160 



Papers from the Department of Marine Biology. 



It is evident that the region of the Philippines* is very rich in scypho- 

 medusse, for off the far better-known Atlantic coast of the United 

 States there are but 25 species of scyphomedusse and only 4 of these are 

 Rhizostomae, while among the 38 species taken by the Albatross, 

 and by Light, in the region of the Philippines, 22 are Rhizostomse. 

 Among these 38 species 15 were new to science. 



The discovery of a Cotylorhiza allied to the form known from the 

 Mediterranean is interesting, but the most curious Philippine genus is 

 Lobonema, wherein the marginal lobes of the bell are greatly extended 

 and superficially resemble tentacles tapering gradually throughout 

 their length to pointed tips. They are, however, not capable of con- 

 traction and their function is problematical. 



It appears that in Borneo and the Celebes, some of the Scypho- 

 medusse are specifically distinct from their close relatives found in the 

 Philippines, the difference probabty being due to geographical isolation. 

 As the Albatross collected only conspicuous forms of scyphomedusse, 

 and as several species are represented by only one or a very few speci- 

 mens, it seems probable that further studies in the region would be 

 fruitful in discoveries, and in any event the forms should be studied 

 in life, for much that is of interest is lost through the effects of preserva- 

 tive fluids. 



By contrast with the richness of the Philippines, the poverty of the 

 Great Barrier Reef of Queensland and the southern coast of Papua, 

 east of Torres Straits is remarkable, for only six species of scyphome- 

 dusse and ten of hydromedusse were found by the expedition of the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington to Torres Straits, as follows: 



HYDROMEDUS.E FROM THE 

 MURRAY ISLANDS. 



JSquorea macrodactyla (Brandt). 

 Aglaura hemistoma Peron and Lesueur. 

 Cytaeis atlantica (Steenstrup). 

 Eutima australis, nov. sp. 

 Laodicea fijiana A. Agassiz and Mayer. 

 Liriope rosacea Gegenbaur. 

 Phialidium pacificum (Maas). 

 Rhopalonema velatum Gegenbaur. 

 Solmundella mediterranea (Miiller). 

 Stomotoca turrida (Mayer). 



SCYPHOMEDUS.E. 

 Aurellia labiata Chamisso and Eysenhardt; 



Thursday Island, Torres Straits. 

 Cassiopea andromeda var. baduensis, nov. 



var.; Badu Island, Torres Straits. 

 Catostylus mosaicus L. Agassiz; cobalt blue, 



from the mouth of the Brisbane River, 



Queensland. 

 Linuche unguiculata forma aquila Haeckel; 



from Thursday Island, Torres Straits, 



November 23, 1913. 

 Mastigias papua L. Agassiz; Port Moresby 



Harbor, Papua, November 12-20, 1913. 

 Nausithoe punctata Kolliker; from Torres 



Straits and the southeast coast of Papua. 



During September and October 1913, we studied for 5 weeks upon 

 Mae'r Island, about 70 miles south of Papua; using a naphtha launch 

 and towing with surface nets under the best conditions, but the results 

 are remarkable only for their poverty. 



*S. F. LIGHT, 1914, Philippine Journal of Science, vol. 9, No. 3, describes 7 species from the 

 Philippines other than those obtained by the Albatross. Mr. Light's additional species are 

 Dactylometra quinquecirrha, Cassiopca polypoides, Cassiopea medusa sp. nov., Acromitus macu- 

 losus gen. et sp. nov., Lobonema maycri nov. sp., Lobonemoides gracilis gen. et sp. nov., and 

 Rhopilema visayana nov. sp. 



