PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 101 N - Washington : 1951 No. 3282 



THE ACTINIAN FAUNA OF THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA 



By Oskar Carlgren 



Our knowledge of the actinian fauna of Baja California and the 

 west coast of Mexico is very incomplete. Verrill (1869) mentioned 

 with some doubt the occurrence of EpizomitJms elongatus; in 

 1893 McMurrich described Anemonia ? inequalis (probably a 

 Gijrostoma McMurrich, 1904), Oulactis California, and Cerianthus 

 vas; in 1902 Gravier described a pelagic cerianthid, Dactylactis 

 henedeni; in 1940 I proposed three species, Alicia beebei, Neman- 

 thus calif ornicus, and Actinotkoe calif ornica. Thus, up to this time 

 only eight species of actinians were known from these districts. 



The present paper is the result of an examination of a collection 

 made by E. F. Ricketts during a cruise in the Gulf of California 

 in 1940. The collection is rather large, containing, according to my 

 opinion, 28 species, 16 of which are Actiniaria (including 3 new 

 genera and 8 new species) , 2 are Ceriantharia (one a new species) , 

 and 10 are Zoantharia (of which 9 are new species) . Some species 

 seem, to be identical with those described by Verrill in 1869 from 

 the coast of Panama. Unfortunately, Verrill's descriptions of his 

 species are very incomplete, inasmuch as he usually described only 

 the exterior and the color. I think, however, that my identifications 

 of his species of Actiniaria are correct as a whole, but I am not 

 certain of the Zoantharia. Identification of Verrill's species of this 

 group is very difficult. 



All the types and most of the specimens mentioned under col- 

 lecting records are in the United States National Museum. 



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