern portion, the number of species decreases
progressively. As far as the Cephalopoda are con-
cerned, the Western Mediterranean has fewer forms
in common with the Eastern than it has with our
south British seas, the reverse of what takes place
as to the other Mollusca. Philonexrs, Crancha,
Loligopsis, and Cheiroteuthis are amongst the more
peculiar forms of the Lusitanian and West Medi-
terranean province. Some forms which occur on
the West African coast, such as the Arvgonauta
hians, have not yet been noticed within the Straits ;
yet this species lived in the central Mediterranean
area during the later tertiary period.

The known species of Cephalopods may be taken
at about 110; of these, fifty occur in the Atlantic ;
the “eight-armed” Octopus, and the “ ten-armed”
Rossia, Sepia (cuttle), Loligo (squid), Onycoteuthis,
and Ommastrephes, are met with in its cold, tempe-
rate, and warmer regions, but the latter are richest
in specific forms. <Argonauta, Philoneais, and Se-—

Ae EE iy A te en Sie a
che Laeon ah

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 165

piola, mark those warmer zones which form our
Lusitanian region ; south of which, Cranchia, Sepio-
teuthis, Loligopsis, H'noploteuthis, and Spirula make
their appearance.

The following tabular arrangement will serve to
show both the range of certain genera in latitude,
as also the general relations of the Mediterranean
Cephalopods to those of the Atlantic.

Atlantic. Medit. Southern Red Sea.

Ocean.

Octopus . -+ a aa +e
Philonexis . ae + 0 0
Argonauta . + + 0 0
Sepiola + ++ oft 0
i Rossia . + + + 0
Sepia . + + -- Fe
Loligo. + -- a 0
Sepicteuthis +8 0 a5 Fe
Enoploteuthis . +s 02 + +
Histioteuthis ao +. 0 0

-+ a 0 0

| Cheiroteuthis

No one has as yet undertaken the description of
the testaceous fauna of the Mediterranean as a
whole, though it is a work which has been long needed.
It would be easy enough to compile a list of species
out of the works of the several authors and ob-
servers already referred to, but this is not what is
wanted : either the same eye and the same critical
judgment must be applied to review the whole of
the original materials collected and described by
these naturalists (for some of the most distinguished
amongst them differ widely in the views of specific

166 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

distinctiveness), or else some M‘Andrew must de-
vote a few years to the pleasant labour of re-in-
vestigating the whole area. The first of these
tasks is now hardly possible: some of the Mediter- -
ranean observers are no more, the materials they
collected are already either lost, dispersed, or in
hopeless confusion. The other chance alone remains.

A cayrefully-prepared list of Mediterranean Tes-
tacea gives more than 700 species. This is, pro-
bably, below the number. Mr. Woodward, in his
excellent Manual, estimates them at 600; Mr.
Jeffreys at 850: it is obvious, therefore, that this
sea is wonderfully rich in this group of animals,
and our knowledge of them comes nearest to that
which we have of those of our own coasts. These
eross results as to the Mediterranean Testacea have
been obtained by summing the observations of
many labourers in very many localities, some of
which may be considered separately.

The Eastern Mediterranean may be divided into
Northern and Southern portions. In the first of
these, Risso, Payraudeau, and Michaud have col-
lected, and our own countrymen Ed. Forbes and
Jeffreys have dredged. I am unable to ascertain ~
with what results and to what extent Ed. Forbes
investigated this district ; a few incidental notices,
such as “dredged off the coast of Nice,” are the only
indications I have that he had ever worked here.

Mr. Jeffreys visited this part of the Mediterranean
in 1856, for the express purpose of dredging, and

Ta A
‘ ft 4 ‘ 5 i
Pag 9 |

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 167

with what ample spoil he was rewarded for devoting

a long vacation to this pursuit along that most
enjoyable of all regions—the coast of Piedmont—
is fully narrated in a memoir, to which I would
refer every sea-side naturalist, for his encourage-
ment to do likewise.

In the beautiful bay of La Spezzia, the nearly
tideless sea presents a very striking contrast to such
as may have wandered, observed, and collected only
along the Atlantic shores of Europe ; throughout
the whole Mediterranean, the sea-side naturalist
has never presented to him any of those broad
expanses of rocks and pools, swarming with life,
and under so many forms, which he has been accus-
tomed to look for where tides are lowest.

“By wading a little, however,” says Mr. Jeffreys,
“1 found a great many live shells which I never
met with in my own country, such as Conus
Mediterraneus, and several species of 7'rochus, Patella,
Columbella, Vermetus, and Pollia. Farther seawards
is a belt or fringe of Zostera and other sea-weeds,
which appears to be the favourite haunt of the
Murex Brandaris and M. truneulus. Beyond this to
a depth of twelve fathoms is a variety of ground,
a great part being covered with Zostera and other
sea-weeds ; another being rocky, and the rest strong
and favourable for the growth of sponges and
corals.” Mr. Jeffreys puts the bather on his guard
against the sharp stout spines of the edible Urchin

168 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINOE.

(Hchinus esculentus), which swarms over the rocks
at slight depths from the surface.

“Outside the gulf,” he continues, “is deep water ;
but I was disappointed in my dredging there. For
several leagues seaward in from fifteen to forty
fathoms, I met with nothing but tenaceous mud,
with Zurritella communis and a curious variety of
Calyptreea sinensis. The limestone rocks of this
coast contain in abundance the perforating ‘ Date-
shells’ (Lithodomus dactylus), by extracting which
‘the fishermen eke out their precarious livelihood.’ ”

These few forms already quoted indicate at once
to the “ Celtic” naturalist that he has moved into a
new zoological province. His subsequent researches
will show him that all here is not equally new
and strange ; so that, if to the foregoing he adds
Teredina, Solenomya, Cardita, Chama gryphoides,
Spondylus gaderopus, Crepidula ungurformis, Cassis
Saburon, Cassidaria Tyrrhena, and two or three
species of Mitra and Marginella, he has before
him the assemblage of generic difference between
this sea and his own. Some of these forms are
marginal, and occur readily, causing the testaceous
fauna to appear more distinct from ours than it
really is.

“The greatest specific variation,’ observes Mr.
Jeffreys, “between the British Testacea and those
of the Mediterranean occurs in the denizens of the
littoral and laminarian zones, particularly in the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 169

genera Mitylus, Chiton, Patella, Trochus, Buccinum,
Fusus, and Murex. In each of these zones certain
species seem to be represented by their analogues,
as Mytilus edulis, Chiton cinereus, Patella vulgata,
Trochus lineatus, Buccinum undatum, and Lusus
wslandicus of our coasts are respectively replaced
in the Mediterranean by M. minimus, C. siculus,
P. scutellaris, Tr. fragarioides, Murex trunculus,
and Musus corneus.

From his own dredgings and from an examina-
tion of the collection of M. Verany, Mr. Jeffreys
records as many as 375 species of Piedmontese
Testacea, of which some half-dozen are new and
discovered by himself; the rest are known forms,
having a wide distribution either within or without
the Mediterranean.

The latitude of the Gulf of Genoa is rather north
of that of Vigo Bay and the north of Spain. That
we may compare like things with like, Mr. Jeffreys’
list may be reduced by about twenty, or to 355 spe-
cies. Mr. M‘Andrew’s north Spanish Testacea amount
to 212, giving a difference of 143 species. For the
present we must take these numbers as representing
these two local assemblages, and, comparing them
together, we find that there are 140 species in com-
mon, leaving an excess of 215 for the Gulf of Genoa;
but of these, sixty-three species are more northern
and British, besides having a range down the south
coasts of the Peninsula—these will be considered
separately ; but they reduce the Piedmontese list to

170 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

152, in which is included, therefore, the number
representing the proportion of forms indicative of
the province.

Of the north Spanish Testacea, which have been -
already noticed (pp. 108-9) as characteristically
northern, some few do not seem to range much
farther south, such as Lacuna puteolus, Lnttorina
rudis, L. littorea, and Purpura lapitlus ; but others,
such as Velutina levigata, Trochus tumidus, Mactra
subtruncata, Tapes, and Pecten, are Genoese ; and
what is somewhat curious, Patella pellucida and
Trochus conerarvus occur on the west coast of Africa
(Marocco).

Of the short list of southern shells which enter
into the north Spanish fauna, some do not extend
equally far north in the Mediterranean.

The bearing of Mr. Jeffreys’ researches in the
Gulf of Genoa on the question of marine zoological
provinces, will be considered in the sequel.

Of Piedmontese Bivalves, as many as eighty are
British; of the Univalves, about ninety.

“Tt is remarkable,” says Mr. Jeffreys, “that ex-
amples of the same species are smaller than those
found in the British seas. Tellina balaustina, Jef-
freysia diaphana, and fissoa pulcherruma are in-
stances of this.”

This diminution in size, which is to be observed
with respect to many other species, such as Corbula
nucleus, when traced from north to south, is the
more remarkable because the converse does not take

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. jae

place as to southern forms in their range north.
flahotis tuberculata, which extends through the
whole Lusitanian zone, is larger at Guernsey—which
is its extreme northern limit—than elsewhere.
hingicula aurvculata and Mactra rugosa are larger
in Vigo Bay than in the Mediterranean, though at
Vigo they are both outliers; and Zellina balaustina,
which has its numerical maximum in the Mediter-
ranean, is largest about the Hebrides.

With the exception of the upper extremity of
the Adriatic, the sea-coast dredged by Mr. Jeffreys
is the most northern portion of the Mediterranean,
and it is more purely marine, for the large rivers
which pour into the shallow waters of the Adriatic
modify its fauna in a perceptible degree.

Mr. M‘Andrew has given the results of his dredg-
ings along a part of the Mediterranean coast of
Spain (Murcia), which lies about 500 miles south of
Nice, and where he obtained 353 species of Testacea.
These two local assemblages admit of comparison ;
their numbers, omitting Mr. Jeffreys’ new species,
are very close, and the portions of coast examined
were of about the same extent. The result is that
the two sets are nearly identical; the specific diffe-
rence for the most part hardly deserves notice.
Cymba olla reaches up the Spanish coast as far as
Malaga, so that it has a Mediterranean range cor-
responding to its Atlantic one. Solariwm luteum
and S. stramineum reach so far, but have not been
observed farther, whereas on the Atlantic side they
extend to the north coast of Spain.

ia (bea MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

The seas of the Two Sicilies are wonderfully pro-
lific in animal life, and it is only in this region that
we have opportunities of comparing the products
of localities with what they were 2000 years ago.
Tarentum was the resort of the Roman epicures;
its abundant fish-markets gave it half its bad
reputation, encouraging its wealthy wool-dyers and
clothiers to indulge in fish dinners’ of profuse ex-
travagance. The proud boast of the Tarentines,
“that others prepared by labour for the future, but
that they, by means of their banquets, were not
about to live, but were already living,” was based
on the products of its inner and outer seas.

“ Pectinibus patulis jactat se molle Tarentum.”

The great inland bay, the “ mare picolo,” swarms
with scallops now as it did in the days of Horace.
It still affords the main support of the fishing popu-
lation. Mounds of pounded shells mark the sites of
the old dye-works of Tarentine purple ; indeed, its
old trade still lingerson. There the Murices are as
abundant as ever, so are the Mullets and the
Tunnies.

The Syrian and Tarentine purples were of several
tints, and the shell-fish employed were of two sorts
at least; one of these was certainly the Murex trun-
culus, which is most abundant here in the marginal
zone, and indeed throughout the whole of the Me-
diterranean.

This copious marine Sicilian fauna has been
fully and even magnificently illustrated : there are,

> aes

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. days:

first, Poli and Delle Chiaje ; more recently, Cantraine

and Philippi; nor must Milne Edwards be forgotten,
who, in his Sicilian researches, put on the helmet
of the submarine diver, and passed whole hours in
collecting and observing beneath the clear waters of
that sea.

For all purposes of numerical and other com-
parisons the work of Philippi is the best guide as
to the Mollusca of the central Mediterranean ; he
there enumerates 522 species of Testacea, and the
whole assemblage is presented in its relations to the
older fauna of that area, as exhibited in the tertiary
strata of Italy and Sicily, as well as with those of
certain remote faunas of the present period.

If Philippi’s 522 species are taken as a fair
and typical representation of the Mediterranean
Testacea, and the species which are both recent
and fossil, amounting to 360, be deducted, the re-
mainder, 162, gives the difference between the pre-
sent fauna and a former one.

Comparing this typical assemblage with our own,
we have

Sicilian

British. and Difference, Common
Italian. a age
Bivalves . 156 188 32 83
Pteropods . + 13 9
Gasteropods 232 313 81 57
Cephalopods 14 15 1 7

Philippi took the works of Fleming and Montague

174 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

as the basis of his comparisons, and estimates the
Bivalves at 198, the Brachiopods at 5, the Gaste-
ropods at 191; in all 394 species. If we take the
more critical and newer enumeration of the “British —
Mollusca,” the same orders give 397. This close
agreement after an interval of so many years, and
after so much research, is somewhat remarkable,
and it is only on a careful examination of the
Species composing these numbers that it is seen
what a great change our British list of Mollusks
underwent in the hands of Forbes and Hanley.

If we add to Philippi from other sources and
enumerate the central Mediterranean Bivalves at
200 species, one-half will be also British, an amount
of agreement sufficient to indicate the Atlantic
character of the fauna, when it is remembered that
the comparison is made between the denizens of
zones separated by 5° of latitude. These two zones
extend respectively from 35° to 45° N. L., and from
A9° to 59° N. L., making their extreme limits
14° apart. If, however, the British list is reduced |
by some forty species, which are northern in their
British range, there remain only twenty-three spe-
cies to characterize our south-western assemblage,
or a rate of change of not more than from three to
four species for each degree of latitude, when com-
pared with the Mediterranean. Bivalves have a
broader and more uniform distribution than other
classes of their order.

Comparing the enumeration given by Philippi

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 175

with those already cited of Jeffreys and M‘Andrew,
the agreement is found to be very close, as might
be expected.

One other numerical comparison will sufiice.
Ed. Forbes’ observations in the Eastern Mediter-
ranean are so much fuller than those of the
French naturalists on the coasts of Greece that his
enumeration of the Testacea is the best that can
be taken. He there procured of Gasteropods 254,
Brachiopods 8,and Bivalves 242, in all 494 species ;
_ the Sicilian seas, under the same classes, giving 475.

There is a very great amount of agreement be-
tween the A’gean and the Sicilian lists of Testacea,
more particularly when the comparison is made be-
tween the denizens of the higher sea-zones ; and
the main difference exists with respect to the inhabi-
tants of those deeper regions to which Philippi had
no means of access. |

Of ail local assemblages that which Ed. Forbes
has given for the Kastern Mediterranean is probably
by far the most complete. From the uniformity
which prevails at depths, both as to conditions and
distribution, the deep sea forms of the Algean may
be supposed to occur equally in the Sicilian seas ;
in other words, the Eastern Mediterranean must be
somewhat poorer than the central and Western
portions.

“The absence of certain species in the Atgean,
which are characteristic of the Western Mediterra-
nean, is rather to be attributed to sea-composition

176 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINOE.

than to climate,” says Ed. Forbes. This he thinks
is due to the pouring in of the waters of the Black
Sea. This influence is uniform over the whole of
the Eastern Mediterranean, and has been stated by |
Ruprecht to be appreciable on the Syrian coast.

Differences based on negative evidence are never
safe supports for any inferences ; indeed, unless the
amount of such evidence is very considerable, such
differences are hardly worth noticing. Comparing
what is known of the Molluscous fauna of the ex-
treme Hastern and Western portions of the Medi-
terranean, all those species procured by Ed. Forbes
from depths in the Atgean, such as have not been
dredged in other parts of that sea, must be care-
fully excluded.

The Mediterranean fauna, however, being so
essentially Atlantic, it may reasonably be expected,
seeing the great eastern extension of this internal
sea, that it should present a certain amount of de-
crease in that direction. A marine fauna which is
an offshoot of another must not be considered as the
definite result of one migration, but as an assem-
blage which has been constantly modified by the
slow extension of species.

The reputed peculiarities of the eastern-division
Mollusks are Clavagella balanorum, C. angulata,
and C. Melitensis, Thecadea Mediterranea, Umbrella
Mediterranea, Murex cristatus, Pe edicularia sicula,
Dolium galea, Cassidaria Tyrrhena, and C. depressa,
Trochus Sprattu, Venerupis decussata, Pecten Jaco-

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 77

beus, &c. Had this local assemblage been more
numerous it would have been interesting to have
traced its extra-Mediterranean relations ; but, small
as it is, it would not be without its value if all the
Species pointed to some common province or loca-

lity ; but such is not the case. Two of the Cassr-

darve are old occupants of the great Mediterranean
basin,; and though Doliwm galea is found in the
Red Sea, it by no means follows that it came from
thence, inasmuch as, together with Umbrella, it has
a wide distribution in the South Lusitanian Atlan-
tic Province, and is also one of the old Mediterra-
nean fossil forms.

From some observations made in the neighbour-
hood of Algiers, it was found that through all the
months of the year the temperature of the water
decreased from the coast-line outwards, as also from
the surface downwards ; this decrease is greater in
summer than in winter. The temperature of the
water is higher than that of the air in autumn and
winter, lower in spring and summer. In the deeper
zones it falls as low as 54° F’., which it never passes,
as has been ascertained for depths of from sixty
to 360 fathoms.

The mean winter temperature of Toulon is 52°
F., that of Algiers 56° F., the mean being 54°; in
the Adriatic the mean temperature of the air iy,
between 59° F’. and 73° F., that of the water being
between 66° F. and 71° F. The difference is not
great, but, so far as temperature can influence the

N

178 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

extension of species, southern forms find a more
congenial one on the Algerine coast than elsewhere.
If to this condition is superadded that of the inflow
from the Atlantic, setting along the North African
coast, there exist good reasons for expecting certain
local peculiarities.

The Atlantic inflow determines that marked
preponderance of pelagic animals which is to be
noticed about the Gut of Gibraltar. The forms of
Mollusks which are western are such as HLrvilla cas-
tanea, Siphonaria concinna, Acmea virginea, Mesahia
sulcata and M. striata, Cymba olla, Lutraria ellip-
tica, Venus striatula, Astarte sulcata and A. triangu-
laris, Natica intricata ; these are all Lusitanian
and West African species. In addition, these
forms and some others are not found fossil in any
of the raised sea-beds of the older Mediterranean,
and may therefore be looked upon as species which
‘as yet have made only a limited progress in colo-
nizing this internal sea.

The Eastern Mediterranean is inseparably con-
nected with Edw. Forbes’ researches into the distri-
bution of animal and vegetable life in depth; he
found, proceeding from the highest upward limit
of these waters downwards, that there were the
following distinct zones.

The Littoral Zone has a depth of only two fathoms ;
and, small as this is, it yet admits of a twofold di-
vision, even in this nearly tideless sea. The narrow

interval between tides is thus described by Ed. —

ae St ae eS ee ee eee me

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 179

Forbes :*—“ The testaceous Mollusks of the shores
of Lycia are numerous, but are more remarkable
for variety than for their dimensions. On the rocks
near the water’s edge, Patella scutellata and Bon-
nardt are common; also the Halts lamellosus
and Fissurella. Under stones near the water-mark
Chiton siculus is abundant ; more rarely, C. fascicu-
laris and Oayjetanus. Littorina petrea is found at
the very edge of the water, not differing from spe-
cimens from the west coast of Britain. Species of
Vermetus indicate the zoological character of the
province ; also numerous forms of 7’rochus, of which
the Z’. Lyciacus has not been observed elsewhere.
Murex trunculus, Pollia maculosa, Columbella rus-
tica, Fascwlaria Tarentina, Fusus lgnarius, and
Conus Mediterraneus, all shells of handsome aspect
and sub-tropical forms, are abundant in similar
situations. Under the large stones in the little
creeks is found one of the larger European forms
of Cowrie (Cyprea spurca). Many curious Bivalves
live attached to the rocks along the coast-line, or
in their crevices, such as Cardita calyculata, Arca
barbata, Spondylus gaderopus, Lima squamosa, and
the Date-shell (Lithodomus lithophagus).

“Where the coasts are of sand we have a different
set of Mollusks. Immediately along the water’s
edge, at a depth of an inch or so beneath the sand,
are buried myriads of a little Bivalve—/esodesma
donacilla. NSolecurtus strigillatus is found farther

* Travels in Lycia, vol. ii. p. 102.

180 = = MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

out, and buried deeper ; also Lucina Desmarestii,
Amphidesma sicula, and the curious Solemya Medi-
terranea. Where the sand is coarse, Venus decussata
is found. }

“On muddy shores Lucina lactea abounds, and
where a stream pours in may be seen millions of
Ceritthium mamillatum, along with some minute
Rissoe.

“ Mactra stultorum, Kellia corbuloides, Lucina pec-
ten, Venerupis decussata, Donax trunculus, Cardium
edule, Hmarguinula huzardi, Truncatella truncatula,
Cerithium fuscatum, Nassa neritia and guibbosula,
and Auricula myosotis complete the list of the most
constant Molluscan inhabitants of the Lycian shores
to a depth of seven or eight feet.”

The whole number of Mollusks referred to this
region, consists of thirty-eight species of Bivalves
and 109 Gasteropods; and of these two classes,
twenty-seven and fifty-two may be taken as repre-
renting the proportion of species which have their
maximum in this zone.

Among the Zoophytes, the littoral rocks of the
coast of Lycia are distinguished from those of the
Agean islands, by masses of Cladocera cespitosa,
never living deeper than eight feet from the sur-
face : large sponges grow in the sheltered gulfs, and
Padina pavonia, which has an Atlantic distribution
as far as our own southern shores, is the character-
istic plant of this zone.

Such is the character of the littoral fauna of

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 181

the Hastern Mediterranean, as it 1s presented to
the eye of the casual observer. Storms wash up
the shells which belong to the lower portion of the
marginal belt, and the whole goes to form the
assemblage which is to be commonly met with along
its shores. If, however, the sea-side naturalist from
this country should neglect these dead spoils, and
confine himself to such living forms as may be
collected over the narrow belt between land and
water, he will meet with little to remind him of
his southern latitude. Of the eleven species of
Mollusks peculiar to this upper belt, eight have a
wide Atlantic distribution ; he will collect Ltto-
yuna cerulescens, L. petreea, Kellia rubra, Truncatella
truncata, as he might on our own. coasts ; also our
common Barnacle ; and in addition to Padina, such
plants as Ductyota dichotoma and Coraliina offici-
nalis, in wonderful profusion.

