206 NECTODROMA RETICULATA. 



more than two developed nectophores were normally present at one time; but 

 the conditions outlined suggest three as the maximum. 



The older posterior nectophore, though much battered, is proportionately 

 shorter and somewhat broader than the younger one. The structure of the 

 somatocyst, with three branching ascending limbs, is the same, and there are 

 numerous radial subumbral canals. 



The original record for this species was from the neighborhood of Kangaroo 

 Island, off Adelaide, South Australia. 



Nectodroma reticulata, sp. nov. 

 Plate 1, tigs. 7, 8; Plate 3, tigs. 1-7. 



Station 4681 300 fathoms to surface; 2 nectophores, and 3 bracts. Type. 

 " 4709 " " " " 1 nectophore. 



" 4709 " " " " " " young, 15 mm. long. 



The nectophores and bracts taken at Station 4681 apparently all belong 

 to one colony; and they are therefore made the basis of the description and 

 figures. Both nectophores are about 55 mm. long, by 20 mm. in greatest 

 diameter; they are similar in shape, and neither has the base of the stem still 

 attached. In general form they are subcylindrical; truncate transversely at the 

 anterior, obliquely at the posterior end. 



The hydroecial canal is deep (Plate 3, fig. 2) and extends the entire length 

 of the ventral surface. In one nectophore it is entirely covered over by the 

 lateral flaps, but in the other, the flaps are widely separate. Probably the 

 latter was the older and partially enclosed the other, the younger. The nectosac 

 is proportionately smaller than in N. dubia. 



The somatocj^st alone is sufficient to distinguish this species from P. dubia. 

 Its descending branch, which extends below the level of the bell-opening (Plate 

 3, fig. 1), bears several short lateral branches. Its ascending branch runs along 

 the surface of the hydroecium nearly to the anterior end of the nectophore, and 

 then turns abruptly dorsad (Plate 3, fig. 2). Throughout its ascending course 

 it gives off short transverse lateral trunks, which are themselves often divided 

 at their extremities, and in its ventrodorsal extension there are numerous very 

 much smaller lateral branches. In all the three large nectophores the general 

 type of branching is the same, though the precise number, length, and arrange- 

 ment of the lateral trunks varies slightly. 



The subumbral canals are numerous, as in P. dubia, and fundamentally 

 radial, but their primitive arrangement is masked by branching and anastomosis. 



