54 ANTHOZOA HYDROIDA. 



1. 0. NUTANS. 



Plate VII. Fig. 3—6. 



Corymorpha nutans, corpore hyalino, lineis longitudinalibus pallide rubris, Sars 

 Beskriv. 7, pi. 1, fig. 3. — Forbes and Goodsir in Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 310. 



Hob. — " We found the Corymorj^ha in 10-fathom water, in a sandy 

 bottom in the Bay of Stromness, Orkney." Forbes and Goodsir. 



"The Corymor'plm nutans is about four and a half inches in 

 length, and its stem at the thickest part half an inch in diameter. 

 In form it resembles a Tubular la rather than a Goryne ; but not 

 being placed in a strong horny tube, like the former, presents much 

 of the habit of the latter. When young, the greater part of the 

 body is enclosed in a thin brown membranous tube, which appears 

 to have no organic connection with the animal, and which, growing 

 thinner as the animal gets older, at last disappears altogether. The 

 body or stem is rounded, solid, and flexible, and is somewhat thicker 

 towards the base than above, where it tapers rather suddenly to the 

 neck. The base is fusiform and tapering to a point, and roots in 

 the sand, fixing itself there by means of branching filamentous roots. 

 When sand is much gathered round these roots, they present that 

 subglobose appearance seen in M. Sars's figure. The whole of the 

 stem is translucent, of a white colour tinged with pink, and lineated 

 with pinkish-brown, longitudinal lines arranged in pairs. When 

 magnified, these lines are seen to be composed of oblong dots. 

 M. Sars described these stripes as being of a pale vermilion colour 

 in his specimens. These lines do not run down the fusiform root, 

 neither do they extend upwards quite to the neck, round which 

 there is a band of pink. Above the neck is the head, which is 

 ovate or pyriform, and terminates in a long pyramidal pink trunk, 

 at the extremity of which is the mouth. Round the thickest part 

 of the head is placed a row of between forty and fifty tentacula, which 

 are very long, white, and not contractile. They are not ciliated. Im- 

 mediately above this circle of tentacula are the ovaries, which are 

 fourteen branched orange-coloured processes of considerable size, 

 about one-third as long as the tentacula, each of their branches 

 terminating in a sort of head. Above these the trunk is covered 

 with very numerous white tentacula, directed upwards, not con- 

 tractile, and very much shorter than those of the lower circle. 



" The internal structure is as follows : The stem is entirely 

 solid, the substance filling it being jelly-like in appearance, as if 

 contained in cells of a slightly fibrous tissue. When a transverse 

 section of the stem is made in the living animal; the outer mem- 



