Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia): Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-76, Vol. XVIIIHaeckel, Ernst
Science
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia): Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-76, Vol. XVIII
Haeckel, Ernst
Radiolaria
B. In the South Atlantic, between Buenos Ayres and Tristan da Cunha
(between lat. 35° S. and 43° S., long. 8° W. and 57° W.) there appears to
be a long stretch covered partly with Globigerina ooze (Stations 331 to
334), or red clay (Stations 329, 330), partly with blue mud (Stations 318
to 328), which contains not only large masses of individuals but numerous
peculiar species of SPUMELLARIA and NASSELLARIA. The preparations from
the surface-takings of this region are also rich in these, as well as in
peculiar PHÆODARIA.
C. The northern part of the Atlantic appears on the whole to be inferior
to the tropical and southern portions as regards its richness in
Radiolaria, and from the western half more especially, only few species
are known. From my researches at Lanzerote in 1866-67, it appears that
the pelagic fauna of the Canary Islands is very rich in them, as is also
the Gulf Stream in the neighbourhood of the Færöe Channel, according to
the investigations of John Murray (see his Report on the "Knight-Errant"
Expedition, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xi., 1882).
D. The Radiolaria of the Mediterranean are of special interest, because
almost all our knowledge of these organisms in the living conditions and
of their vital functions has been derived from investigations conducted
on its shores. Johannes Müller laid the foundation of this knowledge by
his investigations at Messina, and on the Ligurian and French coasts at
Nice, Cette, and St. Tropez (L. N. 10). The many new Radiolaria which I
described in my Monograph (L. N. 16, 1862), were for the most part taken
at Messina, the place which possesses a richer pelagic fauna than any
other, so far as is yet known, in the Mediterranean. Other new species I
found afterwards at Villafranca near Nice, in 1864 (L. N. 19), at
Portofino near Genoa (1880), at Corfu (1877), and at other points on the
coast. In Messina also, Richard Hertwig collected the material for his
valuable treatise on the Organisation of the Radiolaria (L. N. 33), after
he had previously made investigations into their histology at Ajaccio in
Corsica (L. N. 26). Lastly, at Naples, Cienkowski (L. N. 22) and Karl
Brandt (L. N. 38, 39, 52) carried out their important investigations into
the reproduction and symbiosis of the Radiolaria. With respect to the
character of its Radiolaria, the Mediterranean fauna is to be regarded as
a special province of the North Atlantic.
E. Among the smaller contributions which have been made towards our
knowledge of the Atlantic Radiolarian fauna, the communications of
Ehrenberg on the deposits obtained in sounding for the Atlantic cable,
and on the Mexican Gulf Stream near Florida, deserve special mention (L.
N. 24, pp. 138, 139-145).
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