Stuckey. — .4 Review of the New Zealand Actiniaria. 387 



9. Halcampactis dubia (sp. nov.). 



The body is pink in colour and vermiform in shape. The epidermis 

 is smooth, with very minute papillfe on the upper portion. The body is 

 divisible into capitulum, scapus, and physa, the division between the last 

 two being slight. A red line marks the division between scapus and capitu- 

 lum. The capitulum, which is capable of being entirely invected, bears 

 24 pink tentacles, in two cycles. The scapus is marked by 6 double longi- 

 tudinal white lines. The physa is adherent and flattened. It is thin, 

 the filaments and acontia being plainly visible through it. The animal 

 does not emit the acontia, but if a slit be made in the body they stream 

 out readily. They are of the usual character, and the nematocysts are 

 closely packed. T have not yet worked out the anatomy and histology 

 of this species. 



Dimensions. — The largest specimen was 25 mm. long and about 3 mm. 

 in diameter. 



Distrilndion. — Of the genus — The coast near Wellington. Of the species 

 — Island Bay. 



Fam. PARACTID.E. 



I adopt Hertwig's definition as modified by McMurrich : " Actinice 

 usually with numerous perfect mesenteries ; circular muscle strong, im- 

 bedded in the mesoaloea ; acontia wanting." 



Genus Paractis (Andres). 



" Paractidre with smooth body-wall, without papillae or marginal spher- 

 ules ; tentacles slender, and not exceptionally numerous ; nearly equal in 

 length and strength ; margin not lobed ; sphincter widening somewhat 

 abruptly in its upper part, and occupying, near the margin, nearly the entire 

 thickness of the mesogloea." 



10. Paracti,s ferax (sp. nov.). 



Pedal-disc. — Adherent to the under-sides of stones, or to rocks, in dark 

 places. The chief histological feature is the thick mesogla?a, which is indeed 

 a noticeable feature of the whole animal. The fibres are wavy, and there 

 are many lacuna^. The ectoderm is of the usual type, about half as thick 

 as the mesogloea. The endoderm is thin. 



Column. — It is generally cylindrical in shape, but is occasionally con- 

 stricted at various parts, giving the animal a vase-shaped contour. The 

 column bears, especially in contraction, fine transverse wrinkles. Its height 



can be varied very considerably, but 

 is generally equal to two or three 

 times the diameter. The colour is 

 ^ milky white. In contraction the ani- 



mal is drawn into a hard rounded 

 ball of the size of a small marble. The ectoderm and 

 endoderm are of the normal type. The mesogloea is 

 thick, about equal to the ectoderm, but at intervals it be- 

 comes thin, as shown in fig. 9. This feature seems to be 

 characteristic. In other places, numerous enough for the yig 10 

 structure to be considered characteristic, the mesogtoa forks, 

 sending out a process which is lined on both sides by ectoderm, and 

 which Hes close to the body-wall (fig. 10). 



