58 Bulletin, Vanderbilt Marine Museum, Vol. IV 



Distribution: Previously known from Prince William Sound, 

 Alaska, southward to Monterey, California. The "Pawnee," 1928, 

 established the first record of the species in the Gulf of California: 

 Angeles Bay. The "Ara" specimen from Punta Arenas, Costa Rica, 

 is the southernmost record for the species on the west coast. 



Material Examined : One specimen, taken in seine, Punta Arenas, 

 Costa Rica, February, 1928. 



Color: The stalk is orange to red, the pinnules are semi-trans- 

 parent hibiscus red. Preserved specimens are usually faded to a deli- 

 cate ivory. 



Technical description: The stalk is swollen, bulbous, from one- 

 third to one-half the length of the entire organism, its diameter vary- 

 ing from one-eighth to one-third the length of the stalk, the narrowest 

 width being at the base and the greatest width a short distance below 

 the beginning of the pinnae. The central rachis supporting the pinnae 

 is subcylindrical on the back, the proximal three-fifths of its width 

 being about the same width; the distal two-fifths tapering to a blunt 

 point. The siphonozooids are small, papilliform, and form two broad 

 rows, separated by a muscle-like line on the back of the rachis. Each 

 of these broad rows is made up in width of three to five siphonozooids, 

 close-set but irregularly placed. The pinnae are nearly semicircular, 

 broadly rounded, with a wide base, the posterior edge extending 

 beyond the basal attachment as a rounded lobe ; the edge is thickened 

 and bears four rows of polyps. Each calicle is set with two spiniform 

 spicules. The sides of the pinnae are smooth; the basal five or six 

 pairs of pinnae are small, gradually increasing in size, and the distal 

 twelve or fifteen pairs of pinnae successively decrease in size, con- 

 forming to the tapered extremity of the pen. In life these pinnae 

 are much more expanded and separated than they appear in the 

 accompanying photograph. The tiny polyps appear to have eight 

 primary tentacles each. The above notes are based on a preserved 

 specimen. 



References : Sarcoptilus (Ptilosarcus) gurneyi Gray, Ann. and Mag. 

 Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. 23, pi. 3, fig. 2, 1860. 



Ptilosarcus gurneyi Verrill, Proc. Essex Inst., Salem, Mass., vol. 4, 

 p. 183, 1865; Proc. Conn. Acad. Arts and Sci., vol. I, pt. 2, 

 p. 382, 1868. — Kolliker, Anat. Syst. d. Alcyon. Pennat., p. 146, 

 pi. 9, fig. 79, 1869. — Verrill, A. E., Alcyonaria, Canadian Arctic 

 Exped., 1913-1918, vol. 8, part G, p. 11, pi. 12, figs. 1 and 2, 1922. 



