BIGELOW : MEDUSAE FROM THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. 255 



twenty mtii. ; and the bell is two thirds as high as broad. The tentacles may be 

 extended to nearly a foot in length, and are exceedingly flexible and contractile. 

 When retracted they are usually coiled spirally, and this coiling may take place 

 at any point in their length without affecting the rest of the tentacle. In life 

 they stream out far behind the bell. They are thirty-two in number, arranged 

 in four series. First, four, opposite the radial canals ; second, four alternat- 

 ing with these ; third, eight, alternating with the eight already mentioned. 

 Every tentacle of these three series is opposite a canal, blind or radial ; but 

 the sixteen of the fourth series alternate with the canals. The bell margin 

 also bears numerous cirri (Plate 4, Fig. 11), which, as well as the tentacles, 

 are spirally coiled when retracted. Neither cirri nor tentacles bear lateral 

 spurs. 



The blind canals, which are the most important structural features of the 

 Medusa, are arranged in two series, the first of four, alternating Avith the radial 

 canals, and reaching up for two thirds the height of the bell ; the second of 

 eight, about one half as long, and alternating with the radials and blind canals 

 of the first series. They are all in free communication with the ring canal, and 

 eacb is opposite a tentacle. 



The peduncle hangs below the bell opening for a distance at least equal to 

 the height of the bell cavity. Throughout most of its length it is nearly cylin- 

 drical, but at its base it is somewhat funnel-shaped. At its distal end it passes, 

 without any external separation, into the stomach, which is barrel-shaped in 

 outline, and bears four prominent lips. These lips are, in life, the most strik- 

 ing feature of the Medusa. They are very long, and so extensible that they 

 may reach a length considerably greater than that of peduncle and stomach 

 combined. They are rather narrow, and their edges are thrown into innumer- 

 able constantly changing folds. 



The gonads consist of a great number of simple and branched papilliform 

 processes so closelj^ crowded on the alternate sides of the radial canals that they 

 form four prominent double ridges. They occupy slightly more than the distal 

 half of the peduncle, and their relative extension seems, in adult specimens, to 

 be practically invariable. 



The coloring of this Medusa is exceedingly brilliant. The gelatinous sub- 

 stance of the bell is faintly tinged with blue : the gonads are rich Indian yellow, 

 changing in certain lights to ruddy orange. In sharp contrast to them, the 

 stomach and mouth arms are pink-violet; the radial canals and tentacles are 

 rose pink, and there is a pink pigment spot at the base of every tentacle. 



Abundant in Haddummati atoll, near Gadu island, on Januarj' 8. It appeared 

 on the surface in great numbers at about four o'clock in the afternoon, when 

 the bright colors and long streaming tentacles of the animals made them very 

 conspicuous objects. 



The fact that blind canals have never before been detected in the adult of 

 any species of Eucopidae is at once sufficient to separate Timoides generically. 

 The number of these canals and the relative extension of the gonads will prob- 

 ably prove to be of specific importance. 