The general assemblage of forms, which imparts
a sub-tropical aspect to the coasts of the Mediterra-
nean, is derived wholly from depths of a few feet
below the permanent sea-level. |

The Second Region extends from two to ten
fathoms. With a sea-bed of sand or mud, the
former is usually covered with the beautiful green
Caulerpa prolifera, the latter with “grass-wrack ;”
other sea-plants abound. The characteristic Tes-
tacea of this zone are—Pecten polymorphus, P. hya-
linus, Tellina donacina, 7. distorta, Modiola, Nucula
margariuacea, Lucina lactea, Cardium exiguum, C.

182 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

papillosum. Among the Gasteropoda, Cerithium
vulgatum and C. lima are most abundant. 'rochus
crenulatus, T’. Sprattir, hissoa ventricosa, R. oblonga,
Marginella clandestina ; Pleurotoma, four species ;
Natica olla ; Phasianella, three species ; Vassa, six
species ; and Afitra obsoleta. The Stony Coral
(Caryophyllia cyathus) commences in this zone, and
ranges down through all succeeding ones.

The Bivalves are fifty; twenty-two have their
maximum.

The Univalves are seventy-six, sixty-two have
thelr maximum.

The Third Region reaches from ten to twenty
fathoms, with a sea-bed of eravel or sand; the
same plants are continued, but become scarcer to-
wards the lower limits of the region ; a change has
become obvious at depths of 160 feet, but the upper
limit is not so distinct or definite. The Testacea,
also, are to a very great extent the same.

The Bivalves of this zone are fifty, of which
seventeen have their maximum here.

The Univalves are under seventy, and twenty-six
are at the maximum here.

Bivalves predominate numerically.

The Fourth Region extends from depths of twenty
to thirty-five fathoms. Here, a great part of the
species of the upper zones are replaced by others,
which are curiously representative of them in form.
This takes place in still lower regions. There is no
transmutation of one into the other; each has all

j a 9) Oe y' b AALS
/ Wn ek ee AY
¥ Mes -
‘he
ab
»

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 183

its characters precisely defined, and usually before
the characteristic species of one region has declined
to the numerical minimum of individuals, its suc-
cessor has appeared ; at first scarce, but when in
its true or proper region, as abundant as its prede-
cessor had been. The characteristic Fuci are Dictyo-
mema volubilis, Sargassum salicifolium, Codium
bursa, C. flabelliforme, and Cystoceira. The rare and
curious Hydrodictyon umbilicatum was procured in
this region. Urchins are abundant, and Comatule.

The Bivalves are about sixty, of which thirty-
three have their maximum here.

The Univalves are about ninety, with about
forty having their maximum here.

Terebratula detruncata and cuneata make their
appearance here, the latter being most abundant.

Retepora cellulosa abounds ; and Myriapora trun-
cata, with Cellaria ceramroides, are characteristic.
The finest sponges of commerce are taken from
this zone. Nucula emarginata serves generally to
mark this depth.

The Fifth Region extends from thirty-five to
fifty-five fathoms; its plants are Rytiphlea tinc-
torva and Chrysimenia uvaria. Dictyomenra voludilis,
which gives a marked character to the preceding
zone, becomes scarce here. The sea-bed is composed
of Nullipores, and is shelly. The Testacea most
generally distributed are Pecten opercularis, Turri-
tella tricostata, and the most abundant in individuals

184 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

are Nucula emarginata and striata, Oardium pa-
pillosum, Cardita aculeata, and Dentaliwm novemcos-
tatune.

Kchinoderms are frequent here; not so Zoo-
phytes.

Terebratulee increase. This is the proper zone of
T. detruncata and Crama ringens; T. seminula
makes its appearance.

Bivalves fifty-six ; at their maximum, twenty-five.
Univalves seventy-six ; at their maximum, thirty.

The Sixth Region reaches from fifty-five to
seventy-nine fathoms. The sea-bed is here covered
with Nullipores; and Fuci areextremely few. Though
such is the case, there is still found here a con-
siderable number of Phytophagous Mollusks, and
which feed on the vegetable Nullipores.

The Testacea which are most generally diffused
are Venus ovata, Cerithium lima, and Plewrotoma
Maravigne ; those most prolific are Zurbo san-
guineus, Hmargimula elongata, Nucula striata, Venus
ovata, Pecten similis, and the various species of
Brachiopods.

Below fifty fathoms, the range of each set of
Mollusks extends wider as we descend. |

Cidaris hystriw is the characteristic Hchino-
derm.

The Bivalves are forty-six, with seventeen at
their maximum. ‘The Univalves about forty, with
twelve at their maximum.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 185

Terebratule increase, in addition to those of the.
higher zones. 7. truncata and 7’. cuneata appear,
with Crania.

The Seventh Region, ranging from eighty to
a hundred and five fathoms, has characteristic
features. Herbaceous Fuci have disappeared, and
Nullipores are the only plants. The Tunicated
Mollusks have ceased, as also have Nudibranchiata.
Of Testacea, Loma elongata, Cardita aculeata, Rissoa
reticulata, and Musus muricatus, are most generally
distributed, and the same Avssoa, with Turbo
sanguineus, Venus ovata, Nucula striata, Pecten
similis, together with the Brachiopods, which abound
here, are the most prolific. Hchinoderms are not
uncommon, such as Hchinus monilis, Cidaris hystria,
Echinocyamus pusillus, and some Ophiuride, but no
Asteriade.

The Bivalves of this zone are under thirty, with
about nine at their maximum. The Univalves are
about forty, with sixteen at their maximum. In
addition to all the fore-cited Terebratule, are T.
lunifera, 7. wtrea, and 7. appressa.

The Highth and lowest region includes all depths
below a hundred and five fathoms. Over this sea-
bed, which consists of a fine yellow sedimentary
mud, full of the remains of Pteropods and Fora-
minifers (an unknown region till the researches
of Ed. Forbes and his associates in the Beacon),
there is found a uniform fauna distinguished from
all preceding regions by peculiar species. As would

186 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

be expected, this region gave a large proportion of
new species, such as Pecten Hoskinsw, Lima crassa,
Nucula Afgeensis, Scalaria hellenica, Parthenia fas-
crata and ventricosa.

Ligula profundissima, Pecten similis, Arca imbri-
cata, Dentalium quadrangulare, and Rissoa reticulata,
are more prolific in individuals in this region than
in any other.

Ophiura abyssicola, Amphiura florifera (Chiaje),
and Pectinura vestita are the Echinoderms of this
eighth region, and are well fitted, by their organi-
zation, for living in the mud of these depths. Caryo-
phyla cyathus, Alecto, and [dmonea range down to
these depths.

Lngula profundissema and Dentalium quinquean-
gulare are the most generally diffused species below
105 fathoms. Nucula, Neera, Arca, and Kellia live
as deep as 180 fathoms. Arca wmbricata was taken
alive as low as 230 fathoms.

The ZVerebratule would seem to have their limit
in the seventh region.

Of these eight regions of depth of the same sea,
the Aigean, the highest and the lowest have only
two species of Mollusks in common—Arca lactea
and Cerithiwm lima, and there is a doubt whether
the last may not be a straggler from the zone above.
Regions three to eight inclusive have only two
Species in common.

These results are of such significance to the
Palzontologist, that for his use the following table

Nucula

Arca

THE EUROPEAN SHAS.

of Testacea, compiled by Ed. Forbes, is here re-

produced.

2 fath

10 fath
: 20 fath.

85 fath

—
=
=
_
_
=
e
=
<

|
|
|
|
|
|

Chitons . ‘ AM Ledee | 8 DM
Patelliform univalves| 20) 11} 3) 2
Dentalia . i OY hed: ARR 3 ane hd

Spiral: univalves,
Holostomatous 115) 50) 40) 40) 44

Spiral univalves,Si-
oe eae ae eect ee ha!
Pteropodsand Nu-] | 45) 4] | 9g 0
cleobranchs . |
Brachiopods . Avs OO. Ol eo2
Lamellibranchs (135) 38) 53) 52) 68

Aigean total ./407|147/129 126|162

DPpowbp ll:

[2 - eh fav.

58

5

—

141

| 48

187

S. 230 fath.

tet
a na

= |
nm Mm NEG! :

o| 12

Flvate
34) 28

119

86) 66

The system of representation in depth, which has

been alluded to in the notice of the fourth region,
is of this kind. Representative forms are similar,
and require the tact of an experienced naturalist

to discriminate them. One or two examples will suf-
fice in order to show how such forms replace one

another in zones of depth.

$e ee

fee” A
striata . ee
barbata .| max.
lactea . 3) man.
scabra . | —
fimbricsia

~¢erenulatus .| —
' exiguus | o—
f ziziphinus _-
millegranus .| —

Trochus

E
5

lt le

188 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

A like system of representation is to be traced,
as will be seen, amongst the forms found in the older
sedimentary deposits.

Reference has been already made to the species
of Testacea common to the Mediterranean and our
own seas. In the bathymetrical distribution of spe-_
cies, those which have the most extensive range in
depth have also a very wide geographical distribu-
tion. Thirty-eight species range through four out of
the eight regions of the Atgean. Of these at least

twenty-one are British, and hence Ed. Forbes ar-
_ rived at the general inference that “ the extent of the
range of a species in depth is correspondent with its
geographical distribution.”

The distribution of Celtic forms in the several
Aigean zones has been represented in the following
tabular form :—

i | ate [aii J iv. | ov. [vie | vit. Loti

Chitons . P15) °0 50) 1S es elaine

Patelliform univalves Ue a ee)

Dentalia L 2) OO Oe Os) amaieee

Spiral univalves, Holo- ’ 12198 16 4 41/18! 4
stomata ; ¢

Spiral univalves, Sipho- U) ge) 7 log onl eae
nostomata . a,

Pteropods and Nucleo- {| 9 | 9 |_.|__|__| 9 | o | 9
branchs :

Brachiopods . : | 0; 0;—]0/;/—/;}0101 0

\Lamellibranchs . {16 25 |28 |39 33 |19 |11 | 7

an a od ea

Total . 184 |41 150 166 |59 (89 |27 |13

S41 [oo foo 0 0 or fis
|

Percentage .|21 136 145 {43 AO |35 |86 120 |

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 189

Forms decrease in size from higher to deeper
regions, and in the same direction they part with
all their brilliant colouring and variety of pattern.
Well-defined patterns are, with few exceptions,
presented only by Testacea inhabiting the littoral
and median zones. “In the Mediterranean one in
eighteen only of the shells undoubtedly belonging
to depths of 100 fathoms and upwards exhibited
any colour-markings, whilst the proportion of the
coloured to the colourless, from between thirty-five
to fifty-five fathoms, was as one to three.”

In our own seas the same species which are even
vividly coloured and banded in higher zones are_
colourless when taken from depths below 100
fathoms ; a like absence of ornament takes place
proceeding northwards, at depths even of sixty
fathoms.

Such is a brief and general outline of the change
which takes place in the Eastern Mediterranean,
from the surface to depths of upwards of 1300 feet.
Any lengthened enumeration of specific forms has
been purposely avoided. The features which are
noticed are only those broader ones which are de-
rived from positive characters. Hach zone has a
distinctive sea-bed, with certain peculiar forms. As
we descend the dimensions of each zone become
greatly extended, so that whilst the upper has a
depth of only twelve feet, the lowest ranges through
700 feet. Specific animal forms decrease rapidly,
and just as the sub-aerial zones of vegetation pre-

190 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

sent us at last, as we ascend, with only such forms
as lichens, so at depths of from seventy to a hundred
fathoms, we have the obscure Nullipores as the ex-
treme forms of marine vegetation. |

The Mediterranean fishes are so well known and
have been so admirably illustrated, that we have
little difficulty in comparing them with those of the
Atlantic. This state of our knowledge is owing to
the vast importance of the fisheries of this sea to
the dwellers around its shores, so that the habits
and migrations of many of its valuable species as
articles of food, had been accurately observed and
recorded as far back as 2000 years since. From
those more recent days when Natural History be-
came a purswit and a study, the peculiar beauty of
some of the Mediterranean fishes could not fail to
attract attention. Even the least observant of those
whom this country sends forth annually, to wander
along the shores of southern Europe, can hardly
have failed to notice the striking difference between
the contents of Italian or Sicilian fish-markets and
our own—a contrast as great as that which Nature
there displays in all her other aspects.

Risso estimated the fishes of the Eastern Medt-
terranean at about 400, and though his enume-
ration cannot be implicitly accepted, yet, after
making all deductions, the additional species to be
derived from the great work of Cuvier and Valenci-
ennes, again more than bring up the number (p. 20).

Such a list is far larger than any for which we have .

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 191

certain data with reference to the Atlantic portion
of the Lusitanian province ; as, however, we possess
the list of our own British fishes on one side, and
that of the Atlantic islands on the other, forming
the northern and southern limits of that province,
the special relations of the fishes of the Medi-
terranean can be easily determined.

If we take our British fishes at 270 species, we
shall find that no less than 150, or upwards of
thirty-seven per cent., are also Mediterranean ones.
It must not, however, be supposed that the species
common to that sea and ours are uniformly dis-
tributed ; there is within our area a very distinct
limitation of forms both northern and southern,
and even eastern and western ; so that the com-
parison with the Mediterranean will be close or
otherwise, according as we include or exclude our
southern and western fishes. If we take the Cornish
fishes by themselves, as they may be collected
during the summer season from out of the Mount’s
Bay fishing-boats, the Mediterranean aspect of the
assemblage will be very striking ; excluding the
north Celtic forms—such as occur but rarely, if
ever, on our south-western shores—the agreement
would amount to nearly one-half.

Our imperfect acquaintance with the ichthyology
of a large portion of the Lusitanian province has
already been noticed (p. 118), so that it was found
necessary to travel as far as the extreme southern
limits of the province for any list of well-deter-

192 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

mined species, and it was there shown that the
Madeira fishes occupied a somewhat intermediate
place between our assemblage and that of the Medi-
terranean, and that they were less tropical in their
aspect than the latitude of the island would lead
us to expect.

There is a peculiarity with reference to these
Madeira fishes, which is still more striking when
those of the whole of the Canaries are taken toge-
ther, and which may be noticed here. Those dili-
gent collectors, Messrs. Webb and Bertholet, sub-
mitted to M. Valenciennes upwards of 110 species
of fishes from those islands ; amongst these are to
be found such forms as Priacanthus boops, Beryx
decadactylus, a genus poor in species; Pimelepterus
incisor, Caranx analis, and Coryphena equisetis.
With some few exceptions of this kind, namely, of
common forms which serve to connect the two sides
of the Atlantic, the fishes of the Canaries are mainly
such as are also met with in the Mediterranean ;
with this difference, however, that certain species —
which are scarce in the Mediterranean are common
about the Canaries, and of these many range down
the African coast as low as the Cape, and also in
advance of it—as to Ascension and St. Helena.

When the extended ‘migration of certain fishes is
considered, it will not, perhaps, be thought strange
that the two sides of the Atlantic should have some
few forms in common, even as low down as between
the Canaries and the Brazils; but it is well ob-.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 193

served by M. Valenciennes, that this community
has reference in some cases to fishes which are not
migratory, such as Pimelepterus incisor ; and that
the form and nature of a coast-line influence the
distribution of fishes far more than temperature
dependent on latitude. The migratory movements
of fishes, like those of birds, are made in obedience
to given wants and instincts, and are conducted,
like the voyages of the early navigators, not across
the trackless depths of the ocean, but along lines of
coast. é

It is somewhat remarkable, that so far as our
present knowledge goes, some of the American forms
of fishes found about the Canaries do not reach the
African coast, a consideration which, in conjunction
with others we shall have to notice, lends support
to the view already put forth (p. 113), that the west-
ern boundary of the “old world” was once placed
so much farther westward, as to reach these At-
lantic islands. The occurrence of common forms,
more particularly of the species which have been
cited, can only be explained by the coasts of the
two sides of the Atlantic having once been placed
much nearer to one another along some line south
of our Lusitanian province.

Of the fishes of the Canaries, seventy are found
in the Mediterranean ; of these, many are also
West African forms. There aresome others, such as
Pristopoma ronchus, Sargus cervinus, Chrysophrys
ceruleosticta, and Lichia glaycos, which are also West

©)

194 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

African, but which have not as yet been observed
within that internal sea. These, like the American
forms, have to be deducted when the fishes of the

external Lusitanian province are compared with —

those of its Mediterranean portion. The known
fishes of this sea are 444, and of these as many as
150 at least range the Atlantic as high as our
south-western coasts, and seventy are met with
about the Atlantic islands. If we compare the
numbers of the Mediterranean fishes with our own

(p. 119), we find that ay interval of twenty degrees —

of latitude across the whole Lusitanian province
gives still as much as twenty"per cent. of common
forms. This is a very low rate of change in space
with respect to the distribution of species ; but it is
quite high enough to satisfy us (in the absence of
any definite information respecting the fishes of the
Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal) that, so far
as calculation can be applied to such questions,
there exists a very high degree of probability that
all the known species of Mediterranean fishes are
also Atlantic.

It is but justice to Risso, the naturalist of the
seas of Nice, that he should be mentioned as per-
haps the first who called attention to that distribu-
tion of marine life which is dependent on depth.
With reference to the great class of fishes, he ob-
serves that certain forms frequent the mouths of
rivers; that along the open coast-line the sub-
merged marginal rocks, covered with uci, Cera-

1 Lyf aia RS Sa
Pe Mat Sy aes
Mt ean | ,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 195

mice, and Conferve, are the haunts of Blennies,
Dragonets (Callyonomus), Gobies, Pipe-fishes (Syn-
gnathr), and Sea-snipes (Centriscr). The shelving
beds of shingle and sand are the zone of a nume- —
rous tribe, such as Launces (Ammodytes), Lepido-
gaster, Garter-fishes, Lepidotus, Labri, Wrasses
(Crenolabri), the Sea-breams (Sparus), Smelts (Os-
merus), Gymnetrus, Scopelus (always found in com-
pany with the Anchovies), Sardines (Clupanodon),

and Mullets.

The region of Alge and Caulinie is that of the
Denzelles (Ophidium), Murcene, Star-gazers ( Urano-
scopr), and of the Scorpions (Scorpene). At depths
of twenty-five fathoms or thereabouts, or over the
zone of Lryozoa and Zoophytes, are the File-fishes

_(Balistes) ; also the genera Chauliodus, Mureno-
phis, Labrus, Dentex, Lichia, Peristidivum, and certain
Gurnards. A muddy sea-bed, with a depth of
fifty fathoms, is the favourite abode of the Ray
tribe, of the Angler (Lophius), the gigantic Cepha-
loptera, and of the Plaice. At lke depths, but with-
out any special reference to sea-bed, are found
Whitings, Cod, Holocentrus, Citula, Seriola, Tetra-
gonurus (the “Corbeau” of the Mediterranean), and
certain species of Sparus.

Lowest of all come the Alepocephali, of which
Risso remarks that, in common with other fishes
taken at depths of 2000 feet and upwards, it
has its scales very feebly attached to its skin, the
eyes disproportionately large, a large swimming-

196 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

bladder, and numerous ceca. They also present
few tints. Pomatomus is taken at 250 fathoms.
Chimera and Lepido leprus also belong to this
zone.

During the researches of the “Beacon” on the
Lycian coast and among the islands of the Aigean,
above seventy species of marine fish were observed,
examined, and drawn, being more than twice the
number recorded from the Grecian seas in the
great French work on the Morea. Fishes are nume-
rous in the Eastern Mediterranean, but very few
attain any considerable size. “In the sheltered
bays and gulphs are numerous species of Sparoidee,
a tribe very characteristic of this region ; forms
of Sargus, Pagrus, Chrysophris, Cantharus, Sparus,

Dentex, Boops, and Oblada. ‘They may be seen —

swimming in shoals around the vessels at anchor,
their broad, silvery sides glancing in the water, in
some striped with irregular bands of gold, in others
marked with one or two dusky clouds, or tinged
with brilliant ultramarine and purple. They are
abundant in water from five to seven fathoms
deep, where the bottom is muddy or weedy. The
Scarus creticus is abundant on the Lycian shores :
it is remarkable for the variation in colour it pre-
sents at different seasons, at one time being of the
most vivid crimson, at another of a dull bluish-grey,
and sometimes piebald of the two colours. Equally
and even more vivid are the Wrasses, of which
many gorgeous sorts are common among the rocks

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 197

‘close to the shore. The Julis Mediterranea is the
brightest of these painted beauties, exceeding all
fishes of the Mediterranean for splendour of colour.
Some of the species of Sphyrena glow with the
brightest vermilion. These usually replace the
Wrasses, being found in deeper water.”

Immense flocks of the little Atherina presbyter
may be seen on fine days skipping on the surface of
the water, endeavouring to escape from the needle-
like Gar-pike. There is a great Grey-Mullet fishery
carried on in Caria. The Red Mullet (dfullus bar-
batus) is everywhere abundant. In sandy creeks
the Uranoscopus is frequent. Species of Sole and
other flat-fish, the Torpedo, of which Zorpedo narke
is the most frequent, also occur in similar situations.
In rocky nooks, besides the beautiful Wrasses,
Blennies and Gobies abound, some of them bril-
liantly coloured. Under great masses of rock close
to shore lives the Murcna, its long, slimy body
beautifully clouded with purplish-brown and salmon-
colour. ‘The fish which was found to live deepest
in the Aigean was a little Goby, which was fre-
quently taken in the dredge at a depth of forty or
fifty fathoms.

Sea-Turtles are. such exceedingly rare visitors to
our Celtic latitudes, or indeed into the northern
Lusitanian, that their occurrence in the Mediter-
ranean becomes one of the characteristic features
of the fauna of that sea. If to these forms are
added the fresh-water Tortoises, which abound in
the low circumlittoral lakes and marshes of this

198 _ MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE.

region, a8 also the Crocodiles and Monitors of its
African boundary, we see how largely, and with
what striking forms, the Reptilian order becomes
represented here.

The Leathery Turtle (Sphargis coriacea) ranges
throughout the whole extent of the Mediterranean,
and even into the Black Sea. In the waters of the
eastern portion it is common, and it was of the
shell of this species that, according to the mytho-
logy of Greece, the first stringed instrument of
music was made.

Its breeding-places are along the sandy shores of
the southern Mediterranean ; it is here that it is
most abundant, and it is rather western than east-
ern. It attains a great size—upwards of seven
feet in length ; its paddles are long and broad.

Somewhat rarer than the foregoing is the Caou-
ane (7'estudo caretta), also southern and western in
its Mediterranean range. It resorts to the coasts
of the island of Sardinia, where, as at Cagliari, con-
siderable numbers are taken. Both these Turtles
have an extensive Atlantic distribution, reaching
far down the West African coast, and across to those
of America ; they are true members of the Medi-
terranean fauna, but represent its West African,
rather than its Lusitanian elements.

