162 



mined upon, previous to my acquaintance with the description of Sir 

 John Dalyell, and also that the remarkable organization of this zoo- 

 phyte seems to call for some significant, appropriate and striking 

 specific appellation. 



The genus Conchella (a little shell ?) of Mr. Gray, is identical with 

 this genus, an identity apparently not perceived by Mr. Gray him- 

 self, since that gentleman gives the characters of Coppinia as taken 

 from the MS. of Dr. Hassall, distinct from Conchella. 



The genus Coppinia was first defined in the ' Zoologist,' No. 69, p. 

 2223, prior to the publication of the ' List of British Radiate Ani- 

 mals ' contained in the British Museum. 



Sertularia gracilis. 



Char. — Polypidom slender, cells opposite, tubular, everted ; aper- 

 tures oblique, somewhat mucronated, having an average diame- 

 ter of about the ^leth of an inch; vesicles sessile, obovate, with 

 circular, smooth, terminal perforations, averaging the xieth of 

 an inch in diameter. 



Sertularia gracilis, Hassall, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1848, (cover) ; Zool. 

 No. 69, p. 2223. Gray, List of British Radiate Animals, p. 150. 



Hab. " Mr. Such has sent me a very pretty and delicate variety 

 (of S. pumila), which he finds on the coasts of Cornwall and 

 Norfolk." — Johnst. Brit. Zooph. ed. 2, p. 67. Brighton and 

 Ramsgate, Mr. Coppin. 



Plate XXI., figure 3. 



This, one of the most slender and delicate of the Sertularia, would 

 appear to be not uncommon, but to have been hitherto always re- 

 garded as a variety of Sertularia pumila; to that species the zoophyte 

 under consideration does indeed bear considerable resemblance, but 

 differs from it in the very much smaller size of all its parts, and in 

 the exact form of the vesicles, — differences so considerable, that 

 not the smallest doubt can be entertained respecting its specific dis- 

 tinctness. 



Sertularia gracilis agrees with S. pumila in its habit, it generally 

 growing upon Fuci, especially Fucus serratus, and being therefore an 

 inhabitant of shallow water; in its height, it rarely attaining an inch ; 

 in being sparingly branched ; and in its opposite cells : it differs 

 from that species however in its more slender polypidom (a differ- 

 ence of size amounting fully to one-half, and which is very obvious 

 even to the naked eye), and in the form of the ovarian vesicles, which 



