13 



stændigt sammenvoxede og dannede udvendig en glat Ring, 

 hvor selv ved stærk Forstørrelse ingen Sømme var at op- 

 dage, Tali. III, Fig. 4 a. Radialerne vare lange, saaledes 

 som de almindelig ere hos unge Individer, Tab. III. Fig. 

 4 b. og der var fuldstændig Ledbevægelse baade mellem Iste 

 og 2det. og mellem dette og 3die Radial. Tab. III, Fig. 

 4 c. Armene havde 7, temmelig lange Led, som alle vare 

 bevægelige, og intet Syzygium var endnu dannet. Armene 

 vare uden Pinnuler, og paa deres ventrale Flade saaes en 

 Ambulaeralfure, der ikke var meget dyb, men hvori enkelte 

 smaa. koniske Fremstaaenheder viste sig, hvilke vare de 

 fremtrædende Tentakler. Skiven var som paa den fore- 

 gaaende. dog kunde Antydninger til Tentakler iagttages 

 ved Munden. 



Paa Station 353, i en Dybde af 1330 Favne, Tempe- 

 ratur — 1.0, hvor Bunden var Ler med smaa Rullestene, 

 fandtes en Del Stilke. hvorpaa Basalerne vare fæstede, men 

 ingen Kroner. Paa en af disse Stilke var en begyndende 

 Kronedannelse. Stilken var 170™"' hoi, Roden 15""" lang, 

 og Kronen "(""" høi. Stilkens øverste Del var besat med 

 Hydroider, hvoraf de Heste vare uddode og havde tilbage- 

 ladt ' de chitinagtige Ror, imedens enkelte éndnu vare 

 ilive. Tab. III, Fig. f>. 6. Ogsaa paa dette Exemplar viste 

 Stilken sig at være meget gammel i Forhold til Kronen. 

 Basalerne vare sammenvoxede. og det var ikke muligt at 

 opdage de 5 Længdesomme, hvilket jo er temmelig let paa 

 unge Individer. Der var intet Syzygium imellem 2det og 

 3die Radial, saaledes som man altid linder hos gamle Dyr; 

 tvertimod var der en temmelig udpræget Leddeflade, Tab. 

 Ill, Fig. Ga. Armene havde 17 — IS Led; heller ikke paa 

 dem fandtes noget Syzygium; men fra det Ilte Led saaes 

 3 Pinnuler afvexlende paa liver Side af hver Arm. Ain- 

 bulacralfuren, som var temmelig dyb, var forsynet med 

 Tentakler, der ogsaa iagttoges enkeltvis paa Pinnulerne. 

 Skiven var noget mere hvælvet end paa de to foregaaende 

 og havde faaet et Par Mundtentakler, ligesom Radialfurene, 

 som udgik fra Munden, vare temmelig tydelige. Der var 

 endnu ingen Oralplader dannet, men paa den papilleformede 

 Rectum saaes den runde Analaabning. Jeg var ikke saa 

 heldig at finde tidligere Udviklingsstadier, end de tre oven- 

 for beskrevne; men jeg tør antage. at de afgive tilstrække- 

 ligt Vidnesbyrd om, at Stilken med Basaler vil, efter 

 at den paa en eller anden Maade er bleven skilt ved sit 

 Hoved (Kronen), kunne reproducere et nyt saadant. Af 

 de mange Stilke, som fangedes paa Expeditionen, var der 

 neppe en. som var uden Basaler, og det er da et Spørgs- 

 maal. om ikke Bathycrinus Carpenteri frivillig kaster sin 

 Krone for af en eller anden Grund at danne en ny. Det 

 kan da antages, at den formerer sig foruden paa den al- 

 mindelige, kjønslige Vei, ogsaa ved en Slags Knopskydning. 

 Paa flere af de løsrevne Kroner, jeg fandt, vare Pinnulerne 

 uden udviklede Kjønsorganer paa samme Tid, som de paa 

 Stilkene siddende Kroner bare Pinnuler, hvor Kjønsorga- 

 nerne vare stærkt opsvulmede af Kjønsprodukter; var nu 

 dette tilfældigt, eller var Kronen kastet, fordi den var for 

 gammel til at forplante Slægten? 



and the basals were perfectly concreted, and formed exter- 

 iorly a smooth ring where, even on powerful magnification, 

 no seams could be discovered (Pl. III, fig. 4 a). The 

 radials were long, like what they generally are in young 

 individuals (Pl. III, fig. 4 b) and there was perfect articular 

 tlexibility both between Ist and 2nd, and between that and 

 the ord radial (Pl. III, fig. 4 c). The arms had 7, pretty 

 long joints, which were all flexible, and no syzygium was 

 yet formed. The arms were devoid of pinnules, and on 

 their ventral surface an ambulacral groove was observed, 

 which was not very deep, but in which a few small conical 

 projections showed themselves; these were the advancing 

 tentacles. The disc was like that of the preceding specimen, 

 but indications of tentacles could be observed at the mouth. 

 At station 353, at a depth of 1330 fathoms, tempe- 

 rature — 1.0 C, where the bottom was clay with small gravel, 

 some stalks were found on which the basals were attached. 

 but no crowns. On one of those stalks there was a rudi- 

 inentary formation of crown. The stalk was 170""" in 

 height, the root 15""" long, and the crown l mm high. The 

 uppermost portion of the stalk was beset with Hydroids, 

 of which most were dead and had left behind the chitinous 

 tube, while a few of them were still alive (Pl. III, figs. 

 5, 6). Also on that specimen the stalk showed itself to 

 be very old in relation to the crown. The basals were 

 concreted, and it was not possible to observe the 5 longi- 

 tudinal seams, which is, of course, pretty easy in the case 

 of young individuals. There was no syzygium between the 

 2nd and 3rd radials, like what we always find in old ani- 

 mals: on the contrary there was a pretty prominent arti- 

 cular surface (PU III, fig. 6 a). The arms had 17 — 18 

 joints; neither upon them was there any syzygium found, 

 but from the llth joint 3 pinnules were seen alternating 

 upon each side of each arm. The ambulacral groove, which 

 was pretty deep, was furnished with tentacles, and these 

 were also observed, singly, on the pinnules. The disc was 

 somewhat more arcuate than in the two preceding speci- 

 niens. and had obtained a couple of oral tentacles, while, 

 also, the radial grooves which issued from the mouth were 

 pretty distinct. No oral plates were yet formed, but on 

 the papilliform rectum the round anal aperture was ob- 

 served. I was not so fortunate as to tind earlier stages of 

 development, other than the three described. above, but I 

 venture to think that these afford sufticient evidence 

 that the stalk with the basals will, after in some manner 

 or other having become separated from its head (the crown), 

 be able to reproduce a new one. Of the many stalks 

 secured on the expedition there was scarcely one that 

 was without basals, and it becomes therefore a question, 

 whether Bathycrinus carpenteri does not voluntarily east 

 its crown in order, for some reason or other, to form a 

 new one. It may be assumed then that it reproduces itself, 

 besides in the usual sexual manner, also by a kind of bud- 

 ding process. On several of the detached crowns I found 

 that the pinnules had no developed sexual organs, while at 

 the same time the crowns seated on the stalk carried pin- 

 nules in which the sexual organs were greatly swollen by 



