458 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxxv. 



males also as Scott said of that one, that they are very small and 

 easily overlooked. Their color also approaches more nearly to that 

 of the gill filaments, and they have no egg- strings to attract atten- 

 tion. It is probable that a careful examination of California congers 

 will show both sexes of this species to be fairly common. 



FAMILY LERNiEID^E. 



H-ffiMOBAPHES CYCLOPTERINA Miiller. 



Hwmobaphes cyclopterina Mulleb, 1T7G, p. 2745. 

 Host and record of specimens. — Two females taken in Alaska by 

 Lieut. G. M. Stoney, Cat. No. 14323, U.S.N.M. The name of the 

 host is not given, nor the exact locality. 



LERN^ENICUS MEDUS^EUS, new species. 

 Plate LXXVI, figs. 99 and Km. 



Host and record of specimens. — A single female taken from the 

 little N annobrachium leucopsarum by the steamer Albatross in 1904 

 at Monterey Bay, California ; it is Cat. No. 38598, U.S.N.M., and is 

 made the type of the new species. 



Female. — General body form plump; head but little enlarged, 

 neck short and stout ; genital portion cylindrical without posterior 

 processes; no abdomen. Head covered anteriorly with a spherical 

 mass of irregularly branched processes, which arise from a small 

 area on the front of the head and branch in every direction like a 

 mass of coral. 



When buried in the tissues of the host this mass of processes forms 

 a most effective attachment organ. In addition the head sends out 

 a flat laminate process on either side, which is very short, curves for- 

 ward, and ends in three or four knobs or laminate branches. These 

 also aid in giving the head a firm hold upon the host. 



The neck is one-third the diameter of the genital portion and with 

 the head forms an S curve. At the anterior end it passes insensibly 

 into the head and at the posterior end into the genital portion. The 

 latter is cylindrical the same diameter throughout, and terminates 

 posteriorly in a very short and blunt knob which represents the 

 abdomen. 



There are no processes or anal lamina 1 . The egg strings are the 

 same diameter as the neck, straight, and one-fourth longer than the 

 body. The mouth opening is at the base of the coralline mass of 

 processes and there is no visible mouth tube. There are two pairs of 

 rudimentary legs on the anterior portion of the thorax, which consist 

 of a basal joint and a single terminal ramus for each leg. No other 

 appendages are visible. 



