Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/205

158 the glassy surface of the sea, a small object was seen floating ahead, towards which we pulled. It proved to be a fine specimen of the Sordid Dragonet (Callionymus dracunculus); a fish which does not usually come to the surface, much less float there. It seemed stupified, making not the least attempt to escape, as we lifted it with the hand-net, and placed it in a pan of water. There, however, it seemed in no wise injured, but was as lively as so sluggish a fish usually is, playing on the bottom of the vessel. What could have caused it to lie in the burning rays of the sun, on the top of the sea?

The dredges yielded me a fair harvest of zoological varieties:—prettily painted Shrimps (Crangon); graceful Prawns of the genera Palæmon, Pandalus, and Hippolyte; the Tiny Cockle (Cardium eaiguum); two minute Tops (Trochus exiguus, and T. striatus); the porcellain-like Natice (N. Alderi and N. monilifera), remarkable for the enormous masses of white gelatinous flesh which they protrude when they crawl, investing and almost concealing the shell; a few Starfishes and Urchins; plenty of Ascidie and Botryllida; various Annelides;—Hermits and Spider-crabs by scores; several specimens of the beautiful Cloak Anemone (Adamsia maculata); and a few of that magnificent species, the Plumose Anemone (Actinia dianthus), as well as the Parasitic, the Daisy, and the Weymouth Anemones (A. parasitica, bellis, and clavata). Some of these I have already described; others I shall take occasion to allude to; I will here content myself with a notice of one of the most gorgeously clad of all the creatures that inhabit the deep,—the Sea Mouse.