The Mediterranean has no peculiar Cetaceans.
The Atlantic forms which ordinarily range there are
few, and have been mostly recorded from the Gulf
of Genoa and the western portion.

The common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) of our

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 199

classical associations, the emblem of so many of the

old Mediterranean States and cities, is still the most
common species. The great Dolphin of the Atlan-
tic (D. tursio) only occasionally finds its way there.
The so-called Mediterranean Rorqual (Lalenoptera
musculus) is Lusitanian and Celtic ; it is only more
Mediterranean because, like the common Dolphin,
it has a less northern Atlantic range than certain
others of its order.

Some early notices would lead us to suppose
that the Cetacea may formerly have ranged more
freely over the whole length of the Mediterranean
than they do at present. Such also appears to have
been the case as to the Lusitanian and Celtic por-
tions of the Atlantic. ,

Of the amphibious Carnivora, the common Seal
(Phoca vitulina) ranges down from northern latitudes
into the south, and enters the Mediterranean ;
but it is doubtful whether it is amongst the species
found in the Black Sea and the Caspian. The
Adriatic Seal, “the Monk” (Pelagus monachus), so
abundant about the islands of the Dalmatian
Archipelago, and the fiords of that solitary coast,
is also the common Seal of the Grecian seas. This
is a sub-genus, founded on dental characters, and
of which the form in question seems to have an
HKastern and somewhat limited Mediterranean range.

200

CHAPTER VII.

THE BLACK SEA.

Tuat large area which is comprised within the
island of Crete and the shores of Greece, and Asia
Minor, is in most striking contrast with all other
parts of the Mediterranean basin. Viewed as an
area of depression, the history of this region is
probably the same as to date with all the rest ; but
if so, its original features were very distinct : lofty
islands, rocky coasts, and deep intervening seas
form for 350 miles the approach to the narrow
straits which lead into the Black Sea. A glance at
a good physical map of this region will suffice to
indicate that the islands of the A%gean are the
peaks and ridges which once connected the moun-
tains of Greece with those of Anatolia. |

The opposite shores of the Dardanelles and Bos-
phorus approach so close at places as to give to this
connecting link between the Aigean and the Black
Sea the features of a broad river ; and this resem-
blance is increased by the steady flow of the water
outwards. This “set” of the “ocean stream” may
be observed in parts of the Algean ; it is the excess
of inflow into the Black Sea beyond the loss °Y
evaporation.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. . | 201

_ The Black Sea, from east to west, is about 700
miles in length, with a breadth of 300, giving an
area of 170,000 square miles; its depth in places
is nearly equal to that of the Mediterranean. SBe-
yond this again is another expanse of water—the
Sea of Azof, with an area of 14,000 square miles ;
this is a shallow sea.

Into these two depressions, which together exceed
the area of the British Islands, some of the largest
rivers in Europe discharge themselves, such as the
Danube, the Dnjepr, the Dnujestr, the Bug, and
the Don. To these might be added an almost
endless list of minor rivers, many of which far ex-
ceed the volume of the largest British streams.

Some of the rivers which discharge into the
Black Sea take their rise in high latitudes, in dis-
tricts annually covered with snow. These rivers also
are annually frozen. Again, the winter temperature
of the northern shores of this sea is such that
coast ice forms there, as also in the Sea of Azof;
and hence the waters of the Black Sea are much
colder than those of the rest of the marine province
to which it belongs.It is to the combi ned influence
of composition and temperature that the great dif-
ference in the assemblage of animals in the Medi-
terranean and Black seas must be attributed. The
Black Sea is the great ultimate estuary of the rivers
which drain one-half of the European area.

The proportion of Baltic Testacea to those of the
Celtic Atlantic region is as fifteen to three hundred.

202 THE BLACK SBA.

The Black Sea species are to the Mediterranean as
sixty to six hundred ; of these about thirty, or one-
half, are British. The Molluscous Fauna of the Black
Sea is Atlantic, and the assemblage of species, as
well as their relative frequency, causes it to resemble
the northern portion of the Lusitanian zone. The
species common to our seas and the Black Sea are
Cerithium adversum, Lnttorina rudis and neritordes,
Trochus umbilicatus, T. cnerarius, T. exiguus, Pha-
svanella pulla, Calyptroeea chinensis, Murex erinaceus,
Nassa reticulata and ascanias, Anomia ephyppium,
Cardium edule and exiguum, Venerupis wrus, Venus
aurea, V. gallina, V. dysera, Tellina tenwms, T. car-
naria, Mactra triangula, Solen ensis, Pholas candida.

The Lusitanian or Mediterranean ‘species are,
Patella tarentina and ferruginea, three or four spe-
cies of Rissoa, Truncatella truncatula, Cerithium vul-
gatum, C. ferrugineum, Trochus divaricatus, T’. Adan-
sonu, 7. villicus, T. fragarvoides, Plewrotoma costula-
tum, Tritonium corniculum, T'. neriteum, Columbella
rustica, Conus Mediterraneus, Bulla striata. The
bivalves are Ostrea Adriatica, Pecten sulcatus, Myti-
lus minimus, M. latus, Lucina commutata, L. lactea,
Venus rudis, Mesodesma donacilla, Hrycina ovata.
These two lists convey a very fair representation of
the assemblage of the Black Sea Mollusks. A few
more species might be added. All that are here
cited rest on the careful identifications of Dr. A. Von
Middendorff, and the peculiarity of the assemblage
of marine species consists in the dwarfed size of in-

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 203

- dividuals as compared with their representatives in
the Mediterranean or Atlantic.

To these forms must be added Drevssena poly-
morpha, which has now established itself in most of
the rivers of Western Europe, but of which the na-
tive home is in this region, and the dreaded Z'eredo
navalis. The abundance of this Mollusk in the
harbour of Sebastopol is so great, and the destruc-
tion of the vessels which it attacks so rapid (eight
years being the average duration of the under
timbers of any ship), that it is possible that a
ereat service was rendered to the naval power of
Russia when it was compelled to withdraw its fleet
from the Black Sea waters.

Some peculiar forms of Cardiwm occur in parts
of the Black Sea, and which are common to the
Caspian. Cardiwm plicatum is found at the mouth
of the Dunjestr, and C. coloratum at that of the
Dnjepr and the Don.

The deficiencies in the Black Sea fauna are re-
markable. All those classes of Mollusca which, as we
have seen, are but poorly represented in the Hast-
ern Mediterranean as compared with the Western,
are here either altogether wanting, or are of rarest
occurrence, such as Cephalopods, Pteropods, and
Nudibranchs. Echinoderms and Zoophytes are
absent. The composition of the water is inimical
to all these forms. The Meduse are represented
by shoals of the common gregarious Aurelia.

The fishes of the Black Sea are very indicative

204 THE BLACK SEA.

of this estuarine character of its waters. As com-
pared with those of the Mediterranean, the number
of specific forms is remarkably small, whilst that
of individuals is marvellously great. Pallas notices
the “Red Mullet” and the “Cuckoo Gurnard.”
The beautiful Umbrina of the Lusitanian coasts
(U. vulgaris), and which is recorded as having been
once or twice taken on our coasts, is among the
rarer fishes of this sea. Several species of Sparus,
with Blennies and Wrasses, are such as have been
noticed in the Algean. The Grey Mullet, the
“Kephalos” of the Greek fishermen, is the common
fish of the markets of Constantinople. It is met
with in great shoals along the whole coast of the
Black Sea, from Kertch to the Bosphorus. These
shoals are composed of fishes of the same size or
age. The little Atherine, which, as we have seen,
is abundant in the Aigean, migrates into the Black
Sea in the spring. Having passed the straits of Con-
stantinople, the shoals turn northwards, keeping close
in to avoid the current which sweeps down towards
the outlet. Should there be an onshore wind as
they pass along, which not unfrequently happens,
enormous numbers of this fish are thrown upon
the coast and perish.

The Gar-pike is common, as are Dabs and
Flounders ; these last also occur plentifully in the
Sea of Azof.

The migratory and gregarious Tunnies (this

general designation includes several species) pass.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 905

upwards from the Mediterranean in the spring.
The value and importance of this fish to the
Byzantines (for it is the Tunny which fills their
“Golden Horn” to overflowing) have caused its |
habits to be closely observed from early times ;
from these notices we find that its route is the same
now as then, and that it still continues to fill the
bay of Constantinople with its countless shoals with
the same periodic regularity as it did 2000 years
ago. The old Mediterranean Greeks thought that
Byzantium was the home of the Tunnies ; the present
race of fishers know much better. This annual
passage into the Black Sea and back again, is only
the last stage of that long migration which the
Tunnies have to perform. They are all Atlantic
fishes, and rather Lusitanian than Celtic, though
some few reach our coasts. They make their ap-
pearance about the Straits of Gibraltar and in
the Western Mediterranean in the early spring, and
travel steadily eastwards. From the circumstance
that the fish taken about the islands of Corsica and
Sardinia are remarkable for their size as compared
with those which compose the shoals which follow
the shores of Hurope on one hand and_ those
of Africa on the other, it is a part of the popular
belief respecting the Tunnies that they move along
the Mediterranean in three columns, of which the
middle one consists of the oldest and strongest fishes.

The passage of these shoals along the coasts of
southern HKurope is a busy time, and one of gene-

206 THE BLACK SEA.

ral excitement, with the fishing population ; the
Pilchard fishery on our Cornish coasts is something
like it, in a quiet sort of way. The Tunny is
taken about Sicily and the Mediterranean generally
the whole summer through, but then these are
usually full-sized fishes, and it is very probable that
the duty of performing the Black Sea pilerimage
is felt up to a certain time of life only. In the
autumn the shoals return again. The fishermen
maintain that these shoals are composed of fishes
of the same year: the uniformity of size is cer-
tainly very striking. Still more, they profess to
know the shoals as they pass back again, and can
tell how much the fish have gained in weight in
the course of the summer. As with birds, so with
fishes—some migrate locally, some to remote re-
gions. The distance from the Straits of Gibraltar
to the Sea of Azof is not less than 2800 miles.
Such is the migration of the Tunnies. Man looks
out for them at every point along their course as
they go; and as they return they are the food of
countless thousands of the Mediterranean popula-
tions. As they pass into the Black Sea the Dolphins
and predaceous fish which have followed them
along their whole course, still pursue them, flocks of
sea-birds hover over them; yet the living stream
flows on, age after age, and seemingly with undi-
minished fulness.

The Sword Fish is taken in great numbers in the
bay of Constantinople.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 207

Most of the fishes which have been here enume-

rated, such as the Grey Mullets, the Gobies, the

Atherines, and flat-fishes, are well known to us as
being found elsewhere, in estuaries and brackish
waters ; but it is by the next series, or by the rela-
tive proportion of the cartilaginous fishes, that the
Black Sea and Sea of Azof are mainly characterized.
Though the Sturgeon (Aciperser sturio) is taken in
all the Atlantic seas of Kurope, yet it nowhere can
be said to be acommon fish. It is only a rare visit-
ant to our coast, and the specimens taken are
always adults. It becomes somewhat more frequent
in the marine province to the north of ours, and
also in the Lusitanian and Western Mediterranean
region, but it is by no means frequent there. The
habits of the several species of this genus are not
the same. ‘The common Sturgeon is the most
pelagic, or the greatest wanderer ; but, considering
the great distance at which they are taken up the
courses of the rivers which empty into the Black
Sea and Caspian, that they spawn in these rivers,
and hibernate there, they would seem rather to be
river fishes which descend periodically to the sea
than sea fishes which ascend rivers. Though they
are captured more frequently in the larger Mediter-
ranean rivers than in Atlantic ones, yet even there
they only occur as single fish.
As many as five species of Sturgeon have been
distinguished, and they all belong to that great
system of rivers which flow south and east into

208 THE BLACK SEA,

the Caspian and Black Seas. They are nearly

Russian as to their nationality, and would be quite
so, but for the Danube. ‘They are the forms of
a geological region of great antiquity which has
undergone great physical changes, the account of
which will belong rather to the Geological History
of the European area.

The Sting Ray (Z'rigon pistanaca), and another
species which has not been determined, are found
in considerable numbers in the Black and Caspian
Seas, as also in the waters of the sea of Azof,
which at times are nearly fresh. It may surprise
some to find such fish inhabiting such a medium ;
but it will be found that this Ray commonly occurs
throughout the Mediterranean on the mud deposit
of the mouths of large rivers, and it may also be
remembered that fresh-water forms of the genus
occur in the great rivers of the South American
continent.

Lastly, a species of Lamprey is taken in great
quantities in the Sea of Azof.

209

CHAPTER VIII.

OASPIAN SHA,

Tue Caspian and Aral are wholly inland seas,
receiving the inflow of great rivers, but having no
ultimate communication with any larger ocean:
in this respect they resemble the Dead Sea, with this
difference—that the waters of the latter show an
excess of salt, whilst those of the Caspian are only
brackish ; the meaning of this difference will be
explained presently.

The Caspian is European from the point where
the great range of the Caucasus comes down to its
coast, in lat. 40°, to the mouth of the Oural River,
in lat. 47°. The areaof this sea has been estimated
at 140,000 square miles; but the region which
bounds its northern half on either side still presents
unmistakable evidences that its waters have at
- some time extended west as far as the mouths of
the Danube, and eastwards to the Sea of Aral.
This was not a continuous expanse of water, but
rather a chain of lakes, of which the boundary
lines and connecting links may still be traced in
lines of cliff Elevations near the mouth of the
Volga, of rather more than eighty feet above the
present mean level of the Caspian, are capped with

i

210 CASPIAN SEA.

rounded shingle and beds of sand filled with the
peculiar shells of this sea. From these accumula-
tions we may infer that the water over this area
had a former level higher by a hundred feet at
least than it has at present. The difference of level
between the Black Sea and the Caspian has been
put as high as about eighty feet, and as low as only
forty ; but whichever may be the correct measure,
accumulation of water within the Aralo-Caspian
depression of such an amount would again unite
the seas, and that without the intervention of any
local depression of the land—a course somewhat
too often invoked by the geologist to explain such
changes.

The Caspian, having no outlet, should present
indications of a gradual increase in the depth and
extent, in consequence of the vast volumes of water
which annually flow into it. So far, however, from
this being the case, its mean level is constant, and
apparently has continued so for a considerable
period, as the accession from all its tributary rivers
is counterbalanced by the enormous evaporation of
that region.

Evaporation alone is the agent engaged in re-
ducing the level of certain internal seas below that of
the adjacent ocean. But for its communication with
the Atlantic the Mediterranean could not maintain
its level, and this consideration leads to an inference
that the change which has taken place between
the present time and that at which the Caspian

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 211

had its former expansion has been a climatic one.
At present the winter temperature of the northern
Caspian falls much below freezing (10°-14° F.) ;
even the south Caspian is colder than our English
winters. In July the heat of Astrakan is equal to
that of Sicily or the south of Spain. During three
months the evaporation is very great, and the
marginal shallow waters are warmed, whilst on the
breaking up of the ice and the melting of the
snow the waters rise, and are intensely cold.
Such conditions are not very favourable for any
large or varied Molluscous fauna, and accordingly
we find that it consists mainly of forms which live
embedded in mud.

This Caspian Molluscous fauna is as yet but
imperfectly known ; such, at least, is the impression
which the assemblage of observed species produces.
We miss the Liumnece and Paludine which may
reasonably be looked for there.

fissoa Caspia and two little Paludinelle (P.
| variabilis, P. stagnalis) swarm in these waters, and
the extent to which their shells must go to increase
the sedimentary deposits of the bed of the Caspian
is highly illustrative of the conditions under which
such thick beds of Paludinella limestone were
formed, as may be observed in the tertiary brack-
ish-water formations of Maintz and other places.
Associated with these are Weritina litturata, a
Mytilus, and Dreissena, serving to complete the
parallel.

et? CASPIAN SBA.

The remaining Mollusks are all forms of Oardium.
1. &. (Didacna) trigonoides. 2. C. (Didacna) Hich-
waldi. 3. C.(Monodacna) Caspicum. 4. C.(Mono-
dacna) pseudocardium. 5. C. edule. 6. C. rusticwm. |
7. C. (Adaena) leviusculum. 8. C. (Adacna) vitrewm.
9. C. (Adaena) plicatum. 10. C. (Adaena) coloratum.

1 and 2 are hardly distinct, and are most common
throughout the whole of the Caspian. Nos. 3 and
4 are considered by Middendorf to be nearly allied,
and Deshayes notices the resemblance of C. pseudo-
cardium to the common Cockle (C. edule).
Kichwald described the C. Caspicum from dead
shells, and doubts whether this species is now
living. The Caspian form of C. edule is small,
but distinct. Dead shells of the variety C. rusticwm
occur in abundance, but it is supposed that this
form may also have recently died out there.

The following are rather south Caspian shells:
C. vitreum and CO. leeviusculwm, which latter is thrown
up after storms near Baku, in such quantities as to
serve as food for pigs, cormorants, and other water
birds. C. edentulwm is found in the north Caspian,
but never living. C. plicatum occurs also in the
Black Sea, at the mouth of the Dnjestr, but is
there smaller than in the Caspian. C. coloratum
is common to the Black and Azof Seas, and to the
north Caspian.

The shells of the genus Cardiwm (Cockles), so
numerous in all seas, as also at all past periods,
are throughout remarkable for the constancy of

a.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. Yileo

certain characters. They are generally ribbed, the
edges of the valves are crenulated and interlock ; in
the great majority of the species the valves shut
close. The hinge consists of two central teeth in
each valve, and two lateral, somewhat removed ; in
all, four teeth in each valve. ‘The common Cockle
(Cardiwm edule) is a good type of the genus.

The Cockles are mostly marine, but our common
edible species is found in harbours and high up
tidal rivers, where the water becomes brackish ; in
these cases the shells present several modifications:
they are invariably reduced in size, are thin, and have
their external characters less strongly marked. The
Baltic Cockle (C. Balticum) presents such changes,
as do also the Black Sea and the Caspian form of
this species.

The shell known as C. rusticwm (Chem.) is recog-
nised by Philippi and Middendorf as a variety of
the common Cockle—an aberrant variety, says Ed.
Forbes, produced by the admixture of fresh water
with the saline element. This variety is found in
all European seas. In the Caspian the differences
betwixt the C’. edule and the C. rusticwm are clearly
marked only in the young shells; when older, they
become so alike as to be scarcely distinguishable.

There is another aberrant form of Cardium,
known as the Greenland Cockle, which lives in
estuaries there, and although it no longer belongs
to our Kuropean area, it is met with in abundance
as a fossil shell in the crag deposit of Suffolk and

914 CASPIAN SEA.

Norfolk, more particularly» in the fluvio-marine
portions. The peculiarity of the shell consists in
its being thin and smooth; the hinge is nearly
edentulous; rudiments of a single tooth in each
valve may be detected in young shells which finally
disappear. The animal is a true Cockle, but the
shell is wanting in all the usual characteristics of
the genus.

The Caspian Sea, with its very limited Molluscous
fauna, makes us acquainted with another series
of aberrant forms of Cardiwm in which the hinge
undergoes great modifications, and which are ac-
companied by changes in the form and other
characters, to such an extent that they have been
referred even to other genera, such as Corbula and
Pholadomya.

To these forms, but allied to them by correspond-
ing modifications, may be added as many as twenty
others, to which M. Deshayes has given distinct
specific names, and which are found in the deposits of
the older extensive Caspian. The hinge structure of
this group taken altogether presents every conceiv-
able deviation from the normal formula of the genus
Oardiwm: the lateral teeth are suppressed, either
one or both, and the central ones preserved ; and
the reverse take place. Often one tooth is alone
preserved, and this is sometimes the anterior, and
sometimes the other. This single tooth at times
acquires a great development, and is accompanied
by a great distortion of the shell on that side; im-

ee ee I lp ae
romper bis
Wad ye es
eal ae

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. D5

deed each change in fhe hinge structure has its

attendant external change; and lastly, hinge teeth
altogether disappear. The hinge structure as a
generic guide altogether fails, and the shells take
the external forms of Jsocordia, Venericardia,
Crassatella, and Venus, yet they are all true Cardia,
and as aberrant forms are linked continuously one
with another, and lead back to the Cardium edule,
as the primary form.

Fishes abound in the Caspian. In no part of the
world, Newfoundland excepted, are fisheries so pro-
ductive, or do they give employment to so large a
number of persons as they do about the mouths of
the rivers which discharge into this sea.

Those principally taken are the great Silurus,
the great and lesser Sturgeon (Accipenser huso and
pragnulus), together with that most abundant but
less-esteemed species the Accipenser stellatus.

Pallas mentions a circumstance which may serve
to convey some idea of the vast numbers of fish
which ascend the Sallian. The weirs for stopping
the fish are established where the river is 160 yards
broad and twenty-five feet deep. At these places
as many as 15,000 Sturgeon are taken a day ; but’
if the fishery is suspended for twenty-four hours,
the fish so accumulate that they become packed,
and fill the whole bed of the river to the level of
its banks.

Lastly, Seals are as abundant in the Caspian as
they are in the Black Sea ; there are several species,

bina) n ranges there is now doubeain The
» bians occur in great numbers over the wh

lake system which stretches from the Bla
across central Asia.

217

CHAPTER IX.
ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF MARINE ANIMALS.

THE assemblages of animals composing the fauna
of the European seas have been shown to undergo
a constant change from place to place. The dif-
ferences and peculiarities are broad enough in cer-
tain cases to be seen by those who commonly bestow
but little attention on such matters. Thus the pe-
culiarity of the fishes of Mount’s Bay would be
recognised at once by any one who had only seen
those captured on the coasts of Norfolk ; and the
abundance of the elegant Nephrops in the Dublin
market would arrest the attention of the epicure
whose experience had been limited to the edible
Crustaceans of the London fish-stalls.

This system of change, or of geographical distri-
bution, has of late acquired a great amount of in-
terest ; it is connected with some of those curious
inquiries into bygone conditions of the earth’s sur-
face which are now undergoing investigation, so that
the subject forms a necessary part of the natural
history of each separate province ; and although
we may not as yet have arrived at a satisfactory
knowledge of all the conditions which bear upon
this enquiry, it may not be amiss to consider some

218 TEMPERATURE.

of those influences which obviously regulate, in
some degree, the distribution of marine life, and
the changes which they immediately produce.

