24 



me;dus^. I. 



tively small number of cordyli; the highly irregular distribution of the cordyli, however, seems to 

 indicate, that the number has been greater in the living animal, but that most of the cordyli have 

 dropped off, as is often the case in preserved material. — Cirri have not been observed in L. maasn; 

 it is possible, that cirri are really wanting in this form, bnt, on the other hand, there is an equal 

 probability of the want being due to the preservation. As mentioned above, cirri were only ostensible 

 in well-preserved specimens of L. itnditlata^ and even then but a very small number were left; more- 

 over, it is always verj- difficult to trace these delicate organs between the densely crowded tentacles. 

 Also the above-mentioned L. bigelowi Neppi & Stiasny is said to be devoid of cirri, though its iden- 

 tity with the common European form is beyond doubt. The colour of the radial canals, the gonads 

 etc. of L. n/aasii is light blue to bluish-green, thus particularly in accordance with the colour com- 

 monly found in L. itlothrix^ a colour which may also be me,t with in others of the Atlantic forms of 

 Laodicea. — Altogether, the description, as given by Ma as, of the East-Indian medusa presents a 

 correspondence, accomplished into minute details, with Laodicea iinditlata from the north-eastern Atlantic, 

 the only feature of distinction being the want of cirri, a feature which, very probably, is due to 

 preservation. 



We still have to mention Laodicea pnlchra Browne (1902, p. 280) from the Falkland Islands. 

 This medusa grows to the size of 25 mm in diameter; in spite of this considerable size it has only 

 abont 50 tentacles; there are usually 3 — 4 cordyli between each successive pair of tentacles. This is 

 evidenth' a well-defined form, specifically different from all the forms mentioned above. 



Table II. Synoptic Table of the various forms of Laodicea. 



Name 



Occurrence 



Size 



Cirri 



Basal Spurs 



Colour 



mediterranea 

 bigelowi 

 calcarata . . 



imdjilata N.-Atlantic, 



Europe 



Mediterranean 



Mediterranean 



N.-Atlantic, 

 .America 



Tropical 

 Atlantic 



Fiji Islands 



fijiana |i Fiji Islands, 



': Torres Straits 



ulothrix 



maasii (ace. to Maas) 



indica (Browne) 



Malayan 

 Archipelago 



Cevlon 



maasii (ace. to Vanh.) . . . h Gulf of Aden 



large, 

 up to 37 mm 



not stated 

 7 mm 

 large 



present 



present 

 absent 



present 



fairly large I present 



5.5 mm present 



up to 10 mm absent 



up to 20 mm absent 



up to 6 nun present 



5 mm ; not stated 



' present on 

 tlie younger 

 tentacles 



present 



present 



present 



present, but 

 not on all 

 tentacles \ 



not mentioned 



not mentioned 



present on 



several 



tentacles 



absent 



present 



usually reddish or orange, ma}' be 

 brownish, purple, blue or violet 



brownish-reddish 



not stated 



usually dark-yellowish, but very vari- 

 able, reddish, greenish, or blue 



brownish-white, greenish- white 



bluish or greenish 

 bluish, greenish, or violet 



light blue or bluish-green 



not stated 

 not stated 



The Table II includes all the different forms of Laodicea described up to now (except 

 L. pnlchra), arranged according to their geographical occurrence. It will be seen that all of the forms 

 from the Atlantic-Mediterranean area possess both cirri and tentacular spurs, with the exception of L. 

 bigelowi from the Adriatic Sea, in which cirri have not been observed. With regard to the forms from 

 the Indo-Pacific region, the organs in question are said to occur in some forms, whereas they are 



