SUBTERRANEAN CRUSTACEANS

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11790, 13 January 1904, Page 8

SUBTERRANEAN CRUSTACEANS

Dr. Chilton read a paper entitled "Notes ou the Subterranean Crustacea of New Zealand." He explained that email blind, colourless cruetawans had been discovered in the underground waters of the Canterbvry Plains more than twenty years ago, and were known (to be widely distributed, and in some cases pretty abundant. They »m commonly known as "well-6hrimpe,"*ancl are usually brought to the surface by ordinary pumps. Similar well-shrimps are known to occur in Europe and in North America. TTIO paper contained notes on some facts tvkh regard to these creatures tliat have been observed since 1594, -when the author published a paper dealing whii th*> whole question in the Linnean Society's publications. The main points are as follows : —Previously no well-shrimps -were ever obtained from the artesian water of Ohristenurch, though they occur in wells at Eyreton, Lincoln and otlier places in die neighbourhood. Witthin the last two years, however, specimens of two different epecies liave been obtained from ail artesian at- &t. Albane. One of tbe weU-ehrimps is a very peculiar isopod, for which a new genus, phreatoicus, waa established in 1883, and this genus differed so much from, other isopode that it had to t« pkiced in a special fortily by itt«lf. fiicoe tbeo. various ieof thie family have been tiiecovered in Australia, some of them living underground like the New Zealand specks, and others iniidbitating the eurfeoe waters. Ibe New Zealand undergroundSjieciesmast-, no doubt, have been originally derived from some form Jivi!>g in the surface freelrwaters of tiheee islands, but' no such form <na.s known to occur in -New Zealand till lather more tian a year ago, when Professor Kirk found one living in a freshwafcrjr lagoon in Ruapuke Island, in Fouveoux Strait. The family appears to be a very anciont one, and was probably widely spread in past ages, and it is quite possible that other representatives of it may yet be found in other places in New Zealand. Quite recently Dr. Cockayne found in surface etreame at Castle Hill specimens of another of the subterranean well-ehrimps. It is blind and colourless, and though now living in eurface streams, is quite identical with those obtained from the underground waters of 'the Plains. Dr. Chilton recently Treat to Castle Hill, and was able to find this little amphipod abundant in Beveral streams in the neighbourhood, which is at a height, of more tihan 2000 ft above the aea. In all probability, he said, it existed as an underground epeoies farther up the hills, and had come to die surface by means of the springs arising from the various river terraces at Cattle Hill, and had then been able to maintain itself in these surface streams, bat its existence there, so far removed from th/s underground waterß of the plains was a joint of considerable interest. Another paper by ■Dγ. Chilton dealt with the Phreatoicidte—tbe family to which one of the well-ehrimps mentioned before, belongs. For some years only the one underground species was known, but later on othera"belonging to the original genus, phratoicos. and the closely allied genera •were .found in Australia, some of them being underground species, but others living in surface "waters. The family -was a very peculiar one*, and evidently an ancient one, as it possessed characters common to several of the other families of isopoda.

A third paper by Dr. Cbilton dealt with «ome land isopods recently obtained by Dr. Cockayne, from iht> Auckland-and Campbell Islands. Hβ stated that some of them belonged to species slready known from New Zealand, ibut one proved to be a new species, and another large epecies wae confined to these islands and -was of considerable interest <to the systematic zoologist.