Foremost amongst these is the influence of tempe-
rature. ‘The marine fauna which we have been here
considering occurs on a line of coast which, if limi-
ted to Huropean countries, has an extension in lati-
tude of nearly 3000 miles, but which zoologically
extends from the Arctic basin to the Canaries. It
will be sufficient in this place to notice the winter
and summer temperatures of successive sections of
the Atlantic coast-line, and to connect these with
the condition of the internal seas. On the Russian
shores of the Arctic Ocean the mean cold for the
two winter months falls below 5° Fahr.* This is
the winter temperature of Spitzbergen, and the
coast is ice-bound from October till May ; yet here,
as we have seen, and at depths below the reach of
ice, there is a Molluscous fauna.

Compared with this, the temperature of the west
coast of Scandinavia exhibits a great change, and
is comparatively mild; from Cape North, nearly
as low as Bergen, the degrees of cold range from
23° F. to 32° (freezing), but, at which place, the
sea water does not freeze oftener than three times
ina century. The portion of the coast where the
lower temperature prevails, from Cape North to the
Lofoden Islands is that along which the character-
istic fauna of the Arctic basin reaches.

* See on map the course of the blue lines.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 219

Iceland, which has the winter temperature of
North Cape, has also its Arctic assemblage of Mol-
lusca.

The Baltic area experiences a degree of winter
cold far below that of the portion of the external
coast, corresponding to it in latitude. At the upper
end of the Gulf of Bothnia the temperature is that
of the Arctic coast; in the Gulf of Finland there
is the cold of Cape North. Such are the low tem-
_ peratures affecting the brackish waters of the
northern portion of this internal sea, and which
may in part account for the poverty of its fauna
‘as compared with that of the southernmost half.

Crossing the whole European area, the great in-
ternal brackish seas of the Aral and of the north
Caspian, have winter temperatures corresponding
with those of the Arctic Ocean.

It is from about Bergen and the southern parts
of Norway and Sweden that the assemblage of Mol-
lusca and other marine animals had been obtained
which form what has been termed the “ Boreal” or
“Scandinavian fauna.” ‘This section of the western
coast of Kurope, with a somewhat higher winter
temperature, shows a wonderful increase in the
numbers of the component members of its fauna.

The whole of the group of the British Islands,
our internal seas, and both coasts of the English
Channel, come within a winter temperature of from
40° F. to 32° F.; such is the winter cold of the

220 TEMPERATURE.

higher end of the Adriatic, as also of the southern
portions of the Black and Caspian seas.

The Celtic province of Ed. Forbes was formed to
include under one term a fauna which, under many
favourable conditions, becomes peculiarly rich ;
southern forms begin to show themselves, and no-
where is the direct relation of distribution to tem-
perature better shown than here.

Pursuing for the present the subject of low tem-
peratures, sea water, as is well known, seldom freezes
in our Celtic region ; when this happens, as it did
in the winter of 1854-5, we had a good illustration
of the effects of cold on a portion of a marine fauna.
The shallow pools of water over the interval between
tides and the surfaces of the mud-banks with their
growths of weed, were all frozen hard ; the animals
frequenting this zone mostly perished, and for months
afterwards there were parts of our southern coast
where lines of littoral shells, with their putrid con-
tents, stretched in thick bands along the upper tidal
line.

A writer in the “Witness” newspaper, perhaps the
late Hugh Miller, gave a graphic description of the
effects of the cold of the same winter on the Mol-
lusca of the Frith of Forth. Oyster farmers know
full well, to their cost, the havoc of a few hours’ cold
on their uncovered fields.

The weedy surfaces of our mud-banks swarm
with small molluscous vegetarians, whole tribes of

7 ‘a ey ANA ey oe re eT a
aA Bei BOR. ye?
t RDN ot [

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. O71

which have their limits there. When, as on our

western coasts, or on those of France or the Chan-
nel Islands, hard rocks face the sea, what rich
gathering grounds does the sea-side naturalist there
meet with, over miles of broad, horizontal ledges !
A few successive winters, with low temperatures,
would destroy the whole of the fauna of this broad
intertidal zone, would alter the present relative pro-
portions of littoral species, and give another aspect
to our marine testacea, viewed collectively.

A mean winter temperature of 54° F. includes

the north, west, and east coasts of Spain, together

with Sicily and Greece. Gibraltar, and the south-
ern shores of the Mediterranean, are warmer by
several degrees. From the Arctic Ocean to the
mid-Mediterranean there is a difference of mean

winter temperature of more than 50° F.

The influence of summer temperature is best
indicated by the range of southern forms. That
part of our own coast which just comes within the
July mean temperature of 64° I., namely, the ex-
treme south-west parts of Devon and Cornwall,
is also that from which our rarer southern forms of
fishes and Mollusca are taken. The researches of
Mr. M‘Andrew have shown that Vigo Bay has an
isolated assemblage of testacea of a somewhat north-
ern character ; it may be an outlier of the marine
fauna of a former period, but its present distinct-
ness may have been maintained by the somewhat
lower summer temperature of Gallicia, compared

222 OUTLIERS.

with the rest of Spain and the Bay of Biscay. In
like manner it is not supposed that the southern
forms of the south-west of Ireland have migrated
there from the south, across the deep waters of the
opening of the channel, but that their presence
there, so far as present influences are concerned,
is dependent on the peculiar local conditions of
that coast as to temperature.

These considerations lead to the inquiry as to
the meaning of those local assemblages which have
been observed in several parts of our Celtic pro-
vince, the existence of which was first detected by
Ed. Forbes, and for which he proposed the name of
“‘ outliers.”

“ At certain spots we find assemblages of north-
ern forms, so peculiar and so isolated, that we can-
not account for them by any facts connected with
the present disposition of currents, or other trans-
porting influence.” These patches are especially to
be met with in the Clyde district, and among the
Hebrides ; on the east coast in the Murray Frith.
It is probable there is another patch somewhere
near the Nymph Bank, on the 8.E. coast of Ire-
land, and another in the German Ocean.

These “outliers” are usually located in a hole
or valley of considerable depth, from eighty to be-
yond 100 fathoms, and consist of assemblages of
Mollusks, of more northern character than the
zone or province in which they occur. The species
which Ed. Forbes cites, are Cemoria Woachina,

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. goa

_ Trichotropis borealis, Natica Grenlandica, Astarte

ellintica, Nucula »ygmea, Terebratula caput ser-
pentis, Crania Norvegica, Hmarginula crassa, Lottia
fulva, Pecten danicus, Necera cuspidata, NV. costata,
and WV. abbreviata, being such as are met with to-
gether in the far north (pp. 49-58).

The explanation which Ed. Forbes gives of these
“outliers” is as follows :—When the bed of the
sea of that period when in our latitudes the fauna
was more northern than it 1s now was upheaved,
the whole was not raised into dry land, but tracts
of greater depth, and which consequently were te-
nanted by peculiar forms, still remained under
water, though under different depths. In these
changes a portion of a fauna would be destroyed,
but such species as could endure alterations in ver-
tical range would live on.

If the following diagram, A, represents the relation
of sea to land for the period of the northern fauna,

the next, B, may represent it after the partial up-
heaval of the sea-bed. In this last, the unshaded
interval below the water-line will be that in which
the newer fauna has established itself in shallower
waters, and the shaded part that in which the

re

224 OUTLIERS.

remnants of the northern are supposed to be iso-
lated beneath the newer and existing fauna.

If such be the real meaning of these local assem-
blages of northern forms from depths about our
islands, there will necessarily occur areas of sea-bed
at more moderate depths, where residual portions
of the northern are associated with the present
fauna. One such has been noticed by Mr. Jeffreys.
The Turbot bank off the coast of Antrim, in twenty-
five fathoms water, gave twenty-one species of Tes-
tacea, “ Arctic,” “ Boreal,” “Celtic,” “ Lusitanian ;”
all there assembled together.

Zoological “outliers,” therefore, can only be
looked for where the existing marine fauna is a
compound one,—the result of the admixture of
forms from adjacent areas; they imply changes of
conditions over the areas in which they occur, both
as regards temperature and depth ; and inasmuch
as there is a tendency to uniformity at great depths,
the differences between provinces being mostly
found in the sublittoral zone, it follows that, though
there may be outlying southern species in northern
provinces, yet there can only be distinct northern
assemblages of species beneath seas which, in the
progress of change, have become warmer. A very

i
ies a

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 295

great amount of change in latitude is necessary
before a complete change is brought about in the
species inhabiting deep-sea zones; the interval be-
tween the Arctic circle and the Tropic of Cancer
does effect it. Residual deep-sea forms of tropical
assemblages cannot, therefore, be expected beneath
such as belong to the higher sea-zones of more
northern assemblages. The foregoing considerations
may be of use to the paleontologist and geologist,
and will frequently be referred to in the sequel.

Isolated groups of fossil remains are not uncom-
mon amidst our old sedimentary beds ; a remark-
able instance has been noticed by M. Barrande. In
one of the “lower divisions” of the great paleo-
zoic series of Bohemia, he has described the occur-
rence of a patch of as many as sixty species, which
forms do not agree with those characterizing the
“lower division.” These forms have lived in the
beds in which their remains are found; they ulti-
mately cease, and have been surmounted by beds
which contain the forms of the “lower division.”
These sixty species are isolated, but they appear
again aS a component part of the fauna of the
“upper division” of the same palzozoic series.

To these isolated assemblages of upper paleeozoic
amidst lower paleozoic forms, M. Barrande has
given the name of “colonies.” They are true
“outliers,” and will serve to suggest curious and in-
teresting geological inferences in the earlier history
(both natural and physical) of the European area.

Q

296 TEMPERATURE.

The tendency of a body of water is to keep its
surface temperature in equilibrium with that of the
air which rests immediately on it. But numerous
observations have established that the mean tempe-
rature of the surface of the ocean, from the equator
to about 50° of north and south latitude, is some-
what warmer than that of the air.

There is a line extending from one Polar region

of the earth to the other, at which an invariable
temperature of 39° F. is met with; the depth of
this temperature from the surface varies with the
latitude ; at the equator it is at a depth of 7200
feet, and it rises to the surface in lat. 66°, N. andS.

It has been seen to what an extent the richness
of the Atlantic fauna is increased in a direction
from N. to 8.; this increase in the variety of speci-
fic forms, which so characterizes southern latitudes,
takes place in the marginal and submarginal zones,
and may be considered to be immediately depen-
dent on temperature.

The line of uniform temperature sinks from the
surface towards the equator at the rate of about
130 feet for every degree of latitude, so that, apart
from the conditions of light and pressure, there is
a definite point in every latitude at which Arctic
and Boreal forms meet with their congenial tem-
peratures ; and hence a strong @ proorr probability
of geographical distribution of Arctic forms, ac-
cording to bathymetrical lines of temperature. An
animal requiring for its existence a temperature

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 22%

of 29° would have to sink upwards of 100 feet
for every degree it migrated south. In like man-
ner, should a change in the temperature of any
marine province be brought about (and this has
happened repeatedly over the European area), as,
for instance, from cold to warm, the marginal forms
could only continue their existence by moving to
greater depths. The case is here put in a purely
hypothetical form, for no marine animals are so
_ exacting in their requirements ; very many forms
have a range in depth in the same latitude, which
is considerable, and many have a broad horizontal
range. Such being the real condition of the ques-
tion, a general, and not a close relation of distri-
bution in depth to distribution in latitude is all
that can be expected.

Mr. M‘Andrew has made an interesting observa-
tion, illustrative of the distribution of species, from
temperature dependent on depth. At Mogadore,
on the west coast of Africa, in lat. 31° 30’, he ob-
tained 110 species of Testacea: of these about one
half range north as far as to our British coasts ;
when, however, the 110 species were divided into
two sets, according to depth, eighty-eight ranged
from the coast-line down to depths of upwards of
thirty fathoms ; amongst these are all those species
which are characteristically African or Lusitanian.
Of twenty-two species dredged in thirty-five to fifty
fathoms water, all but six were well-known British
shells.

228 COMPOSITION OF SEA WATER.

Specimens of sea water from the open parts of
the Atlantic are very uniform in their composition,
whether taken in the latitude of Gibraltar or of
the Hebrides ; but such is not the case with the
waters of internal seas, nor again between the
waters of the coast and those of the offing. The
sublittoral sea-zone is that of the maximum of
marine life, and it is along the coast-line that all
those changes are to be observed, from super-saline,
normal, brackish to fresh, which are severally de-
pendent on the amount of surface evaporation, the
influx of rivers, and on the equalizing action of
winds and tides.

The density of water taken at the surface is less
than of that taken at depths; the degree of salt-
ness, also, ificreases in the same direction. The
water from the surface contains less air than does
that from depths, and the difference may equal
one hundredth of the volume of water. Again,
analyses of the waters of the Black Sea, the Sea of
Azof, and the Caspian have shown that, though the
salts which they contain are the same, the propor-
tions are different. These varying conditions have
a marked influence in local assemblages of marine
animals.

From a series of observations taken within depths
of eight fathoms, Admiral Smythe puts the tempe-
rature of the Mediterranean surface waters at rather
more than three degrees higher than those of the
Atlantic for the same latitudes. This condition

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 2329

would affect the composition of the water. To
what extent it does so, whether the degree of salt-
ness of the Mediterranean waters is greater than
that of the Atlantic, is yet an unsettled question.
There is no doubt but that there is a difference be-
tween the waters of parts of the Eastern Mediter-
ranean and the Western, owing to the influx from
the Black Sea, sufficient, as has been shown, to pro-
duce a marked influence in the fauna; but the
latest authorities find no difference between the
degree of saltness of the Western Mediterranean
and of the external Atlantic Ocean.

Along the outline of all our seas, wherever there
are deep indents into the land into which rivers
discharge, or where the set of tides or other causes
have run out banks of sand and shingle in advance
of shelving coast-lines, the composition of the in-
cluded waters undergoes variable amounts of change :
in some regions brine-lakes are produced; in others
brackish-water estuaries and lagoons. These last
are the favourite resort of the keener sportsmen
of all countries; fishes abound, as do water-birds,
from the land side and the sea. They have their
peculiar testaceans, whilst purely-marineé species
pass in and exhibit the power which certain forms
possess of adapting themselves to altered conditions,
to how great an extent they can change their habits,
and what curious modifications their external forms
can experience.

230 BRACKISH-WATER MOLLUSKS.

An acquaintance with these intermediate areas,
and the zoological features they present, is indis-
pensable to the physical geologist. Throughout
the long series of old secondary and tertiary for-
mations, like conditions are constantly presented.

Apart from minor areas of brackish water the
North Atlantic passes, in the ultimate portions
of two of its great lateral branches, into internal
seas, which differ from estuaries only in their extent.
They communicate with the ocean, and are brack-
ish from the fresh waters poured into them.

The brackish-water fauna of our European area
varies much according to the province to which it
belongs. In our Celtic region Lissoa, Assemunia,
Neretina, Conovulus, and Truncatella, habitually
prefer the mouths of estuarine rivers, and low, sea-
side pools. JLxttorina littorea ranges away upwards
from the pure sea water, but seems to suffer from
the change. Loumnceus pereger ventures downwards.
Scrobrcularia and Mactra solida may be taken as
good characteristic estuary shells ; they are at their
maximum in such places, and attain their largest
dimensions. Cardiwm edule is common, as is Mya
arenaica, but both dwarfed.

“When visiting,” says Ed. Forbes, “the great
South Arran, in company with Mr. Thompson, we
found an interesting variety of the Cardiwm edule,
ina brackish lake, at the northern end of the
island. The shells were remarkably thin and

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. ye aN

brittle; the animals were not buried in the sand,
but inhabited the Conferva crassa, in which the
majority of the specimens were found creeping
about.”

In warmer regions, as in the South Lusitanian
province, our brackish Gasteropods are replaced
by species of Cerithia, Melani, and Ampullaria.
Corbula, though a deep-sea form at times, follows
the habit of ya, and in warmer regions makes its
appearance in brackish waters. A gradation of
form may be traced from typical Corbule to Poto-
momya, according to the medium in which the
forms occur. This is an interesting fact, because
true Corbule will be found at the interchange be-
tween salt and fresh water conditions as far back as
the commencement of the cretaceous series, and
again, in the fluvio-marine beds of the tertiary
series of the Isle of Wight, where Potomomya also
occurs in most wonderful profusion.

That like conditions produce like assemblages
may be seen by comparing the Black Sea fauna
(p. 201) with that of the Baltic (p. 88).

In the Gulf of Bothnia many of our common
English air-breathing pond-snails have habituated
themselves to the slightly-saline waters of that part
of the Baltic; such is also the case in the Sea of
Azof. The changes produced by the degrees of
saltness of the water on certain fresh-water forms
have been noticed by Ed. Forbes in his obser-
vations on the coast of Asia Minor. In this re-

252 NATURE OF COAST.

gion there have been repeated interchanges of
fresh, brackish, and salt waters, and the results are
shown in a remarkable manner in the genera Palu-
dina, Melanopsis, and Neretina. These genera pre-
sent three series of peculiar forms, so different,
“that at first examination we appear to have before
us very distinct and well-marked species.” He was
satisfied, however, “that they were the same species, |
assuming Protean variations,” under varying con- |
ditions of the medium in which they lived.

The nature of a coast-line, and the composition
of the deposits which form the sea-bed at different
zones of depth, are conditions which exercise an im-
portant influence on the general character and
abundance of marine life.

The Testacea that live attached, or which perfo-
rate cavities for themselves, require hard strata:
on rocky and stony coasts Mytilus, Chiton, Patella,
Haliotis, Cyprea, and others are found. Some
boring shells require or prefer limestone rocks, such
as Gastrochena, Saxwava rugosa, and Lrthodomus. —
Others, like the Pholades, are as often found in
pure sand-stones. 9

The amount of weed in the upper sea-zone de-
termines the numbers of the Phasianelle, Rissoe,
Lacune, and Littorine which a fauna will have.
Granitic coasts, or those of hard slates or sand:
stones, seem to afford attachment for a greater
quantity of marine vegetation than do limestone

we ee
yes yay ;

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. Doo

‘rocks. Sands favour the genera Panopwa, Mya, the
Solen tribe, Donax, Tellina, Mactra, Tapes, Venus,
&c. This, however, depends in a great measure
on the description of sand. A very large propor-
tion of the bivalved Testacea, of all seas, occur over
a sea-bed of muddy sand; but there is a zone of
clean sand in advance of most lines of coast which
comes within the range of the tidal and wave dis-
turbance of the water, where deposits are being
_ formed, which, after a while, are broken up again,
and which may be called the drift-sand zone. This
is wholly unfitted for marine life, and the only
organic forms it ever contains consist in the frag-
mentary shells and tests of other zones. I have
dredged along a band of this kind for thirty miles
on our own coast without finding a single living
form.

In muddy lagoons Scrobiewlaria is abundant.
Neera and Isocardia prefer deep-sea mud.

On our coasts lines of shingle, passing down into
running sands, are not prolific inanimal life. More
in the offing, and in situations where scollop banks
have established themselves, there is usually found
a rich and varied harvest of Mollusks and Ophiure.

Rocks rising somewhat abruptly out of deep
water cannot be dredged, nor indeed can a rocky
sea-bed, but the multitude of dead shells met with
in the vicinity of such submarine conditions shows
how favourable they are for supporting life. Gaste-
ropods abound in such situations, and I have known

O34 ISOZOIC ZONES.

the dredge to come up with little else than the frag-
ments of branching bryozow.

The species of bivalved Testacea have a wider
distribution than the Gasteropods, but the relative
proportions of these two great divisions depend, in
every local fauna, on the nature of the coast. It is
owing to this cause, according to M. D’Orbigny, that
the inequality is so great in the shells of the Cana-
ries. These islands are rocky ; hence the number
of creeping Gasteropods, whilst of the bivalves a
large proportion consists of such as attach them-
selves,—Ostrea, Chama, Spondylus, &e.

Both sides of the North Sea, from the Murray
Frith to the fiords of Southern Norway, if at any
time they should be raised, with their sedimentary
deposits, into dry land, would be found, though
more than 300 miles apart, to contain an assemblage
of marine Testacea specifically identical.

Over and along the coasts which encircle the
Arctic basin, there is also for the northern shores of
the Old World and the New a perfect identity of
specific forms ; and the same Arctic forms are com-
mon to the west coasts of Finmark and the north-
east of Greenland.

The great Mediterranean fauna is distributed
with wonderful uniformity, as is also that of the
Red Sea.

Such areas, in respect of the identity of the asia

cles they contain, may be termed Isozoic.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 235

The northern coasts of Massachusetts have Tes-
tacea, of which one-half are common to our Euro-
pean side of the Atlantic, and which belong to our
“Boreal” province. These two opposite sections
are only isozoic in degree, but they are equivalent,
and may be called Omoiozoie.

As northern forms decrease in number from north
to south along both sides of the Atlantic, the pro-
portion of common species decreases ;_ still a corre-
spondence is maintained by representative forms
rather than by identical ones, and the system of
omoiozoic zones is continued even when, as in the.
case of the Canaries and the Antilles, there should
be only two species in common.

The application of such considerations as these by
the paleontologist to his own special inquiries is
easy and interesting. There was no greater amount
of uniformity in past times than there is at present ;
distribution has ever been influenced by the same
laws. If on investigating old sea-beds it shall be
seen that there are areas over which the fauna is
uniform or isozoic, whilst in other directions it
presents change, we shall be justified in seeking the
explanation in the causes which produce like results
at present. If, for instance, the localities of the
ereat Saurians (/naliosaurs)—the monsters of the
secondary seas—are found to be northern and tem-
perate, but not southern, we may be allowed to infer
that the distribution of these forms was somewhat
that of our existing Cetaceans, and that they be-

236 MARINE PROVINCES.

longed to what may be termed the Boreal and
Celtic zones of the oolitic seas.

In like manner, taking lower forms, the northern
range of Nericea, and other Mollusca, can be indi-
cated for the oolitic and cretaceous seas, as closely
as can that of Cymba or Solariwm in our own Euro-
pean seas now. |

The great Indian Ocean contains an assemblage
of forms under every class, which gives to its fauna
a distinctive facies ; so, also, does the North Pacific:
the North Atlantic fauna is distinct from either.
These great divisions of the ocean admit of minor
ones, or, as they have been here called, “‘ Provinces.”
Those proposed by Ed. Forbes for the Atlantic coasts
of Europe are the Arctic, Boreal, Celtic, and Lu-
sitanian. It must not be supposed that in forming
these he limited them by definite lines and boun-
daries, for no such hard lines exist. Change is
throughout progressive ; but, when sections of the
European coasts are taken at wide intervals—if, for
instance, the fauna of our Channel Islands is com-
pared with that of the Lofoden group—the dis-
tinctiveness is seen to be very great. Whether the
intermediate section of the Atlantic, between these
two localities, forms one province or more, is a
question which every naturalist will determine for
himself, according to the amount and kind of dis-
tinctiveness which, in his opinion, a province should
have. Such divisions, at best, are merely conven-

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. ise

~ tional ones, and the degrees in which provinces will
differ, will depend on whether their number be large
or small.

