THE SESSILE BARNACLES. 



85 



Tlie originjil description by DjU'win is jis fyllows : 



General appearance. — Slioll coiikal, with a rulhor large diamond-shaped orifice, 

 moderately or but little toothed; very Biuooth; walla never folded longitudinally; 

 white, -with au extremely thin pale-yellow persistent epidermis. The radii are 

 very narrow, with their summits very oblique, rounded, and smooth; the epidermis 

 is generally more persistent on the radii than on other parts, and this is exactly the 

 reverse of what is common with B. eburneus. The specimens from nearly fresh 

 water in the River Plata are brownish and have undergone a remarkable degree of 

 corrosion, the outer lamina of the walla ha^•ing been entirely removed to near the 

 base; hence the external aspect of these specimens is wholly different from ordinary 

 individuals. The var. assimilis has also a very different appearance, owing to the 

 dead white of the walla being relieved by narrow approximate longitudinal hyaline 

 lines, corresponding with and caused by the longitudinal parietal septa being exter- 

 nally visible through the outer lamina of the parietes; the epidermis in the radii ia 



Fig. 16.— a, Balanus improvisus x 3, quinnepiac, mass.; 6, B. ebueneus x 2, ocean city, md., to 



ILLUSTRATE DIFFERENCE IN THE KADH. 



also of a rather brighter yellow. The largest specimens which I have seen are those 

 from the Plata and those attached to a ship from the West Indies, and they had a 

 basal diameter of 0.6 of an inch — from 0.4 to 0.5 of an inch is the more usual full aver- 

 age size. 



Scuta, with the lines of growth but little prominent; articular ridge prominent 

 but little reflexed; adductor ridge straiglit and very prominent, varying a little 

 in its distance from the articular ridge; there is scarcely any depression for the lateral 

 depressor muscle; the upper internal sm-face of the valve is roughened with ridges. 



Terga, v/ith a moderately deep longitudinal fmTow; spur short, rather narrow, 

 with the end rounded, placed at less than its own width from the basiscutal angle; 

 in the Rio Plata specimens the spur is close to this angle; the basal margin is gener- 

 ally straight on opposite sides of the spur, but sometimes on the carinal side is a 

 little hollowed out. The lines of growth are upturned along the carinal margin, which 

 consequently is a little protuberant, but to a varying degree. The crests for the 

 depressors are extremely distinct and prominent. In the varieties ha\'ing the basi- 

 carinal margin hollowed out, and the carinal margin protuberant, there is a marked 

 resemblance to the peculiar tergum of B. ehurnexis. 



Walls: The parietal pores are tolerably large and are crossed by numerous trans- 

 verse septa; the longitudinal septa are very finely denticulated at their bases, but 

 occasionally almost smooth. The radii are, as stated, extremely narrow, and very 

 remarkable from their smooth rounded edges; their septa are barely denticulated. 

 The alae are remarkably protuberant; they have their summits much less oblique 

 than those of the radii, and sometimes they are almost parallel to the basis; their 

 4729°— Bull. 93—16 7 



