54 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



this remarkable Actinian genus (A', pedunculata Dan.) was obtained from 

 1050 fathoms between the Faroe Islands and Norway. In the new species 

 the mesenteries and tentacles are numerous ; in K. pedunculata there 

 were twelve pairs of mesenteries and twenty-four tentacles. The modi- 

 fied generic diagnosis of Kodioides reads : — The body encrusted, pyriform. 

 with a long bare stem, terminating in a pedal disk. Tentacles few or 

 many, in two or more series, retractile, twelve or more pairs of mesen- 

 teries, half of their number perfect. Suckers on the encrusted portion 

 of the body. No siphonoglyph. Mesodermal annular muscles. Acontia. 



Evolution of Zaphrentis delanouei.* — R. G. Carruthers has traced 

 a succession of stages in the evolution of this coral in Lower Carboniferous 

 times. The series illustrates very gradual change (mutation in Waagen's 

 sense). 



West Australian Alcyonarians.f — W. Kiikenthal reports on a rich 

 collection mostly from the littoral region of Shark's Bay. He reduces 

 twenty-eight species of Sarcophytum to five. Seven new species of Neph- 

 thya, one of Dendronephthya, two of Stereonephthya, are described. A 

 new Siphon ogorgiid genus, Nephthyigorgia, is established ; it has some 

 affinities with Stereonephthya, and has probably its centre of origin in 

 West Australia ; four new species are described. The generic diagnosis 

 is as follows : — " Very stiff Siphonogiids with abundant branching in one 

 plane ; stem, branches, and lateral twigs thick and cylindrical ; spicules 

 on the branches, mostly confined to the cortex and frequently projecting 

 from the surface ; the crowded polyps, absent only from the lowest part 

 of the stem, are retractile into distinctly protruding calices and arranged 

 in transverse rows." Kiikenthal adds two new species to Thomson's 

 remarkable genus Studeriotes, which he refers to the family Faseicula- 

 riidae. There is also a description of a new Glathraria and various 

 species of Plexauroides, Euphxavra, and Mopsella. 



Genus Anthomastus.J — W. Kiikenthal proposes some modifications 

 in the definition of this genus. The colony is like a mushroom or an 

 inverted cone ; the autozooids are large in comparison with the siphono- 

 zooids ; only the latter have gonads ; the autozooids are completely 

 retractile into calices, which usually show distinct longitudinal ribs ; the 

 spicules are slender rods and spindles, and the lower cortex of the stem 

 always shows numerous very minute crosses, double-crosses, or the like. 

 Most of the species are abyssal. Twelve species are discussed, three of 

 which are new. Several species, such as A. agaricoides Thomson and 

 Henderson, and A. aberrans Thomson and Henderson, are transferred 

 (rightly) from the allied genus Sarcophytum. 



Rhizoxenia and Sarcodictyon.§ — Robert Midler brings forward argu- 

 ments which go to show that the genus Sarcodictyon must be included in 

 Rhizoxenia, which is tRus defined : Colony formed by basal stolons, which 

 may coalesce into plates ; polyps occur singly or in small groups on the 



* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, lxvi. (1910) pp. 523-8 (2 pis.). 

 t Fauna Siidwest-Australiens, iii. (1910) lief. 1, pp. 1-108 (4 pis. and 52 figs.). 

 % Beitr. Natur. Ostasiens, in ^bh. K. B. Akad. Wiss. Miinchen (1910) pp. 1-16 

 (1 pi. and 10 figs.). 6 MT. Zool. Stat. Neapel. xx. (1910) pp. 94-100. 