Mr. Woodward considers that a province should
have one-half of its species peculiar to it. If sub-
jected to this test, our proposed Huropean provinces
are certainly too numerous; but though they may
not be such as the rigid naturalist requires, and
even may not present sufficiently broad characters
to satisfy the general reader, they will still, in some
respect, be found convenient. Strictly speaking, the
Lusitanian and northern provinces alone comply
with the rule as to proportion of peculiar species—
so that the Celtic province, which is established on
the mixed and intermediate character of its fauna, is
not of like value with the others.

A province is distinct so far as it is supposed to
contain a certain amount of specific forms which
have not been found in some other part of the
same sea or ocean, but it has never any stronger
support than that of negative evidence.

The northern limit of the Lusitanian province
seems to have been indicated by Hd. Forbes, when
he states, “that the collector in search of a complete
series of British shells, would have to go to the
Channel Islands for those forms which, though in-
eluded in our list, are almost extra-British.” Since
this was written the Lusitanian species, which have
been ascertained to range as high as the prolific
coasts of this group, have been somewhat increased,

.
oy v
-

238 _MARINE PROVINCES.

including the two magnificent Conch-shells 7riton
nodiferus and 7’. cutaceus, which, though common,
are amongst the largest and most striking of Medi-
terranean forms.

Mr. M‘Andrew has compared the results of his
dredgings on the north coasts of Spain, including
Vigo Bay, with those on the south. The British —
Testacea common to the north coast are 246 species
in 406, or 61 per cent. ; whilst the southern species
are as 227 in 406, or 56 per cent.; and he further
notices that, of the Scandinavian Testacea, which
reach as low down as Spain, as many as 19 stop
short, or do not pass south, of Cape St. Vincent.
South of the same point, the character of the marine
fauna becomes most obviously Lusitanian, so that,
if it is thought desirable to reduce the number of
independent provinces to two, it may, at the same
time, be convenient to subdivide these ; the North-
ern Lusitanian, in such a consideration as this,
would extend from Cape St. Vincent to the Channel
Islands.

When a marine fauna becomes specifically more
numerous, as it always does (and always did) in a
direction from cold to warmer temperatures, the rate
of appearance and disappearance of forms in any
direction is unequal. Of 212 species collected by
Mr. M‘Andrew on the north of Spain, only 29 did
not extend to the south of Cape St. Vincent; out of
352 species obtained on the coasts of Portugal and

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 239

Spain to the south of that Cape, 140 species have
not been met with so far north as Vigo; if the ten-
dency to diffusion was equal, the number here not
passing north should be about 50,—or along the
European Atlantic border the northern elements of
the molluscous fauna have a greater southern dis-
tribution than the Lusitanian, or southern forms
have northwards.

The naturalist who hopes that the day may come
when some of the evidence as to the past conditions
of the earth’s surface may be interpreted, by the
combined aid of the laws of geographical distribu-
tion, of the bathymetrical arrangement of marine
animals, and of sedimentary matter, must make
these, and all allied considerations, his special
study.

A marine fauna is not a constant assemblage.
In every latitude along the western shores of Europe,
it has long been undergoing a slow rate of change ;
southern forms have been extending themselves
northward: the testaceous fauna of our western
counties is far richer and warmer in its aspect than
that indicated by those raised deposits, of compara-
tively recent origin, which fringe those coasts. Con-
versely, that wide extension of northern forms into
southern latitudes which has been referred to, must
not be taken as wholly referable to the present—
antecedently to the present the tendency of north-
ern forms was southerly, and some remain there
now, the residual members of that migration.

940 CELTICPRO VINCE.

A local testaceous fauna, as exhibited in a list
of species from any part of the western coasts of
Europe, is the product of repeated changes of dis-
tribution, which have taken place there, dating
back into remote times.

The Celtic or British province, whether it be
considered distinct, or as only a transitional one,
bearing the same relation to the Scandinavian that
the northern Lusitanian does to the southern, has
a good physical boundary in the breadth of the
English Channel. This division points clearly to
the distribution of the component members of its
fauna, to a commingling of species, by the exten-
sion of certain southern species northwards, mixing
themselves with those of a northern character,
which have enjoyed a longer and earlier tenure of
the region. This, however, does not take place
equally throughout the seas which surround the
British Islands. Certain species range both up-
wards and downwards along our outward western
coasts: they are the “Atlantic forms” of Ed.
Forbes. These pass, in a limited degree only, into
our internal seas—the Irish and English Channels,
and German Ocean—just as certain West African

forms do into the Mediterranean, and lead to the ~

impression that these seas are of comparatively
recent origin, and are as yet but partially colonized ;
in other words, that change is still in progress.

In like manner, Mr. Jeffreys observes, “ My first

ee eS a EEE ee

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 24)

_ impression, on examining the Testacea of the Gulf
of Genoa, was, that the fauna of the Mediterranean
was mixed, and not peculiar to that sea. I found
a large proportion of species which were familiar to
me as British, and others having a more southern,
and even tropical habitat. This led me to inquire
whether the division into certain definite areas,
_ which the late Professor Forbes distinguished by the
names of Boreal, Celtic, Lusitanian, and Mediter-
ranean, was well founded.”

Testing these several divisions, or types, by the
results of his own Mediterranean researches, Mr.
Jeffreys states, that of the species supposed to be
peculiarly “ Boreal,” he found several in the Gulf
of Genoa, “such as Chiton Hanley, Mangelia bra-
chystoma and Necera costellata. Another (Mangelia
Leufroyt, or Boothw) has been described and figured
by Philippi as a recent Sicilian species, and a fifth,
Scissurella crispata, 1 believe to be identical with
the S. decussata of D’Orbigny.

“Of the second division, or ‘Celtic’ species,”
continues Mr. Jeffreys, “I met with Zapes pallus-
tra (of which the Venus geographica of continental
authors is a variety), Acmcea virginea, Lucina bore-
alis, and L. flexuosa. Philippi has given Trochus
millegranus: and Hulimella M‘Andrei (Melania
scille), as: Sicilian species. Of the third division,
or ‘peculiarly British’ species, several, as Jef'reysia
diaphana, and the so-called Skenice, besides Argiope -
cistellula (Orthis Neapolitana, Scac.), also occurred

R

242 NATURE OF SEA-BED.

to me in the Mediterranean: and of the last divi-
sion, or ‘glacial’ species, I detected three, Vucula
decussata, Necera cuspidata, and Cardvum suecicum.
Philippi has given Arca raridentata as Sicilian.”

Mr. Jeffreys found that more than thirty species,
which had been supposed to be restricted to our
British seas, ranged into the Mediterranean.

The relation of the nature of the sea-bed and the
associated Testacea to depth of water, was carefully
observed by Ed. Forbes and the officers of the
Beacon. For more than two months the dredge
and the sounding-lead were actively employed for
this purpose, in the Gulf of Macri, on the Lycian
coast.

“Tracts of sand are forming near the shore, and
off the mouths of the larger rivers. This is espe-
cially the case on exposed coasts, as in the instance
of that part of the Lycian shore where the Xanthus
empties itself into the sea. There the sea is shallow
for some distance, and for a considerable breadth,
the bottom being formed of a tract of sand. Such
a bottom is not favourable to abundance or variety
of marine life, and Testacea are by no means plenti-
ful in such places.

“The muddy deposit from the deep sea is scone
almost invariably, of a pale yellow colour, and, when
dried, nearly white. The region of this yellow mud
is the sea-bed below eighty fathoms, more commonly

below one hundred. From that depth down to as~
deep as we were able to explore by means of the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. DAa

dredge, we found an uniform bottom of fine sedi-
ment in the form of yellow mud, inhabited through
great part by an uniform assemblage of marine
animals, mostly delicate, fragile, and colourless forms,
which became fewer and fewer both as to numbers
and individuals, and number of species, as the sea
became deeper and deeper.”

“Beds accumulating around the bases of rocky
submarine peaks, rising in deep water at a distance
from land, are more likely to be embedded with or-
ganic remains, than such as are formed along shore.
Round their bases will accumulate beds of shells
and corals, belonging to various zones of depth.
Such is the case, as we found by dredging, round the
peak of rock in the neighbourhood of Cape Artemi-
sium.”

The distribution in depth of the molluscous and
other forms, which were observed by Ed. Forbes in
the Aigean, has been already noticed; that of the
Testacea of our own seas is given for every species
in the joint work of the same author and Mr.
Hanley.*

Hid. Forbes thus subdivides the uppermost, or
littoral zone. First, a line with the smaller varie-
ties of Littorina rudis and L. neritoides; a second,
with Mytilus edulis and larger forms of L. rudis ;
a third, with Littorina littorea and Purpura lapillus ;
the lowest, with Znttorina littoralis, Rissoa parva,
and Trochus cinerarius, accompanied on our west

* A History of British Mollusca.

244 GENERIC DISTRIBUTION.

and south-west shores with 7. umbilicatus and
lineatus.

To this zone, when rocky, belong Patella vulgata,
Skenia planorbis, and Kellia rubra. In brackish
water Lissoa ulva swarms.

The second is the “ Laminarian zone,” from the
abundance of that and other sea-weeds, extending
from low water to 15 fathoms. The genera Lacuna
(one species excepted), Calyptreea, Aplysia, Scrobi-
cularva, and Donax, do not range in our seas below
this belt. Rissoa, Chiton, Bulla, Trochus, Mactra,
Venus, and Cardium, are at their maximum here.

The third is the “ Coralline zone,” reaching from
15 to 50 fathoms. Vegetation is scarce, and ulti-
mately disappears within these limits ; and the zone
takes its name from the hydroid zoophytes. T’o-
chus ziziphinus and 7’. tumidus, Chiton asellus, Acmcoea
virgined, Turritella communis, Venus ovata and
V. fasciata, Pecten opercularis, Pectunculus glyci-
merits, and Nucula nucleus mark the upper por-
tion of this zone. Solen pellucidus, Pecten varius,
Modiola modiolus, Dentaliwm, and Mactra elliptica
occur lower.

Genera of Testacea have also their characteristic
zones of depth. As we draw nearer to the present,
in following out the sequence of fossil forms, a
system of representation in time becomes distinctly
marked, so that it would not be difficult to arrange
the species of many tertiary groups of strata bathy-
metrically, according to the known conditions of |

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. “DA5

existence of their present representatives. As we
recede in time, the guidance of this generic distri-
bution becomes safer and more available to the
paleontologist.

The zone of the maximum of a genus is that in
which it exhibits its greatest number of specific
forms. In the Augean, Cardiwm has its maximum
between 20 and 35 fathoms deep, where it is
represented by six species; Pecten, at between 60
and 80 fathoms, where it has eleven. In both
cases, the zones in which these genera are most fully
represented, numerically, are very different ones:
all the species of Cardiwm put together do not
amount to the individuals of the single Cardiwm
edule, which occur within the first 12 feet from the
margin ; so, also, with Pecten opercularis at a some-
what greater depth.

The ssow, as might be expected from their
habits and food, have their maximum in the sub-
littoral zone; there, also, they swarm numerically.
Whenever these two conditions are combined, the
palzontologist has a safe indication of marginal sea-
bed. This genus has its deep-water representative,
however. TZvochus has its maximum in the Augean
in depths between 10 and 20 fathoms; but the
excess in this case is very small, and the genus
may be said to be fully represented from the mar-
ginal line down to 100 fathoms; generically,
therefore, this genus is not very characteristic of
definite depth. The Plewrotome have their maxi-

246 ZONES OF DEPTH. +

mum as low down as from 85 to 55 fathoms, and
above and below this the specific forms decrease
progressively : out of twenty-four species, one-half
are dredged between those depths. None Jive in the
marginal zone; and one (Pleurotoma abyssicola)
was found below 100 fathoms.

In our own seas the Plewrotome belong mostly
to deep-sea zones; so, also, over the intermediate —
region of the Lusitanian Atlantic ; out of twenty-
three species obtained by Ed. Forbes from the
figean, one-third, at least, are British.

The study of the distribution of marine life
according to zones of depth, suggests to the pa-
leeontologist many useful cautions ; it teaches him
that under different depths, and in the distinct de-
posits forming there, are assembled characteristic
suites of animals, living apart, which when they die
are entombed apart, and leave there the evidences
of their past existence. These assemblages are as
distinct from one another as are those which cha-
racterize the subdivisions of the deposits of older
times, whether tertiary, secondary, or paleeozoic.

The sublittoral zone of every sea and ocean pre-
sents the fulness of its fauna, and from that it de-
creases progressively and rapidly, till in regions far
within those over which the finer sedimentary de-
posits are distributed, animal life altogether ceases.
Far beyond the zones where the members of a marine
fauna live, there are areas of wide extent, where ani-
mals of oceanic habits strew their delicate structures:

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 247

this is the zone of the “ free-swimmers ”— Pteropods,
Nucleobranchs, Pelagic Cephalopods, and Crusta-
ceans. The depositions of all past times present
every gradation of bathymetrical distribution, down
to the “ Azoic zones” of depth, and the mere
geologist must beware not to misinterpret the evi-
dence presented to him, and suppose that some old
world of waters was without life, merely because he
finds no traces of it. Still less, on’ such negative
evidence, must he speculate as to the “dawn of
life,’ “ Protozoic forms,’ and “ Primordial zones.”
The history of our own seas, and of all seas, teaches
us that there is a law of proportion in the classes
and orders of the living things that dwell there,
and that the presence of one form is safe ground of
inference as to the co-existence of countless others.
There may be no marine fauna older than that
which the paleontologist has termed “ Palzeozoic,”
but it is most unphilosophical to suppose that or-
ganic life commenced with, and was limited to,
LIangule in the latitude and longitude of Festiniog.

248

CHAPTER X.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN SEAS.

Ir is still a favourite notion, constantly repeated
under some form or other, that old faunas were com-
paratively poor ; that as the world has aged life has
multiplied ; and that Nature now, in all her forms,
whether of animals or of plants, is richer, fuller,
and more varied than of old. The Natural History of
the European seas affords no support for such belief.
The fauna preserved in the palseozoic limestones and
slates of south Devon, is infinitely more varied and
numerous than that now found on our south-
western coasts. The assemblage contained in the
Crag deposits of Suffolk far exceeds the present
fauna of the German Ocean. The Testacea of the
Nummulitic period, such as may be met with from
the south of England to the Mediterranean, pro-
bably exceed five-fold those which will characterize
the present period for the same area. Of all the
marine faunas which have succeeded one another in
European latitudes, that of the present time is
numerically the poorest. Under the same genera
specific forms are fewer, whilst orders and classes

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 249

which have been very fully represented in former
periods, are very sparingly so now.

To such as are acquainted with the general out-
line of the earth’s natural history, past and present
—who know that our European tribes of animals
and plants have not through all time had their
being on our area—that before them have been
numerous other assemblages in succession, and
wholly different—many questions must have sug-
gested themselves as to the manner in which the
change from one fauna to another was brought
about, how old forms disappeared, whence new
forms came in. |

Our knowledge of the remote past, with all its
changes, is mostly derived from the accumulations
of old seas, lakes, and estuaries ; and if any satis-
factory answers are ever to be given to the fore-
going queries, they must be derived from a close
and careful study of all the influences which de-
termine the distribution and development of life
now, within such-like areas. The inquiry is alto-
gether distinct from those difficult questions, so
often put—what is a species? and how do new
species come into existence? and it resolves itself
into this—where and what is that marine fauna in
which we can first recognise the existing forms of
our European seas ?

Before entering on this inquiry, the meaning of
the expression “a marine fauna” must be clearly
defined; to say that it is such an assemblage as

950 A “MARINE FAUNA” DEFINED.

may be found living at one time in the same sea is
not sufficient. Many bygone assemblages of ma-
rine animals—paleeozoic, oolitic, cretaceous, and
nummulitic—have in turn tenanted the waters of
the Atlantic depression; and each has extended
across the same zones in latitude as does our exist-
ing European fauna. If, with respect to the pre-
sent, we limit a fauna to such forms as co-exist, no
comparison with the past can be made; the two
assemblages represent in one case a definite, in the
other an indefinite, portion of time.

In those great assemblages known to the paleeon-
tologist as “the fauna of the Cretaceous period,’
or of the “Nummulitic period,” are comprised
forms of which we know that they did not all co-
exist ; and, further, that each period was marked in
every latitude by the constant in-coming and out-
going of distinct species. We can ascertain the
extent of many an extinct fauna as a whole, from
its establishment to its close, though we may never
know, except in a very limited degree, what were
the relations of its component subdivisions.

That our existing European marine fauna may
have a corresponding value with that of any of the
great assemblages of the paleeontologist, 1t must
have a like extension; it must be dated back, so
as to include all those forms which have co-existed
since any species now found in the North Atlantic
first made its appearance there.

Vast as are the periods of past time which the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 251

phenomena of pure geology require and imply,
they are brief comparatively with those during
which a definite marine fauna has maintained its
existence. It will be seen in the sequel how great
are the physical changes which have taken place in
the northern hemisphere, since a large proportion
of our existing Testacea have occupied the Northern
Atlantic.

The fauna of the European seas dates back its
origin, or first appearance, to times which (on the
scale of the geologist) follow next after the Num-
mulitic period (Hocene). So far as European seas
are concerned, they do not contain a single species
in common with the forms of the nummulitic
group. ‘The earliest records of the occupation of
the. Atlantic by any existing forms are certain old
sea-beds, which are scattered at intervals over some
of the western departments of France, extending
inland along the valley of the Loire, as far eastward
as beyond Blois, to be met with in some of its
branches northwards—an old arm of the Atlantic,
with dimensions nearly equal to those of our Eng-
lish Channel, long since laid dry. These old sea-
beds are the “ Faluns of Touraine.”

Lower down to the south, from the Island of
Oléron, across to the Adour, was another great
indent of the Atlantic—an eastern extension of the
Bay of Biscay. Over this once depressed area
there are sea-beds which contain an assemblage like

252 TOURAINE FAUNA.

that of the Touraine deposits (/aluns jaunes of
Grateloup).

The Testacea and Echinoderms from these two
areas are Somewhat peculiar. Extinct or unknown
forms are in large proportion ; these will be consi-
dered hereafter, but out of rather more than three

hundred species of Testacea, there are about eighty

which are identical with forms now living in the
Atlantic. |

These eighty species are not, however, now asso-
ciated on any part of the French Atlantic coast ;
their localities are more southern. <A better know-
ledge than we as yet possess of the Testacea of
the West African coast would, in all probability,
bring the Falun fauna and that of the present
Atlantic into somewhat still closer relationship.
For the present, the proportion of recent species
may be taken at about 25 per cent.

Including existing forms, the facies of the whole
of the Touraine assemblage is indicative of a more
southern province than that which is now found in
the parallel of the Loire (or 47° north latitude) : esti-
mated according to change in latitude, the diffe-
rence may be put at from eight to ten degrees ; or,
in other words, at the time of the Falun Testacea,
the warm zones of the Atlantic reached by so many
degrees farther north than they do now.

The contrast between the fauna of the Atlantic
coast of the department of the Loire and that

older assemblage to be seen close by, is far greater

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 253

than would be brought about by the shifting of
the Lusitanian province northwards for its entire
breadth.

The forms of the Faluns of Bordeaux and Tou-
raine were not local or exceptional assemblages; they
indicate directly that for a broad expanse in latitude
the Atlantic, at that early stage, had a fauna of a
more southern aspect than it has now, and they sug-
gest further, that like general characters, modified
_ by the ordinary rate of change, were maintained in
its extension northwards. Although there are no
broad areas which present remains of these older
sea-beds, except at the entrance into the Channel
(in the Cotentin), yet traces of the fauna, and of
the period, are to be found in those outlying Lusi-
tanian species which are to be met with about the
Channel Islands, our own southern and _ south-
western coasts, or on those of the Atlantic border
of Ireland.

It has been shown, by numerous illustrations,
derived from various classes of marine animals, that
the fauna of the Atlantic coasts of Europe is, for
the most part, a complex assemblage; that from
our own Celtic province, as low as the Canaries and
the Mediterranean, it is composed of two distinct
elements, a northern and a southern ; and that the
members of this middle group may be severally
referred back to their original homes, whether
north or south.

It is to be remarked, that the northern consti-

254 ATLANTIC CLOSED ON THE NORTH.

tuents of our present Atlantic fauna are not met
with in the older fauna of the Faluns, nor in the
equivalent assemblages further south. Northern
forms had not, at that time, extended into that part
of the Atlantic which lies west and south of the

British Islands. Their great migration southwards -
took place subsequently to those great physical —

changes, which converted into dry land those por-
tions of western France above referred to, and
which changes were trifling in amount when com-
pared with those of the same date in other parts of
the Atlantic, and within the Mediterranean area.
The physical change which liberated the northern
fauna has been indicated on independent considera-
tions. It has been shown (p. 56) that there is
good evidence of the former continuity of a coast-
line from the north of Greenland to the north of
Lapland, and that, consequently, the Atlantic did

not then communicate with the Arctic basin ; it:

was only when this barrier was removed that a free
passage south was opened out to Arctic forms.

The breadth of this connecting link between the
Old World and the New extended, probably, from
70° to 75° north latitude, and completed in its
northern coast-line the symmetrical form of the
Arctic basin. Sir John Richardson was the first to
suggest both the existence and the date of this con-
nection, in order to account for the remarkable agree-

ment which the Boreal regions of the two continents _

present in their vertebrate fauna. In the gmall

pat the Nes), ote
Pet ee rue
Bay he ae )

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 255

‘map which accompanies this volume, the extent of
this subsided and submerged tract is indicated
by dotted lines; but, as will be seen, this broad
expanse of sea is marked by the emergence of land,
at intervals, between the Western Islands of Scot-
land and the east coast of Greenland, at Iceland,
and by the Orkney, Shetland, and Feroe Archi-
pelagos. These islands, which have elevations of
from 2000 to nearly 3000 feet above the sea, were
the culminating points of this old terrestrial sur-
face. Conclusive evidence of the continuity of land
connecting these several groups of islands will be
found in the common character of their flora, and
in the relation of that flora to the Boreal and
Alpine plants of the Old and New Worlds.

A full description of the botany of these North
Atlantic groups, and of M. Martin’s views respect-
ing them, will be found in a former volume* of
this series.

