50 C. F. ROUSSELET ON A NEW FRESH-WATER POLYZOON 



m n.cedo the shape of the statoblasts is circular, surrounded by a 

 number of long hooked spines. Pectinatella magnified has very 

 similar rounded statoblasts furnished with stouter hooked spines, 

 and fewer in number (Fig. 9). In Plmnatella the shape is a 

 more or less elongated oval, without spines ; in Fredericella 

 they are kidney-shaped, and without annulus ; and in Lophopns 

 crystal! in as the statoblasts are elliptical, and pointed at both 

 ends (Fig. 8.) 



The statoblast of the new species Lophop)odella thomasi, from 

 Rhodesia (Fig. 3), has some considerable affinity with that of 

 Lophopns crystallinus, being elliptical in shape, and also slightly 

 curved in the direction of its longer axis, but instead of being 

 pointed at the ends, it is truncated, and the points are replaced 

 normally by five spines on each side, but their number may be 

 reduced to three or four, and sometimes increased to six. These 

 spines consist of short flattened rods of chitin, which appear to 

 be outgrowths of the lateral edges of the annulus. Some of these 

 spines I have seen to be bifurcate. All round their lateral edges 

 these rods are beset with a number of minute, closely set, and 

 curled-up hooks (Fig. 4) which appear of little functional use. 

 Their structure is clearly seen in immature statoblasts, where the 

 hooklets are still thin and not so much curled (Fig. 5). Collectively 

 the hooklets give a beaded appearance to the spines, and it was 

 only by examining an immature statoblast with as yet very thin 

 annulus that I became aware of their structure. I have counted 

 twenty and twenty-two hooklets round the edge of one of the 

 spines. T have also seen one of the spines split horizontally into 

 two, the hooklets adhering to both halves, showing that when the 

 young bursts open the statoblast, it splits horizontally through 

 the edge of the capsule and annulus, leaving one half of the 

 complete annulus adherent to each half of the central capsule. 



The central capsule has a thick, dark reddish brown chitinous 

 covering membrane of lenticular form, convex on one side 

 and flattened on the other; it is very nearly, but not quite 

 circular, having a longer diameter of 385 /jl, and shorter 

 diameter of 343 /x, and consists of two halves, similar to two 

 watch-glasses, of different convexity, closely apposed round 

 their edges. I found several of these naked capsules in the tubes 

 of the polypides without annulus. The annulus forms a broad 

 and thick cellular ring, not infrequently a little irregular or 



