!{III7.(iST(iM.K - MASTICI VS. 



f>79 



the mouths on the outer sides of the mouth-arms. The central canal of each mouth-arm gives 

 otTj side branches which lead to the ^ lows of frilled mouths of the winged, lower pan of Un- 

 arm. All 3 of these canals fuse again with the axial-canal at the base ol the terminal club and 

 extend onward as the axial-canal of the club. 



The central stomach is cruciform and gives oft S siiaight radial-canals which extend to 

 the sense-organs. These canals are all connected by a wide ring-canal in a zone at a consider- 

 able distance inward from the margin. About ~ to 9 anastomosing radial-canals arise horn 

 the stomach in each octant between the rhopalar canals and fuse with the ring-canal. On its 

 outer side the ring-canal gives off" a fine-meshed net\\oik o| anastomosing vessels winch extend 

 into the lappets and fuse with the outer ends of the 8 rhopalar canals. 1 he circular muscles 

 ot the marginal zone of the subumbrella are widely interrupted in the 8 principal (rhopalar) 

 radii. The gonads are 4 folded walls tormm<; cruciform sides of the subgemtal porticus. 



Color quite variable. Bell and motnh-arms usually greenish-blue, or olive-green to 

 olive-brown, and there are a number of yellow, white, or occasionally brown, blue, or green 

 oval spots over the exumbrella, especially near the marin. The trills ot the mouths may be 

 olive, greenish-blue, yellowish-green, or brown. The 8 rhopalar radial-canals are darker. 

 This medusa is widely distributed over the Malay Archipelago, Indian ( )cean, and 

 China Sea to Japan, and outward over the Pacific to the Fi|i Islands. 



Agassiz and Mayer found an ephyra ot the medusa in Suva Harbor, l'i|i Islands, in Jan- 

 uary, 1898. It was 5 mm. in diameter and quite Hat and disk-shaped. There weie 8 marginal 

 sense-organs. The central mass of dark-brown entodermal pigment granules of the sense-organ 

 was developed, but the peripheral shell of transparent granules hail not \et made its appear- 

 ance. There were 24 marginal lappets, the 16 ocular lappets being about twice as long as the 8 

 velar lappets. There were 16 radial-pouches from the stomach, ot' which 8 went to the sense- 

 organs and 8 to the velar lappets. I he sub- 

 genital porticus was already unitary and the 

 brachial disk was suspended from the Hu"i ..I 

 the subumbrella by means of 4 gelatinous pillars, 

 exactly as in the adult. The ephyra possessed 

 only a simple, central mouth opening, having 4 

 cruciform lips. The margins of the lips were 

 lined with a row of short, slender tentacles 

 with knob-like ends exactly like those that sur- 

 round the mouths on the mouth-arms ot the 

 adult medusa. No trace ot the genital organs 

 could be detected, but the gastric cini \\eie 

 represented by 12 short filaments \ \ in each 



FIG. 415. \fasti%ias paplttl, after VanliutTrn, 

 in I'tilJii-i.i Kvprilition. 



quadrant). The color of the ephyra was very similar to that of the adult. The ring-canal had 

 not yet begun to develop. 



M<i>tii;i,i> [><if>ii<i swims very rapidly by an incessant contraction and expansion of the 

 bell-rim. Being an abundant and variable form, it has given use to main ne.nlv related 

 varieties, such as AI. fxipun var. .s/Aoiy of the Malav Archipcla<;u and \l . ,v/./<n<; ot the east 

 coast of Africa. M. physophora Kishinouvc is another variety found abundantly off the 

 coasts of Shima and Sagami, Japan, during summer and autumn. Its bell is at least 100 mm. 

 in diameter and is light-brown with numerous, round, dark-brown spots near the margin. 



Schultze finds this medusa at Amboina. Moluccas, in January and r'ehruan. and it is 

 evidently only a large, dark-colored variety of M . /<<i/>ini. Kishinouvc gi\es an excellent 

 series ot drawings of this medusa. 



o 



Mastigias papua var. siderea. 



Manilas sidcrca, CHUN, 1896, Jahrb. \Vi-rn. V : .Iniri;, Jaliri;. 15, p. 15. taf. i, i 



Mastigias, sp., (young medusa >. Si m i I/R, 1898, Abh.m.'l. Senckenberg, Getell., BJ. 14, H-li. :. p. iM, t..f. i ,-. 



jl/wygKii udtrea, VANBOFFIN, 1901, Wissen. Ergeb. deutseh. Tiefiee Exped., Dam] ! ;. I, p. 49. 



{f)Mastigias sidtrc.i. Simir/t. I.. S., 1898, Abliaiull. S,-m Unh.-ri;. C.-rll. \alurl.. H.I. ; 4 . p. ll.i. taf. i;. : 



( ') Eurrambrssa mulleri, HAM KH , iSSo, Syt. ,li-r M< !ii CD, p. 614. 



1 I \t.iit\iai mulleri, Visiiuii i -. , 1902, \Vis st -n. Kri;cli. I'aliiiria H\pi-il., H.I. ',, I.fi;- I., p. 49. 



Bell Hath rounded, 70 mm. wide. 8 marginal sense-organs and So marginal lappets. 

 Ocular lappets narrow, but the 8 intermediate lappets in each octant are semicircular in outline. 



