The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-05-26
-DietZ on Science
-DietZ on Science
ODD SPECIMENS
ARE CAUGHT IN
OCEANS DEEP
Science Expedition Brings
Back Collection for
Smithsonian.
BY DAVID DIETZ
Scripps-Howard Science Editor

The waves of the tropical sea
dance in the sunlight. The bright
scene suggests paradise. But deep
down, beneath those dancing waves,
is a still, inferno-like world of ever
lastingly darkness whose laws are
more cruel than the laws of the
jungle
Eat or be eaten is the law that
governs the multitudes Of curious
creatures in the deep, cold sea of
darkness. Some Of these strange
creatures have been brought back
to this country by DR.. Paul Bartsch,
Smithsonian Institution biologist.
DR.. Bartsch just has returned
from a study of the Puerto Rico
deep, the deepest part of the At
lantic ocean. He was the leader Of
the Johnson Deep-Sea
expedition, an adventure made pos
sible by Eldridge J. Johnson of Phil
adelphia, who placed his motor
yacht, Caroline" at the disposal of
the institution and who accompa-
MED the expedition.
Teeth Are RazOr-Iike
Many of the fishes collected by
the expedition seem little more than
enormous mouths with long. razor
like teeth with which to seize their
prey. These fishes have small slen-
der bodies.
They are mostly head and the
head is mostly mouth. Nearly all
the fishes carry luminous organs Of
some kind near the mouth, the light
Of which is believed to attract other
creatures within grabbing distance.
DR.. Bartsch believes that crea-
lures Of this sort have developed be-
cause Of the ferceness of the strug-
gle for existence in the deep sea.
No vegetation grows in the ocean
deepS because sunlight can not
penetrate to them. Consequently the
fishes and other marine creatures
found there must eat each other.
Armament Stands Out.
Every creature found is ~conspicu-
Gus for his offensive or defensive
armament. Among the weirdest
specimens brought back by the
Bartsch is a shrimp with long,
razor-like claws which actually fold
up in the fashion Of a razor.
DR.. Bartsch's collection include
strange molusks with shells like
corkscrews and cells like darning
needles, but equipped with long
sharp beaks.
The specimens which he collected
live at a depth of about 5000 feet,
nearly $500 feet below the farthest
reaches of the suns rays. He be-
lieves that even stranger forms may
exist at greater depths and hopes
that future expeditions may bring
them to light some day.
Because of the greater pressure in
the water at great depths the crea-
lures which live there have higher
blood pressures than those which
live near the surface
Explode at Surface
AS a result Of this, some of the
specimens collected by DR.. Bartsch's
expedition literally exploded when
brought to the surface.
DR.. Bartsch advances an in
genious theory to account for the
fact that fishes and other creatures
have been acclimated to the dark.
cold depths of the sea.
He says that the sinking of vast
numbers of dead organisms from the
surface into the ice-cold depths of
the seas is primarily responsible. In
these depths this material is kept in
perpetual cold storage" and fur
nishes an enormous supply of
fresh meat"
Surface creatures, following it
downward, gradually became accus-
toned to living at great depths. The
killers or %devourers Of live meat fol-
lowed and likewise became adapted
to the ADVISES of the sea