370 Transactio7is. 



Art, XXXV. — On Tivo Anemones found in the Neighbourhood of Wel- 

 lington — Leiotealia thompsoni and Sagartia albocincta. 



By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 2nd September, 1908.] 



Leiotealia thompsoni. 



This anemone was first described by Professor Coughtrey* under the 

 name Actinia thompsoni. Professor Hutton| threw doubts on the cor- 

 rectness of the classification, and Mr. H. FarquharJ suggested that it would 

 form the type of a new family of the Artheadce. The strong endodermal 

 character of the sphincter muscle, however, taken with the smooth body- 

 wall and numerou.s perfect mesenteries, determine its place in the genus- 

 Leiotealia. This genus, which belongs to the family Bunodidce, was erected 

 by Eichard Hertwig, 1882, for the reception of what were practically smooth- 

 walled Tealidce. This is referred to more fully in my account of Bunodes 

 aureoradiata. McMurrich's family Crihrinidce, there mentioned, would con- 

 tain the genus Leiotealia. Torrey§ considers that Leiotealia is equivalent 

 to Efiactis (Verrill), and gives the older name priority. I have, however,, 

 retained Hertwig's name. With the definition of Bunodidce given in the 

 note referred to above I define Leiotealia as follows : " Bunodidce without 

 verrucse or acrorhagi, usually with the mesogloeal folds of the sphincter 

 arranged pinnately, and often with longitudinal furrows in the outer surface 

 of the wall." 



L. thompsoni is one of the finest anemones found near Wellington, its 

 stout tentacles and bright colours making it a very beautiful object when 

 fully expanded. • 



Pedal-disc. — Adhesive to rocks and boulders. I have found one speci- 

 men adhering to an ascidian which was itself fixed to a piece of seaweed. 

 When the animal is detached, the pedal-disc is often dilated to a great 

 extent. Its substance is thin, plainly showing the insertions of the mesen- 

 teries. It is rather wider than the column. It presents all the general 

 characteristics of the body-wall, processes of the mesogloea running outward 

 in the manner to be presently described. 



Column. — Cylindrical in shape. Its height can be varied in a rather 

 marked manner in proportion to the diameter of the oral disc. The colour 

 is white and red in alternate longitudinal lines, which, however, are not 

 generally entire, as stated in Professor Coughtrey's description. The colours 

 are deposited in patches, the red in small irregular spots, the white marks 

 being more or less elliptical. This gives the surface of the column a some- 

 what chequered appearance under a lens of low power. The white markings 

 appear to correspond to the endocoeles, the red to the exocoeles of the mes- 

 enteries. There is a distinct ridge or collar round the top of the column. 

 The colour of preserved specimens completely disappears, when the wall is 



* Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. vii. 1874. 



t Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xi, 1878. 



J Lon. Soc. Journ. Zool., vol. xxvi, p. 528. 



§ Proc. Wash. Ac. Soc, vol. iv, 1902, pp. 391-92. 



