Gephyrean. 105
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We dredged several times at Cockle Cove, The bottom was
muddy, and abounded in a species of Mactra, which the men were
fond of eating; and as they commonly called these shells “ cockles,”
the anchorage was given a name which would recall the memory
of these much-esteemed comestibles.
We also obtained numbers of a pale rose-coloured Gephyrean
Cn placing one of these creatures in a globe of fresh sea-water it
seemed to feel quite at home, protruding its tentacles and puffing
out its worm-like body until it looked like a tiny jam-roll with a
star-fish attached to one end. These tentacles, which are eight in
number and surround the mouth, are each one provided with from
eight to ten finger-like processes. When there is only the former
number, the organ looks remarkably like a hand, and the resemblance
is rendered more striking when the tentacle is extended,
and grasps some minute particles in the water, which to all appearance
it conveys to its mouth. The usual shape assumed by
this protean animal is that of a long cylinder with rounded ends,
but it sometimes shows an annular construction about the middle
of the body, and sometimes the whole anterior half of the body
is retracted so as to give the animal a telescopic appearance.
These changes of shape are produced by the action of two distinct
systems of contractile fibres, transverse and longitudinal, the fibres
of the former being disposed closely together like minute hoops,
and girding the body from end to end, while the longitudinal fibres
are arranged in five broad and well-marked equidistant bands,
which extend uninterruptedly from one end of the cylindrical
body to the other.
One night a small petrel flew on board, into one of the hoisted-
up boats, where it was found by one of the seamen in the usual
apparently helpless state. It is odd that some species of the
family of petrels should find such difficulty about rising on the
wing from a ship’s deck. A freshly-caught Cape pigeon, placed
on its legs on the deck, seems to forget utterly that it possesses
the power of flight, and does not even attempt to use its wings.
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