With the exception of this limitation at its
northern extremity, the Atlantic is an old area of
depression. There was an Atlantic ocean for the
nummulitic, cretaceous, and paleozoic periods,
during each of which it had its distinct zones of
distribution in latitude, as well as its corresponding
provinces of representative forms on its opposite
sides. Our present inquiry is, however, relative
solely to the growth or formation of that assem-

* Vegetation of Europe, by Arthur Henfrey, pp. 132-
154.

256 GULF STREAM.

blage of marine animals which constitutes our
existing Atlantic fauna.

There are certain complex phenomena so imme-
diately dependent on the physical arrangements of
the earth’s surface, that by assuming any definite
changes in the conditions, it may safely be inferred
what the results would be; thus the closing of the
North Atlantic, in the quarter which has been
indicated above, must have had precisely the same
influence for that period that it would have now,
should it be again closed.

So long as the Atlantic Ocean has had its exist-
ence, and reached from southern and equatorial
regions as high as into 60° north latitude, so long
must the equatorial current of heated waters have
moved from east to west, have been deflected from
the American coasts, and again made to cross the
Atlantic. When the action of disturbing forces is
now temporarily suspended, this current is found
setting in upon some part of the western coast of
Europe: such, however, is not its ordinary course.
It will be seen, by reference to the map, that this
broad ocean-river, our “gulf stream,” after having
flowed for a space of 50° from west to east, is
suddenly turned due south in longitude 30° west,
and becomes split up imto minor currents and
eddies.

This change in direction is due to the prevailing
set of the Arctic currents. These are indicated in
our map by arrows, which, it will be seen, point

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 257

south-easterly from Davis's Straits, and more
southerly for those setting out of the Arctic basin,
through the interval between Greenland and Lap-
land. These Arctic currents thus converge towards
the European shores of the Atlantic, and produce
their effect just in proportion as their force is com-
bined, and that of the gulf stream lessened by
diminished velocity, as, also, by becoming expanded
and shallower. It is only by the continuance of
westerly and south-westerly winds that the warmer
surface-waters of the gulf stream are occasionally
carried forward and brought into contact with our
western shores, bearing with them the vegetable
products of the New World, together with the
Tanthinee and Spirulee of the open Atlantic, as
evidences of the course which the stream has taken.

When the Atlantic was closed at its northern
extremity, there was no counteracting agency by
which the stream of the equatorial waters could have
been influenced, or their temperature reduced ; and
the constant flow of so large a volume of heated
water sweeping round into this closed sea, must
necessarily have imparted a great degree of warmth
to the whole of the North Atlantic Ocean, giving a
uniform and genial climate to its Kuropean border-
conditions, which would materially influence the
character of its fauna, whether terrestrial or marine.

Such, I imagine, were the precise conditions
under which that early facies of our Atlantic marine
fauna, which is to be seen in the Faluns of Bor-

S

%

258 ITS EARLY INFLUENCE.

deaux and Touraine, had its development. Like
influences may be traced still further back in time,
as into the Nummulitic period ; in no other way
than by the action of cross Atlantic currents can
the western relations of certain forms found in —
both of these assemblages be satisfactorily ac-
counted for. :

The waters of the equatorial current raise the
temperature of the central regions of the Northern
Atlantic ; and, from the prevalence of westerly and
south-westerly winds, they thus, indirectly, influence
the climate of north-western Europe; but, as a
general rule, these heated waters do not now come
into immediate contact with our shores—they are
separated from them by a broad interval of sea, at
a much lower temperature.

The removal of the land separating the Arctic
basin from the North Atlantic, not only had the
effect of lowering the temperature of the waters of
the whole of that area, but, by the set of the
oceanic currents which were forthwith established,
the Arctic fauna became diffused along the whole
of that Atlantic coast of Hurope. The change was
sufficient to extinguish—locally, at least—three-
fourths of the previous fauna, as it had existed on
the coasts of France and Spain, and it was at that
time that the commingling of northern forms com-
menced, which has resulted in the present complex
character of the marine fauna of our Mediterranean
and mid-European regions. |

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 259

If such was the character of the early Atlantic
fauna of the Loire channel, and its favouring con-
ditions, it may reasonably be asked whether any
assemblages with like southern characters can be
traced in other localities still further north, along
our Huropean coasts. Our own coasts offer a good
example.

There are some old sea-beds high up our English
Channel, near Selsey, on the Sussex coast, which,
therefore, lie rather more than two hundred miles
north of the Faluns of Touraine, and which, from
geological position, are undoubtedly referable to a
somewhat distant period. The Testacea of the
Selsey and Touraine beds do not admit of strict
comparison, for not only are the numbers very
unequal, but the conditions indicated by the Sussex
species are local and exceptional—such as muddy
marginal lagoons contiguous to land. If these
beds are of old date relatively to the present At-
lantic or Channel fauna, it is quite sufficient for
our present purpose if their contents show a devia-
tion from the existing fauna, of the same kind as
that indicated by the Touraine Testacea.

As yet we have only thirty-five species from the
Selsey beds ; of all these the relations are decidedly
southern and western. ‘Some forms, such as Z'apes
pallustra, all met with of large size, and another
species, Z’apes aurea, put on the aspect which they
present at present in warmer Lusitanian and Medi-

260 SELSEY DEPOSITS.

terranean seas. But the two most remarkable
shells of this deposit are Lutraria rugosa and Pecten
polymorphus.

Both of these shells are well-known forms, and
are exceedingly common throughout the south
Lusitanian zone of the Atlantic, including the
Mediterranean ; but they have not as yet occurred
further north than about Lisbon, which may be
taken as their limit in that direction. Both of
these species are good characteristics of the fauna
of the south Lusitanian province, and in the early
stage of the distribution of Atlantic fauna, they
were fully as characteristic of the seas in the

latitude of the English Channel, for the Lutraria

rugosa was most abundant there. The distance which
now separates these fossil and living forms of the
same species is as much as four hundred miles, a
distance as great, and in the same direction, as that
in which the living representatives of the Touraine
species have to be sought for.

Clear indications of the southern character of
the early Atlantic marine fauna may be tracked
still further north, and the temptation becomes
ereat to dwell on the fossil contents of some of the
old sea-beds of Ireland, which show so clearly, and
for how long, that early fauna lingered on.

The representation here made of the early condi-
tion of the Atlantic, and consequent character of

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 261

its fauna, is not a mere fanciful speculation, but
will be found to be collaterally supported by many
independent considerations.

Generic assemblages of plants and aaienals, whether
terrestrial or aquatic, whether fresh-water or marine,
have their regions, or definite geographical areas :
these are what are known as “generic areas.” Hach
of these has its “metropolis,” or district of greatest,
number, either of tropical or specific forms; geo-
graphical unity seems to be one of the essentials of
every generic group.

The genus Jfttra offers a good illustration
of this geographical grouping. ‘These shells have
their head-quarters in the Indo-Pacific Ocean ; and
they are thence distributed, but in decreasing
numbers, in every direction away from that central
region. ‘Typical species of “ Mitre-shells” from the
Indian Ocean are to be met with throughout the
Red Sea. Numerous other forms of the genus are
found on the west coast of Africa, and about the
Atlantic islands. As many as eleven species live in
the Mediterranean, which are also mostly common
to the Atlantic; but this is their present northern
limit. These species do not range up the Lusita-
nian coasts, so that their European range is dis-
tinctly defined.

On going back to an earlier facies, or period of
the present Atlantic fauna, “Mitre shells” of large
and handsome forms are met with in the Faluns of
Dax and Bordeaux, as in those of Touraine, where

962 USE OF “GENERIC AREAS.”

there are as many as seven species. Of these, one
at least (JZ. ebena) is a well-known Mediterranean
form ; so that at that time the range of the genus
was more northern than it is at present.

Mitre occur on the Pacific coasts of America,
but are seemingly wanting on those of its Atlantic
border ; but far to the north, in the seas of Green-
land, there is a solitary form (Mitra Groenlandica),
a seemingly exceptional case in the distribution of
the genus. It is, however, just the kind of exception
which serves to show the reality of generic centres.

This Greenland Mitra occurs fossil in Ireland, in
association with another species of the genus (JZ.
cornea) now living in the south Lusitanian zone,
and it thus becomes linked with its congeners. It
remains, there, to attest the furthest extension of its
race, and is to the zoologist, when speculating on
the former range of lower tribes of animals, just
what the lonely Runic pillars, on the same Green-
land coasts, are to the antiquarian, when engaged in
tracing out the remote settlements of the early
Northmen. |

The paleontologist may derive much useful
guidance from the study of generic areas. They
will often enable him to determine the extent to
which old seas may have been connected, whilst the
occasional isolation of any definite forms, by inter-
vals of deep and broad sea, is to him direct evi-

dence of the former continuity of conditions, along

which such forms have travelled—of physical

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 263

changes of definite date, the best proofs he can
have of the extent of these old seas, and of the
modifications they have undergone.

Mitra Groenlandica is an eastern, or Old-World
mollusk, in its generic relations, as are some others
of the Greenland fauna; or as, in the case of the
flora of the connecting land (p. 255), the long line
of coast which once stretched from Greenland to
Scandinavia, presented a fauna in which the assem-
blages of the opposite sides of the Atlantic were
represented and blended.

Many considerations, however, make it probable
that the species of ow Boreal and Celtic provinces,
‘which have western relations, exceed numerically
those of the North-American Boreal region, which
have had an eastern origin. This question will
have to be treated somewhat in detail, when we
shall describe those past conditions of the Atlantic,
as well as those stages in its fauna which are indi-
cated by the crag and other tertiary sea-beds. It
may suffice, in the present place, to state that the
somewhat indistinct features of the Arctic and
Boreal faunas, if mere lists of species are taken, 1s
the result of the migration outwards of the Arctic
species. The Boreal fauna can be cleared of its
mixed character, by separating all those species
which at present have a wide range within the
Arctic basin; and then the residual Boreal forms,
which are not Arctic, and of which so many are

264 SPECIES WITH WESTERN RELATIONS.

common to both sides of the Atlantic, will repre-
sent the remaining portion of the fauna of that
earlier stage of the Atlantic when it was closed at
its northern extremity, so far as that fauna has been
able to live on.

With a change so great as that here indicated,
a large proportion of the original marine fauna
of the Boreal province of either side of the At-
lantic must have been totally extinguished, whilst
of the forms that continued to live on, there are
some that exhibit characters which deserve notice.

Pholas crispata is one of the shells of those
Selsey beds of early date, which have already been
referred to: as it occurs there, it is remarkable on

account of its abundance, and great size, being more.

than as large again as any living specimens to be
now met with in European seas. This shell, with
like dimensions, is found fossil in Ireland, in some
old sea-beds: as a species, it had its maximum
at an early stage of the Atlantic fauna, and it
has lived on. Ed. Forbes describes its present
distribution, as a British species, to be Atlantic,
ranging north into our Boreal province. It is
one of the forms common to both sides of the At-
lantic, and on the American coasts 1t occurs as. far
south as Carolina. This species therefore, though

sufficiently common now in our European seas,

may be considered to have had western relations

originally, to have found more suitable conditions —

for its development in the earlier Atlantic, and

aS

be =

pent = a

Se SS

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 2965

more particularly in the portion north of latitude
50°.

Like our west. European races of men, the mem-
bers of the Celtic and Lusitanian marine provinces
may be considered to have been derived from other
regions; three-fourths of the whole assemblage
may be thus directly accounted for, and this purely
derivative character of the fauna belongs to zones
which extend through more than thirty degrees of
latitude. When southern and northern seas shall
have been more diligently dredged, some others of
the forms of this intermediate region will, doubt-
less, be discovered to be also immigrants.

The marine fauna of this broad zone of mixed
races is as characteristic an assemblage, in the sense
of the paleontologist, as that of the Arctic, or any
other parent province ; and it may be worth while
to glance at the process by which a derivative fauna
acquires a distjnctive character.

There are certain Testacea, such as the common
limpet (Patella vulgata), which seem to have their
limits, or specific centres, within our European zone
of mixed forms. This mollusk has its northern
limit on the Norway coast, somewhere south of the
Lofoden islands. It is not found within the Arctic
province ; it could not exist there now ; and, unless
the climatal conditions of that region should have
been, at some time, greatly different to what they
now are, it may be safely added that it never could

266 DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS.

have existed there. At present this form occurs
in wonderful profusion in our Celtic province, more
sparingly in the north Lusitanian, is scarce in the
south Lusitanian province, is not found about the
Atlantic islands, nor in the Mediterranean.

Tracing back the history of this species in time,
it cannot be admitted into the fauna of the crag
period, nor into that of the Faluns of Touraine—
nor yet into any member of the Italian tertiary
series. It makes its first appearance in the upper
Faluns of Dax, under its commonest form, but by
no means as a common shell. At this period the
Patella vulgata must have been. at its numerical
minimum in Kuropean latitudes.

This form is at its numerical maximum now, as
an element in the existing fauna of the European
seas; it is referable to the temperate Atlantic (its
- specific centre is on the west coast of Ireland). It
has a less southern range than it had before the
communication with the Arctic basin was esta-
blished ; and it is since that physical change that
it has found those conditions which have so fa-
voured its numerical increase.

In all future time, Patella vulgata, in its profuse
abundance, and numerous varieties, will characterize

the deposits of a definite portion of the area of the

existing European seas ; and it will, moreover, have
its definite place in the newer tertiary series. Many

of our common species, when considered with refer-

ence to their range in time, and their distribution

EO ee - oN‘

Bech th ee Ree |
ea! LN

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 267

in space, will be found to have a history like that of
the species which have been here taken as an illus-
tration. The sum of these gives to a local fauna
its character ; sectional portions of a fauna acquire
distinctive features, according to the number of spe-
cific forms which attain their numerical maximum,
and development there.

The peculiarities of the marine fauna of the
Channel Islands’ group must have often puzzled
the working naturalist: not only are things he
there meets with wanting, in a great measure, on
our own south-western coasts, but, so far as we
know, they are also wanting for a broad band in
latitude along the western coasts of France, and even
to the south of Spain ; so that if, as has been seen,
the fauna of Vigo Bay is less Lusitanian than it
ought to be from its position, that of the Channel
Islands, on the other hand, is much more so; and
the more we know of this local fauna, the more
strongly does this peculiarity come out.*

The explanation of peculiar local assemblages
has to be sought far back in time ; and this is just
one of those cases of geographical distribution in
which it is necessary to call in the aid of geology.
The area of this peculiar fauna is the coast of the
Department of Finisterre (p. 90), forming the
advancing foreland of France on the west, the coast

* See, particularly, “Gleanings in British Conchology,”
by M. Gwyn Jeffreys.—Annals of Nat. Hist., 1858-9.

268 CHANNEL ISLANDS FAUNA.

of which, from the rocks of Porsal to the mouth
of the Avranches river, runs due east for one
hundred and sixty miles. This part of France is of
old date in the earth’s history. The chain of hills
of the “Cotes du Nord,” and those of the Boccage
(Calvados), date back to times anterior to the “ coal-
growths,” and have continued to form part of the
earth’s terrestrial surface ever since. The total
absence of all secondary and tertiary deposits over
any of the numerous islands which occupy the
angle between the Cotentin and Finisterre, shows
that it was originally part of the same raised area.
The Channel Islands, and the numerous group of
rocks, such as the “ Roches Douvres,” “ Les Min-
quiers,” and the Chausey islands, are the higher
portions of this subsided land. It is to this area
—which was not disturbed throughout the later
half of the palzeozoic period, nor through those of
our oolitic, cretaceous, and nummulitic deposits,
which formed the northern boundary for the old
marine channel of the Loire valley, which was not
affected by the changes which took place in the
northern hemisphere during the later pliocene
period—that we accordingly find that the earlier
facies of the Atlantic fauna still belongs.

In the great Mediterranean basin we have the
older sea-beds and their contents ; taken by itself,

part of this early fauna has disappeared or died

out, and part survives either there or elsewhere ;

THE EUROPEAN SBAS. 269

upon this fauna new forms have come in, mainly of
North Atlantic origin; the whole assemblage is
seen changing its facies progressively from southern
to northern, till coming down to more recent times
the accession of immigrants is again West African.
What is of interest here, is, that the relation of the
- existing fauna can be traced back stage by stage as
it underwent change in the course of the tertiary
period. The whole series, from the present back to
the earlier fauna of the Turin beds, or of Mont-
pellier, is the most complete and consecutive of
any that we are yet acquainted with.

Paleeontologists have taken marine faunas as the
measures of the duration of geological divisions of
time, and in this way the Mediterranean basin be-
comes the type of the true tertiary period. What
the precise relations of the existing fauna may be
to any earlier portion, are points which for the
present can be considered as having received only
a general answer; the tendency of recent inves-
tigation has been to increase the amount of agree-
ment between the present and the earlier stages of
the tertiary period. Mr. Jeffreys goes so far as to
state that “it is most probable that every species
which Philippi has described as inhabiting the
coasts of lower Italy will eventually be discovered
to have also had its existence in the tertiary epoch,
and perhaps vice versd.”

The disappearance of so many forms, and ap-
pearance of so many others, and that over so wide

270 MEDITERRANEAN FAUNA.

an area, are changes akin to those which the pale-
ontologist traces amidst older sea-beds: com-
mencing with the early history of our Atlantic
marine fauna, we can follow the incoming and out-
going of a long succession of species, sufficiently
distinct in themselves to admit of the recognition
of the progress of change, yet connected throughout
by such’ a number of common forms as to make
the fauna indivisible as a whole. The duration of
this fauna constitutes the true tertiary period of
the carth’s history, and the kind of change which
it presents is precisely that, as will be seen, of
every other great period, whether Cretaceous,
Oolitic, or Paleozoic, when estimated, as geological
periods ever have been, by the succession of local
assemblages.

In the changes which our own European ma-
rine fauna presents, we are in some cases enabled to
trace component parts to the localities or regions
whence they came, or whither they haye gone,
and can, moreover, see the dependency of the
zoological change on some definite physical dis-
turbance. Our imperfect knowledge of the na-
ture of the physical changes of the remote past
does not as yet enable us to trace such a con-
nection; as yet the paleontologist has hardly
done more than note the local rate and order of
zoological change ; but all the considerations to be

derived from the history of our European marine.

fauna tend to impress this, that, in all times, the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 971

nature of the process of local change may have
been the same, and that it does not follow that
forms have been newly created because they appear
to us to make their first appearance at some given
stage of a geological formation.

The single instance of the occurrence of a Lusi-
tanian form, such as Lutraria rugosa, in our seas at
an early stage of our fauna, its subsequent complete
extinction in all seas, within a distance of four hun-
dred miles in latitude, admits of useful application
by the paleontologist. This, though a striking, is
by no means a solitary instance. If the history of
every component member of the marine fauna of
our European seas was written in detail, from its
earliest appearance downwards, they would all agree
in respect of these apparent migratory movements
in time, differing only in degree.

From the copious fauna which now tenants the .
Mediterranean waters, a series of changes may be
traced, through older sea-beds of the same area, far
back into bygone ages. Nowhere do we find better
illustration than here of the nature of the change
which a fauna may undergo in time: the evidence

is consecttive. It is possible, however, that the
- Mediterranean series, recent and fossil, may be im-
perfect, and that the earlvest periods of our European
marine fauna are not represented there. <A com-
parison of the contents of the older Italian deposits,
and their equivalents, containing the remains of
existing Atlantic species of Testacea, with those of

4
*

DEL LOCAL DURATION OF SPECIES.

the Faluns of Bordeaux and Touraine, suggest the
probability that in these last we have an earlier
stage still in the history of our fauna, referable
to the time when the Mediterranean depression had
not yet been opened to the Atlantic waters.

The precise relation of our existing fauna to any
earlier stage, in respect of common species, is a large
question, involving many subordinate points upon
which naturalists and paleontologists have much to
learn before they will be agreed; the tendency of
more recent investigation makes the amount of
agreement between the present and the past to be
greater than was once supposed. Leaving aside
the question, how new forms are introduced into a
fauna, the history of our European seas teaches us
thus much that is certain—that it is possible to
point to contingencies under which the component
members of a fauna may seem to migrate, disap-
pear, and die out; that certain conditions of ex-
istence are so intimately connected with the con-
tinuance of the separate members of a fauna, that,
unless these are maintained, their duration there
becomes impossible. A small amount of change
may cause such species to disappear, and, in all
cases, the duration of any species over a given area
will depend on its power of adapting itself to
change. Hence the unequal terms of the existence
of species in our present tertiary, as in all ante-
cedent bygone faunas. :

Another inquiry still suggests itself—To what

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. ~ ITS

extent, it may be asked, have the Mediterranean
and Red seas a community of specific forms ?

This question has been partly answered by Phi-
lippi, to whom the Red Sea shells collected by
Ehrenberg and Hemprich were referred for exami-
nation. He found that out of 382. shell-bearing
Mollusks, as many as seventy-four were also com-
mon Mediterranean species. This appeared to be
a somewhat large proportion, and, for the pur-
pose of explaining it, some naturalists adopted the
supposition of a communication between these two
seas at some former period. This notion has had
considerable weight given to it by some expressions
of M. Deshayes in his notice of the Mollusca of the
coasts of Greece. M. Deshayes, however, admits
that the more the shells of the Mediterranean are
studied, the closer becomes their connection with
those of the Atlantic ; so that it is rather by means
of the fossil shells found in the older Mediter-
ranean sea-beds, and which now form part of the
lands of Greece and Italy, that this eastern con-
nection is to be traced.

Certain species of Mollusks are so cosmopolitan
that a low proportion of common forms may be ex-
pected even between two remote provinces, and will
not constitute any difficulty as to the existence of
Zoological provinces generally. A reference, how-
ever, to the list of species common to the Red Sea
and the Mediterranean will suggest, both that the
number may be somewhat modified, and also that

T

274

MEDITERRANEAN AND RED SEAS.

their present line of distribution may account for

their presence in these two seas.

The lst is so

short that it may be given at length.

* Solen vagina, L., Lus., Celt.
» tugumen, 7: Lus.,
Sen., Brit.

* Mactra stultorum, L., Lus.,
Mog., Brit.

Ue, inflata, Bronn.

Corbula revoluta, Broc.

* Diplodonta rotundata,
Mont., Can., Brit.

* Lucina lactea, Poli, Can.,
S. Afr.

* 5, pecten, Lam., Lus.,
Can.

* Mesodesmadonacilla, Lam.,
Lus.

* Donax trunculus, L., Lus.,
Can., W. Afr.

* Venus verrucosa, L., Lus.,
Can., S. Afr., Brit.

» decussata, L., Lus.,
Sen., Brit.

