344 Annals of the South African Museum. 



figures show the general colour pattern well but very wisely do not 

 attempt to indicate the disk-scales. 



P.F. 859. Off Great Kei River, 32 45' S. X 28 26' E., 36 fms. 

 St. 2 specimens; young. 



P.F. 11556. Tugela River, N.W. by N., 22 miles, 47 fms. Brk. 

 sh. 1 specimen; young. 



P.F. 12360. -Umhlangakulu River, N.W. by N., 7 miles, 50 fms. 

 S. and sh. 1 specimen; small adult. 



P.F. 13455. Sandy Point, N.E. by N., 61 miles, 51 fms. Brk. sh., 

 and st. 1 specimen; small adult, diskless. 



P.F. 13520. East London, N.W. by W. '/ 2 W., 2 miles. Depth? 

 S. and brk. sh. 1 specimen; small adult. 



OPHIONEREIS PORRECTA. 



Lyman, 1860. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 7, p. 260. 

 1865, Illus. Cat. M. C. Z., no. 1, p. 147, figs. 14 and 15. 



The PIETER FAURE found this species even more common than the 

 preceding and in the same localities, although it has not been pre- 

 viously reported from the coast of Africa. I have compared these 

 South African specimens with Lyman's types and find that they 

 agree in all essentials. But whereas, in Lyman's original material 

 from an unknown locality and in the other material at hand from 

 various Indo-Pacific localities, the scaling of the disk becomes in- 

 creasingly finer with growth, so that in large specimens it is, at 

 center of disk at least, very fine, in these South African specimens 

 the disk is always covered with relatively coarse scales ; in the largest 

 specimen (15 mm. disk-diameter) even at center of disk, there are 

 not more than 20-25 scales to each sq. mm. and there may not be 

 so many. This retention of a youthful character is of no little inter- 

 est and it may be desirable ultimately to recognize this form as a 

 subspecies or variety. But the decision on that point must await 

 further investigations along the East African coast and accumulation 

 of more material. 



The PIETER FAURE specimens range from 5'5 to 15 mm. in disk- 

 diameter, but show little diversity in coloration. No two are exactly 

 alike but all are more or less variegated with dull shades of brown, 

 purplish and whitish; the arms are more or less distinctly annulat- 

 ed with a darker shade than the ground colour. The specimen from 

 13280 is peculair in the very smooth, tessellated plating of the disk; 

 the primary plates are quite distinct and with other large plates are 

 surrounded by circles of smaller ones in an indistinct but rather 



