202 



MKI>U,S.<K OF TIIK WORLD. 



Helirlla calcarata (hydroid and medusa), NUTTING, 1901, Bull. U. S. Fish Commission for 1899, pp. 353, 378, figs. 56, 94. 

 Laodice indira, BROWNE, 1905, Pearl Oyster Fisheries Gulf of Manaar, Suppl. Report 27, Roy. Soc. London, p. 136, plate i, 



fig. 5; plate 4, figs. 7-11 (Ceylon). 

 Laodice ulothri\, HAECKEL, 1879, Syst. der Medusen, p. 133, taf. 8, fign. 5-7. BROOKS, 1895, Amer. Journal Morphology, vol. 



10, p. 304, plate 17, 7 figs. 

 Laodicea ultilhriv, MAYER, 1900, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. at Harvard College, vol. 37, (1.49; 1904, Mem.Nat.Sci. Brooklyn 



Institute Museum, vol. I, p. 14, fig. 30, plate 4. 

 LaoJicra mamma, AGASSIZ, A., and MAYER, 1899, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. at Harvard College., vol. 32, p. 162, plate 3, figs. 7, 8 



(Fiji Islands). 



( >) Medusa ttquorea, BASTF.R, 1759, Opuscula subseciva, n, p. 55, taf. 5, fign. 2, 3. 

 ( ?) Medusa crutiala, FHRSKAL, 1775, Descript. anim., p. 1 10, taf. 33, fig. A. 



Thaumaniiai unaulata, FORBF.S and GOODSIR, 1853, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, vol. 20, p. 313, plate 10, fig. 7. 

 Thiiuiiiantias medilerranea, GEGKNBAI'R, 1856, Zeit. fur wissen. Zool., Bd. 8, p. 237, taf. 8, fign. 1-3. 

 l.aodi(e cruciata, AGASSIZ, L., 1862, Cont. Nat. Hist. U. S., vol. 4, p. 350. HAECKEL, 1879, Syst. der Medusen, p. 132 (a list of 



bibliography). BROWNE, 1896, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 483 (a good discussion of the literature). GRAEFEE, 1884, 



Arbeit. Zuol. Inst. \Vien, Bd. 5, p. 357. METSCHNIKOFF, E., 1886, Embryologische Studien an Medusen, \Vien, pp. 23 



( e gg)> 37 (segmentation), 57 (formation of entoderm), 83 (polypite), taf. 4, fign. 17-31; ta '' 5- ^S- ' 

 ( r) Laodice pulchra, BROWNE, 1902, Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, vol. 9, p. 280 (Falkland Islands). 

 Laodicea cruciata L. \a.= Thaumanlias medilerranea GEGENCAUR; METSCHNIKOFK, E., 1886, Arbeit. Zool. Inst. \Vien, Bil . n, 



p. 239. 



C.osmrlira ialinarutn, or PLESSIS, 1879, Annal. Mag. Nat. Hist., London, vol. 3, p. 385 (=. cruciata). 

 Laodice salinarum, HAF.CKEL, 1879, Syst. der Medusen, p. 636 (from the salt ditches of Montpellier, Mediterranean coast of 



France). 



Laodice cruciata, BEDOT, 1901, Revue Suisse de Zool., tome 9, p. 483; Ibid., 1905, tome 13, p. 136 (all papers cited to 1850). 

 Hebella calctirala, THORNEI.V, 1905, Report Pearl Oyster Fisheries of Ceylon, Roy. Soc. London, Part 2, p. 1 16 (hydroid from 



the Gulf of Manaar, Ceylon). 

 Laodice calcarata, etc., BROWNE, 1907, Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. 20, ser. 7, p. 460; Cuspiae/la (hydroid), Ibid., p. 463. 



It is difficult to determine the correct name of this medusa. Medusa cruciata Forskal, 

 '775' ' s so va g ue l.V described and figured that it will never he possible to determine its true 

 relationships, and this is also true ot Medusa crrjuorcu Baster, 1759. 



FH.. 104. Laodicea " mediterranean after Gegenbaur, in Zeit. fur wissen. Zool., Bd. 8. 

 Oral and side views of medusa and part of bell-margin showing tentacular spurs. 



Thaumanttas mediterranea Gegenbaur, 1856, is evidently a Laodicea, and is the same 

 medusa which L. Agassiz, 1862, and Haeckel, 1879, call Laodice cruciata. Browne, 1896, 

 1898, inclines to the opinion that L. calcarata, L. ulotlin\ and Thaumantias mediterranea = 

 L. cruciata L. Agassiz and Haeckel. and are one and the same species. My studies of 

 Laodicea "calcarata," which is very abundant along the Atlantic coast of the United States 

 south ot Cape Cod, has convinced me that it is identical with Laodicea cruciata of Europe, 

 and is also distributed widely over the Pacific, where it has been called L. marama and L. 

 indica. The extreme variability in color and in the development of the marginal appen- 

 dages has caused much confusion in the naming of this most abundant and widely spread 

 medusa. The old name L. cruciata takes precedence over "calcarata" and should supersede 

 it, being, indeed, synonymous with it, but nevertheless the identity between this medusa and 

 "Medusa cruciata" of Forskal must remain in doubt. It seems advisable, however, to retain 

 an old and familiar name rather than to reinstate an unfamiliar one such as /,. undulata, 

 which is the specific name given to this medusa by Forbes and Goodsir, 1853. 



Adult medusa (plate 22, fig. 4). The bell is about 20 to 25 mm. in diameter, and when 

 fully expanded it is somewhat flatter than a hemisphere. Being very flexible, however, it 

 assumes all sorts of distorted forms under the influence of contraction. The gelatinous sub- 

 stance is not thick at the apex and becomes regularly thinner toward the margin. There are 

 /o to 150, or more, long tentacles, the ends of which are usually coiled in a close helix, while 

 the main shaft of each tentacle is quite straight and rigid. The basal bulbs of the tentacles are 

 large and hollow and often have abaxial spur-like projections; and there is a dark-brown or 