* Cytherea exoleta, L., Lus.,

Sen., Brit.

a lunata,Lam.,Lus.,

Brit.

* Cardita calyculata, Brug.,
Lus., Mog, Can., W. Afr,

* Arca Noe, L., Lus., Can.,
, tetragona, Poli, Lus.,
Can., Brit.

, barbata,L.,Lus.,Brit.?
ay) ditty, am, ene-

gal.

A
7

* Pectunculus __ violescens,
Lam.

* Nuculamargaritacea,Lam.,
Lus., Celt.

* Chama gryphoides, L.,Lus.,
Can., S. Afr.
* Modiola discrepans, Lam.,

Lus., Brit.
: sf Petagne, Scacc.,
Lus.

‘a » lithophaga, L.
* Pinna squamosa, L., Mad.
» [nobilis, L.]
Spondylus aculeatus, Chem.
* Ostrea cristata, Born.
Patella czerulea, L.; P. seu-
tellaris? Lus., Br.
», Jusitanica, Gm.
» tarentina, Lam.
» (fragilis, Ph.; P. ce-
rulea. |
* Fissurella greeca, L., Lus.,
Can., Brit.
* _ costaria, Desh.
ss rosea, Lam., Lus.,
Mog.
* Bulla striata, Brug.
* , truhleata, Adams,
Can., Brit.

%

_ * Eulima polita, L., Lus.,Celt.

* Chemnitzia elegantissima,
Mont., Lus., Mog., Can.,
Brit.

; ‘
a «ae .
a 5.

- fa Vai. ae
Pik Nao ha eg
jp 6: A Nagai be Wr efit ed
ape Vay, iat

uN

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. DIN

*Truncatella truncatula, *Cerithiumperversum,Brug.,

Drap., Lus., Celt. Can.

* Paludina thermalis, L. * Fasciolaria lignaria.

[Rissoa glabrata, v. M.] * Fusus corneus, L., Lus.

* Natica olla, M. de S. » syracusanus, L.

* 5» Millepunctaia, Pooh gt Vrostabug, Oliv. Car.
Lam., Lus. * Murex trunculus, L., Can.

* Nerita viridis, L., Lus., [Tritonium variegatum,
Atlant., Madagascar. Lam. |

Ianthina bicolor, Atl., Lus., * Ranella lanceolata, Atl.
Can. Dolium galea, L., Can.

* Haliotis tuberculata, L., * Buccinum variabile, Ph.
Lus., Mog., Can., Brit. i rr mutabile, I..,

* Tornatella tornatilis, L. Can.

* Trochus crenulatus, Broc., * re gibbosulum, L.
Can., Lus., Br. * Mitra nitescens, Lam.

i bs striatus, L., Lus., * Marginella clandestina,

: ‘: Adansonii, Payr. Broe., Lus.

i) i varius, Gm. . ‘i mileacea, L.,

* Cerithium vulgatum,Brug., Lus.
Lus., Can. be i [minuta, Ph. |

. sb mamillatum, Cypreea moneta, L., Lus., Can.
Riss. ». Lerosa, Lb. |

*

ae lima, Brug., Can.

Of these seventy-six species* as many as forty-
seven at least have an Atlantic distribution. Many,
as will be seen, occur in our Celtic seas, and
many range down the African coast as low as Sene-
gal ; whilst some few make their appearance in the
South African marine fauna. The species marked

* The species included in brackets are such as may be
severally objected to on various grounds. L. signifies the
specific Linnean name. The other contractions designate
localities or provinces—Atlantic, Lusitanian, Celtic, Ma-
deira, Canaries, Mogador, West African, South African.

276 DISTINCTIVENESS OF

by an asterisk occur fossil in the Mediterranean
area, and form a large proportion [59 to 70] of such
as have had a lengthened settlement in the Medi-
terranean area.

When treating of marine zones or provinces we
are too apt to consider them as defined by hard
lines, whereas no certain limits can ever be drawn.
The northern Atlantic has certain common specific
forms, witha great range from north to south ; and,
in addition, there are the characteristic forms of
the province. With respect to these, the difference
presented by each successive breadth of sea consists
in the numerical decrease of the individuals of a spe-
cies from the place where it is typical. As we move
south we part with northern forms, and vice versd.
This process holds good, not only with the shelled
Mollusks, but with every other class. The Octopus
vulgaris has a great range, and is a common form
through several provinces—the Boreal, the Celtic,
the Lusitanian, and along the whole of the African
coast as far as the Cape. But, as a whole, the Ce-
phalopods can be readily referred to zoological ,
zones. This Octopus, however, is common along
the eastern coasts of Africa, including the Red Sea ;
and it occurs there, not because at some past time
it passed from the Mediterranean, but because this
particular form is equally a constituent of the East-
ern as of the West African fauna.

The abundance of stony corals is one of the cha-
racteristics of the Red Sea. Some few are common

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. BT

to the Mediterranean, such as Desmophyllum stel-
laria and D.costatum, Cyathina cyathus, Dendrophyl-
lia ramea, Cladocera ceespitosa ; but all these range
continuously on either side of the great African
continent. From the abundance of these particu-
lar forms in the east as compared with the west,
we may refer them or consider them as belonging
to the Indo-Pacific, rather than to the Lusitanian
region ; and, conversely, the shells of the foregoing
list, which are given as common to the Red Sea
and the Mediterranean, and which are all essentially
Atlantic species, may have reached their remote
eastern settlements by doubling the Cape.

The character of a marine province is dependent
in all cases on the preponderance of certain pecu-
har forms. Perhaps no two lines can be chosen
which, though not far apart, will yet present, even
to the casual observer, so great a difference as the
shore of the Eastern Mediterranean and that of the
upper end of the Red Sea. A small set of dead
Shells picked up near Suez contains Pleurotoma
flandula, Murex crassisprna and anguliferus, Ceri-
thium vulgatum, nodulosum, and tuberculatum, Cy-
prea turdus ? Nerita exuvia, Monodonta Mgyptiaca
and pagodus, Turbo chrysostomus, Trochus macula-
tus, Pusus Nicobaricus and distans, Pyrula citrina,
Patella laciniosa, Aspergillum vaginiferum, Cytherea
pectnata, erycina, and two others, Mactra subpli-
cata, Sanguinolaria rugosa, Spondylus costatus, mul-
tulamellatus ? Vulsella lingulata, Arca fusca, Brug.,

278 ’ RED SEA FAUNA.

Chama eristella? and a Lima distinct from squa-
mosa. Only one of these, the wide-spread Oerithiwm
vulgatum, is to be found in the Mediterranean ; the
rest are some of those stranger forms,—the spoils of
eastern seas, which attract the attention in collec-
tions of such objects.

Had there been a free passage from the Mediter-
ranean to the Red Sea at any time near the present
the difference in their respective faunas could
hardly have been as great as it is; and whether
such communication existed at any former (pliocene)
period, must be determined by the amount of agree-
ment between the fossil shells of Italy and Greece
with those of the Indo-Pacific region. Without

entering on the details of this inquiry, it may be ©

stated generally that the relations of the fossil por-
tion of the Mediterranean fauna are western and
Atlantic ; and further, that the geologist is unable
to give the naturalist any support in his specula-
tious as to a Suez route for the common forms.

in

=
4

1 Gece a A
ee, ‘ fhe by)
Teh,

eR,
; et

Aye" :

y

x

279

CHAPTER XI.

CONCLUSION.

THE map which accompanied the first volume of
this series * was on Mercator’s projection, and was
intended to exhibit the distribution of summer and
winter mean temperatures over the European area.
When, however, in any branches of natural history
the subject of distribution is treated by division of
“Zones” or of “ Provinces,” it is of the utmost im-
portance that relative proportions should be pre-
served ; a projection, such as Mercator’s, not only
does not suggest any correct views as to the rela-
tions of zoological provinces, but may be said to
prevent those relations being understood and ap-
preciated.

A map to illustrate the natural history of the
European seas has to embrace an area from the
whole of the Arctic basin, as far south as Cape
Verde, so as to include the South Lusitanian pro-
vince. The American coasts have to be introduced
for the purpose of showing along what extent the
Western Atlantic has a molluscous fauna identical

* The Vegetation of Europe.

280 CONCLUSION.

with ours, and where it is equivalent and repre-
sentative. Lastly, in an easterly direction it has
to extend to the region of the Caspian and Aral
Seas.

The map here given is on what is called the

‘globular projection,” and its advantages are, that

equal spaces on the sphere are represented by equal
spaces on the plane ; relative dimensions are pre-
served ; but as the rectangular spaces on the sphere
are not represented by like spaces, the forms of
countries are somewhat distorted. It will be seen
that this defect exists to its greatest extent towards
the circumference east and west, as in the North
Pacific and in the Bay of Bengal ; but that for the
central portion—that with which we are here more
immediately concerned—the meridians and parallels
of latitude do not depart much from right-angles.
In this map, which is a perspective view of the
northern hemisphere, the sphere is represented as
it would be seen on the horizon of London at a
distance of sixty-eight hundredths of the radius
from the surface.

Oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers, mark what are
now the depressed portions of the earth’s surface ;
physical arrangements, however, have not always
been such as they now are ; the past history of the
globe presents an almost endless series of changes
in the relations of land to water : and as the natural

history of our existing seas may enable us to read off.

the bathymetrical conditions of older sea-beds, so

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 281

may the arrangement of existing depressions suggest

reasons for the forms and relative positions of those
older areas of depression which have become effaced,
‘but which will be next described.

The north polar depression is occupied by the
Arctic Ocean. The regular form of this basin is
well shown in the accompanying map; with the
north polar axis as its central point, its shores—
both of Asia and Kurope—nearly coincide with a
circle drawn between 71° and 72° north latitude.

This is the seat of one of our primary zoological
provinces, the source of so many forms which at a
definite time spread southerly ; the great relative
magnitude of this province is well seen in the ac-
companylng map.

Physical features having an east and west direc-
tion can be traced through other portions of the
northern hemisphere. ‘There is a broad zone of
depression between the 34th and 47th parallels of
north latitude, extending from 10° west to 90° east
of the meridian of London ; along this are found,
in continuous series, the Mediterranean, the Black
Sea, the Caspian, the Aral Sea, and the lake system
of Central Asia. There are several minor areas of
depression running parallel or concentrically with
these lines, such as that of 59° north latitude, along
which les the Gulf of Finland, and which is con-
tinued from Stockholm eastwards through the
Swedish lakes. The north coast of Spain, dependent
on the elevation of the Pyrenean range, runs due

282 CONCLUSION.

east and west for upwards of 350 miles. The
whole physical framework of Asia and Africa is
projected on lines, which run east and west, or on
parallels of latitude. .

A like arrangement prevails over the whole of the
great American continent, such is the valley of the
Amazon ; these lines are beyond the limits of our
present inquiry, and it may suffice to notice that
the depression of the North American lake system
lies between the same parallels as does that of
Asia.

It may be stated generally that throughout the
whole of the northern hemisphere there are certain
linear areas of depression which are concentric, or
which run parallel to one another, at right angles to
the earth’s polar axis—they conform to lines of
equal curvature of the earth’s polar compression.
These lines of depression have produced our inland
seas and lakes, and determined the river systems
connected with them; the original formation of
these depressions often dates back to periods of
considerable antiquity in the earth’s history. By
means of the testaceous remains of the animals
which have tenanted the waters of these depressions,
the dates of their formation, and subsequent modi-
fications of extent and form, can be definitely as-
certained. 3

These long iinear areas have not been produced
at once, and though this subject may seem to
belong rather to the geological history of the

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 283

European area, it may serve to throw some light on
the real nature of the changes which have gone
before, if we select one instance and illustration
of the manner in which the members of an existing
fauna become the evidences of the date of physical
change.

The Black Sea fauna, as has been seen, is an ex-
tension of that of the Mediterranean ; along the
whole of the north coast of the Black Sea, from
Bessarabia, across to the north-west of the Crimea,
and about Kertch, the deposits now forming, and
which contain the remains of the existing Black Sea
testacea, overlie consolidated beds, which were ac-
cumulated beneath the waters of the great Aralo-
Caspian Sea (p. 209). The waters of this vast area
were fresher than are those of the Aral Sea now, and
the dead shells of the present beaches of the Black
Sea are in striking contrast with the fresh-water
forms which occur in the cliffs—such as Paludina,
Lamnea, Neritina, Melanopsis.

This fresh-water fauna is of great antiquity,
and though vast physical changes have occurred
since it first made its appearance in this area, it is
not as yet extinct; at least, not wholly so: the
fossil Nerttincee and Driessen are identical with
those now found in the Danube and the Don; and
the aberrant forms of Cardium, such as C. plicatum,
C’. coloratum, and C. pseudo-cardum, still linger about
the mouths of the rivers which now flow into the

984 CONCLUSION.

Black Sea (the Dnjestr and the Don), as they
before did into the Aralo-Caspian.

Physical changes have brought the marine fauna
of the Mediterranean in superposition on that of
the older Aralo-Caspian basin, and the relative ages
of the two are distinctly marked. Should changes
again happen—should the amount of evaporation
be diminished over this area,.or should the escape
of the surplus water be arrested by some physical
disturbance, which should close the Bosphorus—
the fresh waters would again accumulate in the
great Aralo-Caspian basin ; the fauna of the Black
Sea would be gradually extinguished, and the rem-
nant of the older fauna, from the Danube, the
Dnjestr, and the Don, would again repeople this
great inland sea.

The Black Sea depression has been produced

since a large portion of country to the north of it |

was in the condition of the Aralo-Caspian sea-bed ;
and the Black Sea must have received its Testacea

after the North Atlantic fauna had extended itself

into the Mediterranean (Pliocene period of geo-
logists). The Aralo-Caspian fauna is the oldest
with which we are acquainted in connection with
the European area.

It will have been seen that the several “ Pro-

vinces” of our European seas do not admit of

limitation by definite lines; a system of colours

Bie

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 285

graduating from one to another much more truly
represents the relations of these assemblages.

The great “ Arctic” fauna is here indicated by
light blue ; a darker tint has been taken for that
modification of the Arctic fauna which has been
described as “ Boreal.”

On the south—the West African marine province
—from the Senegal river, as far as 25° north lati-
tude, is coloured orange, which, about the Canary
islands, passes into yellow. This is the furthest
extension which can be given to the marine fauna
which has been described as ‘South Lusitanian.”
In a northerly direction the Lusitanian province
reaches to the Channel Islands, and includes every
portion of coast from the Azores to the Black Sea.

The “Celtic” area is coloured green—the blend-
ing of the colours of the provinces on either side,
as the fauna is composed of the commingling of the
forms of those provinces.

The “ Boreal” outliers along the west of our
Celtic province are indicated by their appropriate
dark blue, and the “Celtic” outlier of Vigo Bay
(p. 105) by green.

The Caspian province, with its outliers at the
mouths of the Danube and the Don, are distin-
guished by sienna.

The line of “Floating Weed” in the Central
Atlantic has been laid down from the small map to
the Memoir in which Ed. Forbes first made known

286 CONCLUSION.

those ingenious speculations which have been given
succinctly in this volume (p. 110). Ed. Forbes
took the position of this “weed” bank from the
Physical Atlas of Berghaus; but there are reasons
for supposing that it is not quite correctly laid

down in that work, particularly in the southern _

portion.

The configuration of the bed of the Atlantic, and
some other considerations, suggest a somewhat dif
ferent form for that old land which is supposed to
have stretched away from the “ Old World” into the
Atlantic.

A dotted line from Newfoundland to Cape Fare-
well, (the extreme southern point of Greenland,)
thence across the Atlantic by Iceland and the Faroe
Archipelago, represents, conjecturally, the northern
limitation of the Atlantic at the time when it did
not communicate with the Arctic basin.

The northern coast of the connecting land be-
tween the Old World and the New may be supposed
to have extended continuously from Nordland to
North Greenland. This land did not connect itself
on the south with the group of the British islands,
but passed somewhere to the north,. leaving a com-
munication from the Atlantic into the German
Ocean, which, at the period of the fauna of the
Crag deposits, held to the North Atlantic a like
relation of “inland sea” that Hudson’s Bay no
does on the American continent. :

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 287

At this period there was no passage from the Ger-
man Ocean into the English Channel.

The curves of equal winter and summer tempe-
ratures are distinguished in the engraving, and three
of each set are coloured ; the numbers affixed indi-
cate degrees of Fahrenheit’s scale.

Such is our brief “outline” of the Zoology of
_the European Seas; it must be considered as an
attempt to present only a general view of the local
character, mutual relations, and distribution of the
forms of life which tenant the North Atlantic.

The professed Naturalist may perhaps deem our
volume to be disproportionate to its subject—and it
will disappoint such as may look into it for a reper-
tory of all the forms of our Kuropean Seas ; but it
was not to supply such a want as this that the vo-
lume was designed. Viewed as a first attempt, the
plan and method of treatment adopted in the earlier
portion of the work seem amply sufficient: no
one knew better than the late Ed. Forbes that
“in the great and wide sea are things creeping in-
numerable, both great and small,” and no one better
than he could have treated of them fully, had he
been so disposed ; but that was not his object here.

In Ed. Forbes the Natural History of the
“world of waters” experienced its greatest loss:
there were his higher investigations and indirectly
his personal influence: to associate with him was

“ es: Ba ae
CONCLUSION, (eas

% be age

to feel attracted and interested in his stud
these “outlines” were undertaken for the 7
of kindling and keeping alive a taste for a bran
of knowledge which he felt had a high education
value, and which, in its applications, is, in the f }
to unveil the mystery which yet hangs over
early history of our globe. aye

289

FAUNA OF THE ARCTIC PROVINCE.

Balzna mysticetus, Greenland whale, 36.
Balzenoptera boops, Finner, 37.

musculus, Rorqual, Spitzbergen, 38.
i physalis, Razor-back ts 38.
a rostrata, z 38.

Delphinus leucos, White Whale, Bjeluga, 38.
Monodon monoceros, Narwhal, 38.
-Phoea leporina, Nova Zembla, 48.
» barbata * 48.
» Groenlandica, Harp seal, 48.
» hispida, 48.
Trichecus rosmarus, Walrus, 48.

Gadus minutus, Capelan, 40, 52.
» sarda, Nova Zembla, 48.
Liparis vulgaris, 39, 48.
Lemargus borealis, Greenland Shark, 40, 52.
Pollachius virens, Sei, green cod, 39.

Acmeea rubella, 53.
» testudinalis, 56.
Buccinum glaciale, Spitzbergen, 40.
*Cancellaria viridula, 538, 54. A.
*Fusus islandicus, 49.
Lacuna labiosa, 53, Nordland.
me micida, 53,
Littorina rudis, var., Groenlandica, 56.
a retusa, 54.
Lamellaria prodita, 538, Nordland.

290 ARCTIC PROVINCE.

Margarita cinerea, 53, 54, 56. A.
Natica aperta, 53. A.
+ 1, clausa,; 49,53, 0458
* , helicoides, 49.
*Purpura lapillus, 49, 56.
Rissoa interrupta, 57, Finmark.
Skenia planorbis, 56.
Scalaria Groenlandica, 54. A.
Scissurella angulata, 53.
Trochus cinerarius, 57, Finmark.
Trophon Gunneri, 53.
es harpularum, 54, A.
a scalariforme, 40.
Limacina arctica, 41.
Clio borealis, 41, 53.
*Terebratula psittacea, 40.
: septigera, 53, 54, Nordland. A.
*Astarte elliptica, 49.
PA yy ACOPTU Maia, 0. tan.
THiatella rugosa, 40, Spitzbergen.
*Mitylus edulis, 56.
*Modiola modiolus.
Modiolaria leevigata, 53, 54. A.
Mactra ponderosa, 53, 54. A.
*Mya arenaria, 49.
* , truncata, 49, Spitzbergen.
*Panopeea Norvegica, 49
Pecten Groenlandicus, 53, 54. A.
5; am brifer; 53; Ar
*,,. Islandacus,,49:
*Saxicava rugosa, 49.
Ascidia gelatinosa, 40, Spitzbergen.
» rustica, 40.
Synoicum turgens, 40.

Brissus lyrifer, 51, Greenland.
Comatula, 47.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 291

*Ctenodiscus polaris, 47.

*Pteraster militaris, 47.

*Ophiocoma acetica, 47.

*Ophioscolex glacialis, 47.

*Ophiocantha spinulosa, 47.

*Ophiolepis Sundevallii, 47.
Beroe cucumis, 45.
Cydippe Flemingii, 45.
Mnemia, 45.

FAUNA OF THE BOREAL PROVINCE.

Phoca barbata, 77.
» Groenlandica, 74.
» leporina, 74.
Baleenoptera boops, 64.
Delphinus melas, 64.

Anarrhichas lupus, Sea-cat, 74, 104.
*Brosmius vulgaris, 65, Tusk.
Coregonus silus, 65.
*Chimera monstrosa, 65, 77, King of the Sea.
Clupea harengus, 66.
Cyclopterus lumpus, 74, 104.
Gadus merlangus, 65, 66, 104, Coal-fish, 15-50 fms.

» Mmerlucius, 65, 66, Hake, 15 fms.

» Morrhua, 66, true Cod, 50 fathoms.
Gymnetrus arcticus, 74, Vaagmer.

*Macrurus Norvegicus, 65.
*Lota abyssorum, 65, 200 fms.

» Molva, 66, 104, Ling, deep open sea.
Pollachius virens, 66, shallow water.
Pleuronectes hippoglossus, 74, Halibut.

*Sebastes Norvegicus, 65, Red-fish, 100 fms.

292 BOREAL PROVINCE.

Spinax niger, 65.

Acmeea testudinaria, 68.
Margarita undulata, 75, below tide line.
Patella pellucida, 69.
» vulgata, 68.
Purpura lapillus, 68.
Tichrotopis borealis, 75, below tide line.
AXolidia papillosa, 68.
Cuviera squamata, 73.
Chiton marmoreus, 73.
Astarte elliptica, 73.
Cemoria noachina, 73.
Modiola modiolus, 68.
Mya truncata, 74.
Nucula tenuis, 73.
Syndosmya intermedia, 73.
Venus islandica, 74.
Ciona intestinalis, 68.

Echinodermata, 70, 72.
Astrophyton scutatum, 76, Medusa’s head, 100 fms.
Brissus fragilis, 72, 100 fms.
» lyrifer, 73, Christiana, Bute, 10-15 fms.
Cidaris papillata, 72, Norway, Zetland.
Echinus neglectus, 73, Norway, Zetland.
Goniaster equestris, 69, North of Scotland.
a, eranulatus, 73.
a Norvegicus, 76.
Cucumaria frondosa, 75, Great Sea Cucumber, Shetland
Holothuria elegans, 73.
Circe rosea, 76.
Lizzia octopunctata, 76.
Thaumantias pilosella, 76.
Steenstrupia rubra, 76.
Actinia coriacea, 68. _
» mesembryanthemum (?), 68.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 293

*Alcyonium arboreum, 70.
Anthea cereus, 73, 80 fms.

