OPHIACANTHIDAE 



253 



Some of the specimens are infested by the ectoparasitic Copepod Cancerillopsis, one 

 of them (St. 599) by the entoparasite Ophioika. 



There cannot be the sUghtest doubt that Koehler's Ophiodiplax disjuncta is identical 

 with the species described by him in 1901 under the name Ophiacantha antarctica. 

 From the descriptions and figures this is indeed quite evident ; it is true the division of 

 the dorsal arm plates was not observed by Koehler in his O. mitarctica, but in a co-type 

 sent me from the Brussels Museum I find them very well developed. No further dis- 

 cussion on the question of the identity of the two "species" is needed. It is curious 

 that Koehler, in recording both O. antarctica and Ophiodiplax disjuncta in his work of 

 1912 did not notice their similarity. 



Fig. 7. Ophiacantha disjuncta (Koehler). Part of oral side of two specimens, showing 

 variation in the development of the mouth papillae. X12. 



The name antarctica, though the older of the two, cannot be used for the species, as 

 there already is the Ophiacantha antarctica (Lyman) originally referred by Lyman to 

 Ophioconis, but quite evidently an Ophiacantha ; thus the name disjuncta has to be used 

 for this species. 



As for the genus Ophiodiplax, Hertz has rejected it and included the species in the 

 genus Ophiacantha, and I quite agree that the characters of the divided dorsal plates and 

 the more or less conspicuous continuation of disk spinules on to the dorsal side of arms 

 do not afford sufficient basis for making the species the type of a separate genus.There 

 is, however, another character which might be of generic value — the multiplication of 

 the mouth papillae. In some specimens there are a great number of papillae, placed 

 mainly below the normal ones inside the mouth slits (Fig. 7^) ; more generally there are 

 only a few of these supernumerary papillae (Fig. 76), sometimes only one, very rarely 

 none. As pointed out by Koehler in his description of O. antarctica this recalls Verrill's 



