BIGELOW : MEDUSAE FROM THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. 253 



this species iiuicli resembles Oceania pacifica Agassiz and Mayer (Bull. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool., vol. 32, no. 9), from Fiji. It differs from it strikingly, how- 

 ever, in the possession of rudimentary tentacular bulbs on the bell margin, in 

 which respect it resembles Oceania carolinae Mayer, from the western Atlan- 

 tic, from which species it is clearly distinguislied by the shape of the bell and 

 the size and position of the gonads. 



Oceania brunescens, sp. nov. 



Plate 1, Fig 2. 



The bell is low and flat, about two mm. in diameter and one third as high. 

 There are about thirty short thick tentacles, much swollen at the base. The 

 bell margin does not bear tentacular bulbs. The proboscis is very short and 

 broad, and the mouth bears four simple lips. The most distinctive feature of 

 this Medusa are the gonads, which are exceedingly thick and prominent, and 

 nearly hemispherical (Plate 1, Fig. 2). They occupy the proximal third of 

 the radial canals. 



There are from thirty-two to foi'ty small otocysts, each with one or two 

 otoliths, scattered irregularly along the bell margin. 



The bell is colorless and very transparent. The canals and gonads are 

 greenish yellow. The tentacles are colorless, but at the base of each there is 

 a prominent brown pigment spot. 



Two specimens, .Tanuar}' 15, near the southern end of Malosmadulu atoll. 

 The very large, hemispherical gonads and prominent brown pigment spots 

 clearly distinguish this Medusa from all described species of Oceania. 



Eutimeta lactea, sp. noy. 



Plate 3, Figs. 7, 8. 



The bell is thin, slightly conical, nine mm. in diameter, and about one half 

 as high. There are eight permanent anel well-developed tentacles, of which 

 the four opposite the radial canals are about as long as the diameter of the bell, 

 and the other four slightly shorter. Small lateral spurs are borne at the bases 

 of the tentacles, and there are in aildition about twenty-four papillae on the 

 bell margin. None of these bear lateral cirri. There are eight otocysts, each 

 of which contains four or five otoliths. The peduncle of the proboscis is 

 slender and slightly shorter than the bell diameter. The proljoscis is cylin- 

 drical and as long as f of the bell height. The mouth bears four slightly 

 foliated lips. The position of the gonads is somewhat distinctive. Tliey are 

 borne on the radial canals, and occupy the central two thirds of the peduncle, 

 as figured by Haeckel for Eutimeta gentiana (System der Medusen, 1880, 

 plate 12, fig. 7). In Eutimeta levuka Agassiz and Mayer, from Fiji, they are 

 found near the circular canal. The gonads are of considerable size, and form 

 four swollen ridyes. 



