REPORT ON THE TUNTCATA. 193 



branchial sac, and have the normal arrangement — the intestine turning posteriorly after 

 leaving the stomach, and not anteriorly as in Ascidia — but they are relatively larger, 

 and extend further anteriorly than in Corella parallelogram/ma. They occupy chiefly 

 the ventral part of the right side, and extend beyond the branchial sac, the intestine 

 appearing at the posterior end and ventral edge of the sac when viewed from the Left 

 side (PL XXVI. fig. 2, /.). In consequence of an anterior twist in the oesophagus, tin: 

 stomach lies nearly antero-posteriorly (PL XXVI. fig. 3), and the intestine before turning 

 towards the posterior end, reaches almost to a level with the atrial aperture. 



The genitalia branching over the intestine in its anterior part, and occupying the loop, 

 are, relatively to the alimentary canal, and relatively to the genital mass in Con I In 

 ■parcdlelogranima, and in Abyssascidia, small and inconspicuous. The vas deferens is 

 conspicuous, running between the stomach and the posterior part of the intestine, and 

 then between the oesophagus and the rectum towards the atrial aperture (shown as a 

 dark line in PL XXVI. fig. 3). 



Nearly a dozen specimens of this species, all of much the same size, were obtained oil" 

 Kobe, Japan, at Station 233a ; May 17 to 19, 1875 ; lat. 34° 35' N., long. 135° 10' E.; 

 depth, 8 to 50 fathoms. Two specimens were also dredged in shallow water off Yoko- 

 hama, Japan ; and two at Hong Kong, in 1 fathoms. 



Abyssascidia, Herdman, 

 Abyssascidia, Herdman, Prelim. Rep., Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., 1879-80, p. 470. 



Body oblong, attached by ventral surface. Branchial aperture with about twelve 

 lobes, atrial with about eight lobes. 



Test cartilaginous, soft and transparent. 



Mantle thin. A few large distant muscle bands on left side. 



Branchial Sac not longitudinally plicated ; stigmata straight. 



Dorsal Lamina replaced by languets. 



Tentacles simple, filiform. 



Viscera on right side of branchial sac. Intestine small. Stomach shorl and wide. 



Genitalia forming a round mass situated on the right side of the intestinal loop. 



The genus Abyssascidia occupies a position intermediate between Ascidia and Corella, 

 with both of which it has affinities. It resembles the latter genus in the position 

 of the viscera, and in the shape and relative size of the intestine. The most striking 

 peculiarities of the genus are the number of lobes around the apertures and the position 

 and form of the alimentary canal. 



The branchial sac, however, differs greatly from that of Con-lla, and exhibits 

 the simpler structure found in Ascidia, while the membranes hanging from the trans- 

 verse vessels and the languets along the dorsal edge of the branchial sac are exactly like 

 the same parts in Corel/". 