*Oculina ramea, 70.

* 5 prolifera, 73, deep water.
Tethya cranium, 738, 77.

FAUNA OF THE CELTIC PROVINCE.

Accipenser sturio, Sturgeon, 89.
Ammodytes lancea, 103.
Belone vulgaris, Gar-pike, 88.
Blennius vulgaris, Gunnel, 87, 89.
uy wiviparus, 87, 89.

Cottus gobio, Bull-head, 89.

5 | seorpius, 87.
Clupea harengus, 88.

5 ae var. membyas, 88, Balt.

‘3s var. Cimbrica, 88, Balt.

» sprattus, 88, Balt.
Gobius, 89. C.
Gadus callarius, 89, Balt.
Petromyzon marinus, 89.
Platessa plesus, Fluke, 87.
Pleuronectes limandus, 89, Balt.

a maximus, 89, Balt.
es platessa, 89, Balt.

Trigla cuculus, 103. Bl. Sea, 204.
Spinachea vulgaris, 87.

Aporrhais, 88.

Akera bullata, 87.
Buccinum undatum, 88.
Fusus antiquus, 88.

CELTIC PROVINCE.

Littorina rudis, 89, 94, 248, Balt. Bl. Sea, 202.

3 patula, 94.
. saxatilis, 94.
f neritoides, 94, 96, 243. Bl. Sea, 202.
ss littorea, 95, 243.
Nassa reticulata, 87.
» neritea, 92.
Patella vulgata, 94, 244, 265.
» pellucida, 91, 97, Channel Islands.
Purpura lapillus, 92, 95, 248.
» hemastoma, 92, Channel Islands.
Rissoa ulvee, 89, 244, Balt.
Trochus cinerarius, 96, 248. Bl. Sea, 202.
¥, crassus, 96.
ss umbilicatus, 96, 244. Bl. Sea, 202.
Laugieri, 93, Channel Islands.

Triton nodiferum, 93, x Ay
» cutaceum, 93, 9 ”
Arca barbata, 93, Fs

Cardium edule, 89, Balt. Bl. geal 202.
Corbula nucleus, 87.
Cyprina islandica, 88.
Donax anatinum, 89, Balt.
Donacilla Lamarckii, 93, Finisterre.
Hiatella arctica, 88.
Leda rostrata, 88.
Lima squamata, 93, Channel Islands.
Limea Sarsii, 101.
Mya arenaria, 89, Balt.
Mytilus edulis, 87, 94, Balt.
Tellina tenuis, 89, Balt. Bl. Sea, 202.
solidula, 89, Balt.

A Bs var. Baltica, 90.
Ascidia intestinalis, 87.
Echinus spheera, 87.
Actinea mesambryanthemum, 96.

39

F

THE EUROPEAN SEAS.
Cyathina Smithii, 142.

Desmophyllum Stokesii, 142.
Sphenotrochus Andrewianus, 142.

AND BLACK SEA PROVINCE.

29

Baleenoptera musculus, 199, Med. Rorqual, M., L., C.

Delphinus delphis, 198. M., L.

ay tursio, 199. M., Atl.
Pelagus monachus. Monk. 199. HE. Med.
Phoea vitulina, 199. M., Boreal.
Sphargis coriacea, 198, Med., W. Af.
Testudo caretta, 198, Med., W. Af.

Accipenser sturio, 207, Bl. Sea.
Atherina presbyter, 122. C., 197, M.
Belone vulgaris, 204, Gar-pike, M., BI. Sea, Celt.
Beryx decadactylus, 192, Can.
» Splendens, 122. C.
Box salpa, 122. C.
i wulearis, 123. C.
Caranx analis, 192. Can.
my euviert, 123. .C,
Chrysophrys cerulosticta, 193. M., Can., W. Af.
Clupea Madeiriensis, 121. C.
Corypheena equisetes, 192. Can.
Crenilabrus caninus, 121. C.
Diodon reticulatus, 119. C.
Julis Mediterranea, 197. M.
Lampris lauta, 122. C.
Lichia glaucos, 123. C., 193, M.
Mullus barbatus, 197. M.
» surmuletus, Red Mullet, 123. C.
Oblada melanura, 122. C.

FAUNA OF THE LUSITANIAN, MEDITERRANEAN,

LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

Pagrus vulgaris, 123. C.
Phycis Mediterraneus, 123. C.
Polyprion cernium, 1238. C.
Pimelepterus incisor, 192. Can.
Priancanthus boops, 192. Can.
Pristopoma ronchus, 193. M., Can., W. Af.
Prometheus Atlanticus, 122. C.
Sargus cervinus, 193. M., Can., W. Af.
» Rondeletii, 122. C.
Searus creticus, 196. M.
5 mutabilisni 23. CO
Scomber scombrus, 121. C.
Scorpeena scrofa, 121. C.
Sebastes Kuhlii, 121. C.
Serranus cabrilla, 123. C.
Smaris Royeri, 123. C.
Sphyreena vulgaris, 122. C.
Tetrodon marmoratus, 119. C.
Thynnus pelamys, Bonito, 204. M., Bl. Sea.
a, vulgaris, Tunny, 204. M., Bl. Sea.
Torpedo narke, 197. M.
Trigon pistanaca, 208. M., Bl. 8., Azof, Casp.
Umbrina vulgaris, 204. BI]. Sea.
Xiphias gladius, 206. M., Bl.
Zeus Faber, John Dory, 123. C.

Cephalopoda, 161-165.

Acmea virginia, 117. L., 178, W. M.
Auricula myosotis, 180. 2-3 fms.
Buccinum gibbosulum. 275. M., Red Sea.
modestum, 116. L.
mutabile, 275. M., Can., Red Sea.
i variabile, 275. L., M., Red Sea.

Bulla striata, 202. M., Red Sea, BI. Sea.

, truncata, 274. C., L., M., Can., Red Sea.
Calyptreea sinensis, 168. M., 202, BL. Sea.

9)

33

“1

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 29

Cassidaria depressa, 176. E. M.
0 Tyrrhena, 168. M. 176. E. M.
Cassis saburon? 115. L., 168, M.
Cerithium adversum, 202. Bl. Sea.
43 fuscatum, 180.
i lima, 182, 4,6. L., M., Red Sea, Can.,
2-110 fms.
5 mamillatum, 275. M., Red Sea.
= perversum, 275. M., Can., Red Sea.
‘ vulgatum, 115,182. L., M., Red Sea, 2-10 fms.
202, Bl. Sea.
Chemnitzia elegantissima, 274. C., L., M., Can., Red Sea.
Chiton cajetanus, 108. L., 179, M.
» fascicularis, 179. M
oo onmyvus, 117. TL
oe etculus, 169, M:, 170, M.
Columbella rustica, 118. L., 179, Marg., 202, BI. Sea.
Conus Mediterraneus, 115. L., 167, M., 179, 202, Bl. Sea.
Crepidula unguiformis, 168. M.
Cymba olla, 115, 118,.171. L., 178, W. M.
Cypreea erosa, 275. M., Red Sea.
» Moneta, 275. L., M., Can., Red Sea.
» spurca, 179, 2 fms.
Dentalium novem costatum, 184, 35-55 fms.
om quinqueangulare, 186, 100 fms.
Dolium galea. L. 176, 177. E. M., Can., Red Sea.
Emarginula elongata, 184, 55-80 fms.
oe Huzardi, 180, 2-3 fms.
Eulima polita, 274. C., L., M., Red Sea.
Fasciolaria lignaria, 275. M., Red Sea.
s Tarentina, 179, 2 ines
Fissurella costarea, 274. M., Red Sea.
Os greca, 274. C., L., M., Can., Red Sea.
A: rosea, 274. C., L., Mog., Red Sea.
Fusus contrarius, 274, 109, 113.
» corneus, 169. M., L., Red Sea.
» lignarius, 179, 2 fms.

LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

Fusus muricatus, 185, 80-100.
» rostratus, 275. Can., M., Red Sea.
» Syracusanus, 275. L., Red Sea.
Haliotis lamellosus, 179, Marg.
» tuberculata, 171. L., M., Red Sea, Can.
Jeffreysia ceerulescens, 181. 3
diaphana, 170.
Littorina neritoides, 117. L., 202, Bl. Sea.
PY petreea, 179. M. 181.
: rudis, 202, Bl. Sea.
Marginella clandestina, 182.275. C., M., R.Sea, 2-10 fms.
vs mileacea, 275. C., M., Red Sea.
5 minuta, 275. M., Red Sea.
Mesalia striata, 178. W. M.
, oBuleatas i 7Se) Wise
Mitra obsoleta, 182, 2-10 fms.
Murex Brandaris, 115. L., 167, M.
» scorallinus, 11:5. 1a,
» cristatus, 176. E. M.
Edwardsii, 115. L.
» erinaceus, 202, Bl. Sea.
» trunculus, 115. L., 167-9, 172. M., Can., Red Sea.
Nassa Ascanias, 202, Bl. Sea.
» gibbosula, 180, 2-8 fms.
» neritea, 180, 2-3 fms.
» reticulata, 202, Bl. Sea.
Natica Guilleminii, 115. L.
3 intricata, 115. \L., 178; Wee
» Olla, 182, 2-10 fms.
Parthenia fasciata, 186, 100 fms.
Ae ventricosa, 186, 100 fms.
Patella Bonnardi, 179, Marg.
coerulea, 274. C., L., M., Red Sea.
» ferruginea, 202, Bl. Sea.
fragilis, 274. M., Red Sea.
Lusitanica, 274. L., M., Red Sea.
» pellucida, 108,170. N. L., W. of Af.

x7

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 299

a Patella scutellaris, 169. M., 179, Marg.
4 » tarentina, 202, Bl. Sea, M., Red Sea.
q , Pedicularia sicula, 176. E. M.
Phasianella intermedia, 115. L.
4 pulla, 202, BI. Sea.
Pleurotoma costulatum, 202. M., Bl. Sea.
" Maravigne, 108, 184. L., M., 55-80 fms.
Pollia maculosa, 179.
Purpura hemastoma, 115. L.
3 lapillus, 170, Vigo.
Ranella lanceolata, 275. L., M., Red Sea.
Ringicula auriculata, 108, 116. L., 171, M.
Rissoa oblonga, 182, 2-10 fms.
a puieherrima, 170.
» reticulata, 185-6, 80-100 fms.
» ventricosa, 182, 2-10 fms.
Scalaria hellenica, 186, 100 fms.
Siphonaria concinna, 118. L., 178, W. M.
Solarium luteum, 171.
» Stramineum, 171.
Triton corrugatum, 115. L.
» cutaceum, 115. L.
» variegatum, 108, 119. L., M., Red Sea.
Trochus Adansonii, 202, M., Red Sea.
y eanaliculatus, 115. L.
poe emerarius, 109,.170: L., M., W. of AL,) 202,
BL. Sea.
ee) erenulatus, 182. C., Li, M., Can., Red Sea,
2-10 fms.
» divaricatus, 202, Bl. Sea.
me. exignus, 202; Bl. Sea.
» fragarioides, 166. M., 202, Bl. Sea.
» Laugieri, 108, 115. L., M.
me luyeiacus, 179. i. M.
» millegranus.
» Sprattii, 176,182. BE. M., 2-10 fms.
» striatus, 275. C., M., Red-Sea.

300 LUSITANIAN PROVINOE.

Trochus tumidus, 109, 170. L., M.
» umbilicatus, 118. L., 202, Bl. Sea.
i varius, 275. M., Red Sea.
» vVillicus, 202. M., BI. Sea.
» ~ 4Ziziphinus.
Tornatella tornatilis, 275. L., M., Red Sea.
Turbo cuneatus, 55-80 fms.
3 rugosus, 115.4L:
» Ssanguineus, 184-5, 80-100 fms.
Turritella communis, 168. M.
bs incrassata, 114.
i sulcata, 118. L.
a tricostata, 182, 35-55 fms.

Truncatella truncatula, 180, 181, 2-3 fms., 202, Bl. Sea.

Umbrella Mediterranea, 176. E. M.
Velutina levigata, 108, 170. N. L.

Amphidesma sicula, 180. M., 2 fms., sand.
Anomia ephippium. )
Arca barbata, 179, 274. L., M., Red Sea.
» Giluvii, 274. Sen., Red Sea.
» Imbricata, 186. 230 fms.
» lactea, 186, 2-100 fms.
5» Nove, 274 ise Can"
» scabra.
» tetragona, 274. C., L., M., Can., Red Sea.
Astarte suleata, 178. W. M.
» triangularis, 178. W. M.
Bornia corbuloides, 115. L.
Cardita aculeata, 185, 80-100 fms.
» ealyculata, 179. L., M., Mog., Can., W. Af.
» trapezia, 116.71.
Cardium coloratum, 203, Bl. Sea.
Ls edule, 180. M., 202, BL. Sea.
E exiguum, 181, 202, Bl. Sea, 2-10 fms. C.
i papillosum, 181-4, 2-10 fms. C.
ra plicatum, 203, Bl. Sea.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 301

Cardium rusticum, 115. L.
Chama gryphoides, 168. L., M., Can., 8. Af.
Clavagella angulata, 176. E. M.
a balanorum, 176. HE. M.
i Melitensis, 176. E. M.
Corbula revoluta, 274. M., Red Sea.
Cytherea exoleta, 274. C., L., Sen., Red Sea.
‘, lincta, 274. C., L., Red Sea.
a Venetiana, 116. L.
Diplodonta rotundata, 274. C., L., M., Can., Red Sea.
Donax trunculus, 180. L., M., Can., W. Af, Red Sea,
2-3 fms.
Ervilia castanea, 115,178. L., W. M.
Erycina ovata, 202. M., BI. Sea.
Kellia corbuloides, 180, 2-3 fms.
Leda emarginata, 116. L.
Ligula profundissima, 186, 100 fms.
Lima crassa, 186, 100 fms.
, elongata, 185, 80-100 fms.
»» Squamosa, 179.
Lithodomus caudigerus, 118. L.
r dactylus, 168. M.
se lithophagus, 118. L., 179, M.
Lucina Desmarestii, 180, 2 fms., sand.
oe disitalis, 116. L,
» divaricata, 116. L.
= Jactea, 180. L., M., 202, BI. Sea, Can., 8. Af,
Red Sea, 2 fms., mud.
» pecten, 180. L., Can., Red Sea, 23 fms.
Lutraria elliptica, 178. W. M.
Mactra helvacea, 115. L.
, inflata, 274. L., M., Red Sea.
7 rugosa, 171. |
/) stuliorum, 180. C., L., M., W.-Af, Red Sea,
23 fms.
» subtruncata, 100, 170. L., M., Vigo.
» triangula, 202. W. M., Bl. Sea.

LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

Mesodesma donacilla, 170. L., M., Red Sea, 2 fms., sand.
Modiola discrepans, 274. C., L., M., Red Sea.
“ lithophaga, 274. M., Red Sea.
is Petagnee, 274. L., M., Red Sea.
Mytilus afer, 116-18. L.
ni minimus, 115. L., 169, M., 202, Bl. Sea.
Nucula #geensis, 186, 100 fms.
» emarginata, 183. M., 20-35-55 fms.
» Mmargaritacea, 181. C., L., M., Red Sea, 2-10 fms.
» Striata, 184, 25-55-80 fms.
Ostrea Adriatica, 212, Bl. Sea.
» eristata, 274. M., Red Sea.
ye veaulis, Maley Ta:
Panopeea Aldrovandi, 115. L.
Pecten Hoskinsii, 186, 100 fms.
» hyalinus, 180. M., 2-10 fms,
» dacobeeus, 176. HE. M.
of exact ran ns) ey lies
» opercularis, 183. M., 35-55 fms.
» polymorphus. 116. L., 181, M., 2-10 fms.
» similis, 186, 50-80-100 fms.
» tigerinus, 180, Vigo.
Pectenculus violescens, 274. M., Red Sea.
Petricola lithophaga, 115. L.
Pholas candida, 202, Br., M., Bl. Sea.
Pinna squamosa, 274. L., Med., Red Sea.
Psammobia rugosa, 118. L.
Solecurtus strigillatus, 115. L., 179, M., 2 fms., sand.
Solemya Meditterranea, 108. M., 2 fms., sand.
~ Solen ensis, 202. Br., M., Bl. Sea.
legumen, 274. C., L., M., Red Sea.
» vagina, 274, Celt., L., M., Red Sea.
Spondylus aculeatus, 274. M., Red Sea.
» gaderopus, 168-79. M.
Tapes pallustra, 109, Vigo.
Terebratula appressa, 185, 80-100 fms.
:, cuneata, 185, 20-35 fms.

99

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 303

Terebratula detruncata, 184, 20-35 fms.
ye lunifera, 185, 80-100 fms.
* seminula, 184, 35-55 fms.
. truncata, 185, 55-80 fms.
ie vitrea, 185, 80-100 fms.
Tellina balaustina, 170.
my carnaria, 202. Br., M., Bl. Sea.
Be veesies, 116. L.
Be fictorta, 116. L., 181, M., 2-18 fms.
» donacina, 180. M., 2-10 fms.
tenuis, 202. Br., M., Bl. Sea.
Wheciden Mediterranea, 176. E. M.
Venus aurea. 202. Br., M., Bl. Sea.
» dysera, 202. Br., M. Bl. Sea.
» gallina, 202. Br., M., Bl. Sea.
» ovata, 184, 50-80-100 fms.
eersumatmla 117. L., 178, W. M. '
» verrucosa, 274. C., L., M., Can., W. Af., Red Sea.
Venerupis decussata, 176, 180. HE. M.
es irus, 202. Br., M., Bl. Sea.

Amouroucium argus, 158. Br., M.
Ascidia arachnoidea, 158. Br., M.
» Mentula, 158. Br., M.

a. microcosmus, 159:

me sie, 159. 1. M.
Botryllus papillosa, 158. Adr.

is polycyclus, 158. Ar., M.

Pteropods, 159.
Cleodera pyramidata, 160. L., M.
3) subula, 160. L., M.
Hyalea tridentata, 160, L. M.
| brispinosa, 160. L.; M.

Bryozoa, 145.

304 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

Crustacea, 153-7.
Acanthonyx lunulata. L.
Amathia Rouxii. L.
Athanas nitescens. C.
Calappa granulata. L.
Cancer pagurus. C., Max.
Carcinus meenas, C., Max.
Dorippe lanata. L.
Grapsus Messor. Can.
» strigosus. Can.
Hemola hispida. L.
5; spinifrons. L.
Herbstia nodosa. L.
Hyas coarctatus. C.
Inachus dorynchus. L., M., Can.
Labretes elegans. L.
Leptopodia sagittaria. Can., West Ind.
Lupa hastata. L. |
Lissa. L., Gaulteri.
Mithrax dichotoma. L.
Nephrops Norvegicus. C., M.
Ocypode ippeus. L.
Pandalus annulicornis. C.
Plagusia clavimana. Can.and W. Af.
Polybius Henslowii. C., W., and 8S.
Portunus puber. C., Max.
Scyllarus latus. L.
Squilla Desmarestii. L.
» mantis. L.

Echinoderms, 148-153.
Amphiura neglecta. M.
Asterias aurantiaca. M., L., Br.
, tenuispina. M., L.
Asterica gibbosa (minuta). M., L., B.
Astrophyton scutatum. M., L., Boreal.
Astropyga, Can.

THE EUROPEAN SEAS. SE

Brissus scillee.
, » ventricosus. M., L., Can.
a Cidaris hystrix. M., L.
% » imperialis, Med., Can.
: Comatula rosacea. M., L., Brit.
Cucumaria pentacte. M., Boreal.
Echinocyamus pusillus. M., L., Br.
Kehinus esculentus. M., L.

wa. lividus: M., L., Br.

a omuaneto. MM, LL.

ww /amonile. L., M.

” Sardicus. M.
Ophidiaster granifera. M., L., Can.

Pe ophidiana. M., L., Can.

Qphiocoma scolopendroides. M., L., Br.
Ophiothrix rosula. M.
Qphiura abyssicola. M.

eo ADIGA,

7. lacertosa. M., L., Br.

» texturata. M.
Palmipes membranaceus. M., L., Br.
Spatangus purpureus. M., L., B.
Stellonia glacialis. M. Boreal.

- tenuispina, St. Lusit., M.
Syrinx nudus. M., Boreal.
Uraster glacialis.

Medusz, 1438.

Astroides calycularis, 142. M.
Balanophyllia Italica, 142. L., M.
. verrucaria, 142. L., M.
Cladocera astreearia, 142. M.
* cespitosa, 142. M.
3 stellaria, 142. M.
Ccenocyathus anthophyllitis, 142. M.
Ms Corsicus, 142. M.

306 LUSITANIAN PROVINCE.

Cyathina cyathus, 142. L., M.
ss pseudoturbinolia, 142. L., M.
Dendrophyllia cornigera, 142. L., M.

ae ramea, 142. L., M.
Desmophyllum cristagalli, 142. L.
stellaria, 142. L., M.

Sphenotrochus millitianus, 143. L.

Actinia mesembryanthemum, 141, Med., Atl., Red Sea.

» tapetum, 141, Med., Atl., Red Sea.
Antipathes subpinnata, 140. L., M., Can.
Corallium rubrum, 139. M., Red Sea.
Funicularia quadrangularis, 141, Med., Atl.
Gorgonia ceratophyta, 140. M., Atl.

me coralloides, 140. M., Atl.

A placomus, 140. M., Atl.

ma tuberculata, 140. M.
Isis elongata, 139. M., Ind. Oc.
Lobularia palmata, 138. M., L.
Pennatula phosphorea, 140. M., Atl.

it setacea, 141, Med., Can.

Tethya lyncurium, 134. M., Brit.
Foraminifera, 134.

Quinqueloculina subrotunda, 136, Brit.
Truncatulina lobata, 135. M., Brit.

In the foregoing lists the Provinces are indicated by thei r
initial letters. See page 275.

Woodfali and Kinder, Printers, Angel Court, Skinner Street, Loudon.

OUTLINES

. OF

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF EUROPE.

In preparation,
THE

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY

OF

THE EUROPEAN AREA,

NATURAL AND PHYSICAL.

bad BY

ROBERT GODWIN-AUSTEN, F.R.S., GS.

JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW.

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