TRACHYMEDUS.E — OLINDIAS. 



357 



to 3 of these secondary tentacles between each successive pair of primary tentacles. Their 

 nematocyst-rings are more nearly complete than in the primary tentacles, and each ends in a 

 simple knob of nematocysts, without a terminal sucker. The marginal knobs are club-shaped, 

 with swollen ends and narrow flask-like necks, and they are 2 to 4 times as numerous as the 

 primary tentacles. There are4 main radial-canals 90° apart and 7 109 straight, simple, blindly 

 ending centripetal canals in each quadrant. Gonads are developed upon nearly the entire 



lengths of the 4 radial-canals and consist of a 

 cluster of thickly crowded, thin, elongate, 

 club-shaped papillae in the males; but these 

 papillae are not so prominent in the females, 

 the ovaries having more the appearance of 

 folded bands. 



The colors, although apparently decided, 

 could not be determined in the preserved 

 specimens studied by Maas. 



The medusa is common on the surface in 

 the harbors of the Malay Archipelago, at 

 Labuan Badjo, Flores; at Tongkil; at Sale- 

 yer; and between Gebe and Fau. 



Maas calls attention to the close relation- 

 ship between the Mediterranean, Atlantic, 

 and Pacific species of Olindias, and considers 

 O. phos phoned (miilleri), O. malayensis, O. 

 tenuis, and 0. sambaquiensis to be more 

 nearly varieties one of the other than distinct 

 species. This view is probably correct and 

 might be extended to dozens of other races 

 of medusae of such genera as Sarsia, Turns, 

 ALquorea, Liriope, Aglaura, Aurelia, etc. 

 Many of our so-called species must be only geographical varieties or races of widely distrib- 

 uted forms, and the great advance in systematic studies of medusas will come in future from 

 a comparison of reared specimens from numerous localities over the world. Such studies 

 will probably reduce rather than increase the number of "species" of medusae. 



Fig. 202. — Bell-margin of Olindias malayensis, after Maas, in 

 Ergeb. Siboga Expedition, Monog. 10. 



Olindias singularis Browne. 



Olindias singularis, Browne, 1904, Fauna and Geog. Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagoes, vol. 2, p. 737, plate 56, fig. 2; plate 

 57, fig. I.— Maas, 1905, Craspedoten Medusen der Siboga Expedition, Monog. 10 p. 48.— Bigelow, H. B., 1909, Mem. 

 Mus. Comp. Zool. at Harvard College, 



1. 37, p. 109, plates 4, 31, and 32. 



This species differs from others of the genus in that there is but a single lithocyst at the 

 base of each primary tentacle instead of a pair of lithocysts as in other species of Olindias. 



Bell hemispherical, 13 to 36 mm. wide. Gelatinous substance thick. There are 28 to 86 

 primary tentacles. These all project from exumbrella side of margin, have oblong or short 

 spiral rings of nematocysts, and are stiff and not quite as long as the bell-radius. Their ends 

 bear "claw" shaped adhesive pads. There are 4 to 12 secondary tentacles in each quadrant. 

 These are flexible and ringed with partial rings of nematocysts. These secondary tentacles 

 are hollow, longer, and thicker than the primary tentacles and arise from the lower side of 

 the bell-margin. There are about 8 to 25 globular marginal bodies in each quadrant; these 

 contain nematocysts. There is a single internal vesicle, containing one concretion, at the 

 base of each primary tentacle. 4 radial-canals and 4 to 12 blind, centripetal canals arise 

 from the ring-canal in each quadrant. Stomach about half as long as depth ot bell-cavity; 

 it is a 4-sided, narrow prism with 4 well-developed lips with sinuous edges. The gonads are 

 papilliform clusters upon the outer half of each of the 4 radial-canals. 



Found at Suvadiva, Maldive Islands, Indian Ocean, and Mangareva, Paumotos Islands. 



Browne states that he observed no "suckers" upon any of the tentacles, but in Olindias 

 tenuis Bigelow and I find that these are present and are functional, although on account of 

 their small size and elongate form they are difficult to observe in preserved specimens. 



