NARCOMEDUS.E — PEGANTHA. 



441 



Synoptic Table of Species of Pegantha.*— Continued. 



Shape and size 

 of bell in mm 



Number of ten- 

 tacles and 

 lappets. 



Shape of mar- 

 ginal lappets 



Number of 

 sense-clubs 

 upon each 

 lappet. 



Character of 

 gonads. 



Pegantha godeffroyi= 

 Solmaris godeffroyi 

 Haeckel, 1879, p. 

 355,taf.i9,fig. 12. 



Hemispherical. Ex- 

 umbrella smooth, 6 

 wide, 3 high. 



14. Tentacles short 

 and thick. Shorter 

 than bell-radius. 



Semicircular, not 

 quite half as long as 

 the lenticular center 

 of bell. 



2 to 3 



Pegantha smaragdina 

 Bigelow. 



Lenticular. Exumbrella 

 smooth, 73 wide. 



28 to 34. Nearly as long 

 as bell-diameter. 



Quadrate, about as long 

 as wide. 



6 to 8 



Pegantha ? weberi. S. 

 weberi Haeckel, 1879, 

 Syst. der Medusen, p. 

 638. 



Color. 

 Where found. 



Remarks. 



A wide annulus, with 

 star-like, octagonal 

 outline. 24 coflee- 

 bean-shaped sac- 

 cules in subumbrella 

 floor of stomach, 3 

 in each octant. 



Shield-shaped, 50 wide, 

 16 high. 



27. Tentacles thin, not 

 quite as long as bell- 

 diameter. 



Rectangular, about one- 

 third as long as radius | 

 of central lenticular part 

 of bell. 



Pegantha ? P. cyanostyla 

 Eschscholtz. 



A smooth simple pouch in Gonad developed upon 

 each lappet radius. nearly entire subum- 



brella wall of stomach, 

 and divided into 8 

 wedge-shaped marginal 

 lappets by 8 radial fur- 

 rows. 



Samoa, Paciflc Ocean 



Mouth said to have 4 

 lips instead of being 

 round opening as in 

 all other species. 



Opaque lemon-yellow. 

 Coast of Peru. 



Closely allied to P. clara, 

 (see text). 



Tropical zone of the Paci- 

 fic Ocean. 



75 wide, 20 high. 



16 to 18. Tentacles half as 

 long as bell-radius. 



Rounded, semicircular. 



25 to 30 



Narrow ring in subumbrella 

 near margin of stomach and 

 extending downward in 

 crescentic, blind sacs in radii 

 of lappets, each blind sac 

 giving rise to about 8 radi 

 ating, ridge-like saccules. 

 It is impossible to determine 

 exact nature of blind sacs. 

 Are they subumbrella sac- 

 cules ? 



Gonads light-blue. Tentacles 

 sky-blue. 



Atlantic Ocean, Azores, 

 Canary Islands, Indian 

 Ocean, Mediterranean, 

 tropical Pacific. 



This form appears to be iden- 

 tical with P. cyanolina 

 Haeckel, from the Indian 

 Ocean. It is probably of 

 world-wide distribution 

 throughout warm and tropi- 

 cal seas. 



*For Pegantha clara and P. laevis see text. 



As Maas has shown, the peripheral ring-canal system in Narcomeduss is largely degener- 

 ate and is subject to such variability as to be worthless as a basis of distinction of more than 

 specific significance. He sectioned Pegantha dactyletra and showed that this medusa has a 

 marginal ring-canal system which indeed is present in all known forms of Pegantha. 



Bicelow, iqoo, discovered a form of development of parasitic larva from the egg m 

 Peaantha closely resembling that seen in Cunina proboscidea. He also found an internal 

 budding of stolons in another species, Pegantha laevis. ,„,,,, ■„ A - tn „ 



I think that Haeckel's "Pegasia," "Polyxenia," and "Pegantha' should be united into a 

 single genus and that this should be called Pegantha. There would then be but two genera of 

 the Solmarida: Solmaris without saccules upon the subumbrella floor of the stomach and 

 Peaantha with such diverticula. . , 



The names Pegasia and Polyxenia are older than Pegantha, but they are so hopele si) 

 confused through vague and inaccurate description that I believe it will be necessary to allow 



them to lapse into oblivion. . , 



" The subumbrella saccules serve the purpose of increasing the area over which the gonads 

 are developed. These saccules are prevented from collapsing by papil a-hke, gelatinous 

 cores which project downward from the exumbrella floor of the stomach mto the central 

 cavity of the saccule. 



