2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 122 



discovery of Victorella argilla but also for much of the ground work 

 necessary for its characterization. I especially wish to thank Patricia 

 L. Cook of the British Museum (Natural History) for her helpful 

 advice and criticism and for the loan of a nmnber of specimens, John 

 S. Bullivant for his invaluable suggestions, and John D. Soule for his 

 kind encouragement and loan of specimens. G. Dallas Hanna, 

 William Miller, D. W. Kelley, and J. S. Ryland were of great help in 

 locating material; K. June Lindstedt and Kristian Fauchald deserve 

 special mention for their help in illustrating, translating, and otherwise 

 readying the manuscript for press. Many thanks also are due Russel 

 L. Zimmer, Olga Hartman, John L. Mohr, Diane Robbins, Robert 

 Woollacott, and Timothy Wyatt for their critical readings of the 

 manuscript. 



Victorella Kent, 1870 



Victorella argilla, new species 



HoLOTYPE. — United States National Museum, Washington, D.C., 

 USNM no. 11918: fragment of form A colony fixed in Bouin's fluid 

 and preserved in 70 percent alcohol. 



Paratypes. — USNM no. 11919: fragment of form B colony fixed 

 in Bouin's fluid, preserved in alcohol. AUan Hancock Foundation, 

 University of Southern California, Los Angeles; colonial fragments, 

 form B. Some additional paratype material is retained in the author's 

 coUection. All material is from the type-locaUty (see p. 10). 



Diagnosis. — Young colonies (form A) are composed of flattened 

 zoecia connected by septate tubular evaginations of the body wall, 

 which anastomose irregularly, producing an Arachnidium-like colony. 

 Older zoecia (form B) are produced by a pronounced elongation of 

 the apertural papilla, drawing the polypide away into the tubular 

 portion of the zoecium. 



The zoecia bear numerous filiform processes modified for the 

 accumulation of foreign material, and old zoaria form thick, tough 

 layers with a very high content of inorganic matter, especiaUy silt. 

 The polypide has 12 tentacles; an inter tentacular organ is present in 

 form B. There is no gizzard, a single funiculus; vestibular muscles 

 are bilateral (form A) or radial (form B), and the aperture is not 

 quadrangular. 



Form A 



ZoARiUM. — In this growth form the species is a thin unilaminar mat 

 of flattened zoecia resembling a small Alcyonidium. The zoecia, 

 where clearly seen, are brownish to colorless, oval, and measure 

 0.3-0.4 mm long by 0.2-0.3 mm wide. In the center of the colony the 

 zoecia stand in close quincunx (fig. 1), communicating with one 



