SCRUPARIA 475 



portion of the erect part) punctate and " annele ", and the rest of the zooecium punctate. It 

 is clear from his account of the striations of his next species (A. australis) that they were 

 of the same type as those of A. recta, and that in A. curta he was describing something 

 more coarse. The Ascension Island form thus agrees with A. curta in being punctate 

 all over and partially annulated, and in the shortness of its erect part, but the annulations 

 extend to the encrusting part, which is wider than the erect part. In A. curta these parts 

 were of the same width. The opesia is a little longer in proportion to the rest of the erect 

 part, but this relation is variable, and, as we have already seen, may alter with growth. 

 On the whole I am inclined to identify the Ascension Island specimens with A. curta. 



A. curta may, however, be a synonym of A. ligulata Busk. That species also has 

 punctate zooecia with coarse annulation on the tubular erect part, and zooeciules and 

 appendages are present (Marcus, 1937, pi. iv, fig. 10). A constriction below the opesia 

 is to be seen in some dried zooecia from the Ascension Island colony of A. curta, but it 

 is clearly the result of drying. To judge from Marcus's figure the constriction in A. 

 ligulata is not due to drying, for it is well marked in a zooecium with extended tentacles. 

 The opesia is much shorter, and the tubular erect part longer in proportion to the other 

 parts of the zooecium than in the Ascension Island specimens, but this, as we have said, 

 may depend on age. Marcus suggested that the absence of punctation on the thread-like 

 proximal part in A. curta might be a distinction, but this character is difficult to estab- 

 lish with certainty and, where the punctations appear to be absent, only a very small 

 area at the extreme proximal end is affected, so that I doubt whether it is a distinction 

 of any importance. Thus it may well be found that A. ligulata includes A. curta in its 

 range of variation. As they were both originally described from the southern extremity 

 of South America, this conclusion is the more probable. On the other hand, Marcus 

 gives good evidence for the existence of two species in Brazilian waters, namely, 

 A. ligulata and his A. truncata (which differs from the British form and may be A. curta). 



On the strength of my examination of the type material of A. crosslandi Waters (1910, 

 p. 253) lent by the Manchester Museum, Marcus (1937, p. 30) has included that species 

 in the synonymy of A. ligulata. Fragments from Mauritius (86.2.5.53) appear to 

 belong to this species. I should also include the specimens from the Panama region 

 recorded by me as A. truncata (Hastings, 1930, p. 702), and it is possible that some other 

 records of A. truncata in the tropics may be based on A. ligulata. 



A.fuegensis Jullien (1888, p. 25) described from a single mounted specimen, appears 

 to have had the same combination of fine spots and coarse annulation, but it had a 

 peculiar prolongation of the zooecium beyond the orifice. It has not been redescribed. 

 Vallentin (1924, p. 373) believed that he had recognized it, but there is no specimen of 

 Aetea in his Falkland Island collection, which is now in the British Museum. 



Scruparia Oken, 18 15 



1. Scruparia ambigua (d'Orbigny). 



Eucratea ambigua d'Orbigny, 1841, pi. iii, figs. 13-17, 1847, p. 11. 

 Scruparia ambigua Hastings, 1941, p. 470, text-fig. 2 A, B (synonymy). 



