AGLAOPHENIA PENNATULA. 293 



ing over it; NEMATOPHORES minute, one on each side 

 of the calycle above, placed a little below the margin, 

 and not projecting; GONOTHEC.E rudely pyriform, sub- 

 pedicellate, smooth, borne singly on the stem at the base 

 of the pinna. 

 Height from 3 to 6 inches. 



THIS is a rare and beautiful species, of which Ellis might 

 well say that it is " as remarkable for its elegance of form 

 as its likeness to the feather of a pen." The pinnae are 

 placed very close to one another on the anterior surface 

 of the stem, and have therefore a tendency to fold together 

 and assume a secund appearance. 



The most remarkable point in the history of this species 

 is the absence of the corbula, or protective case, which 

 encloses the gonothecse in other mem- 

 bers of the genus. The capsules, Fig. 33. 

 which have not been hitherto de- 

 scribed, are distributed along the 

 main stem, springing singly at the 

 base of the pinnae, just as in 

 other species they are produced at 

 the origin of the ribs which gird 

 the corbula (Woodcut, fig. 33). In 

 this case, the fertile plume itself 



forms, as it were, a corbula, the pinnae arching over the 

 gonothecse. I have a variety from Devonshire which 

 measures three-quarters of an inch across, and is much 

 less delicate and feather-like than the ordinary form. 



Hub. On shells, seaweed, &c. ; very rare. On the 

 Pinna ing ens, from deep water, off the Deadman point, 

 very rare (Couch) : obtained off the Cornish coast 

 several times on the Corwich crab and the stems of 

 Laminaria digit ata ; a magnificent mass from Gorran 

 Haven; Torbay, a single specimen (C.W. P.): Swanagc. 



