THE SESSILE BAENACLES. 153 



The firsi; and last of these differences are the most definite, and in 

 my experience they are invariable characters in each species. B. 

 rostrafus is rarely ribbed, and never ribbed so strongly as the common 

 forms of B. halanud. In the latter species the inflexed sciital border 

 of the tergum terminates basad in a lobe, while in B. 7'ostratus it is 

 straight or obliquely cut off, and the spur stands nearer the basiscutal 

 angle. 



B. haianus, like its Pacific relative B. rostratus, is far from being a 

 homogeneous species. In going over large numbers from several 

 regions one gains the idea that there are several subordinate races. 

 Differences in the sculpture, the structure of the vs^alls, the dentation 

 of the labrum, and the number of spines on the cirri are readil}' 

 found. Yet, without making a great number of dissections and de- 

 voting several weeks or perhaps months to the problem, I do not 

 feel competent to distinguish between fluctuating variation, variation 

 due to the effect of station on the individual, on the one hand, and 

 heritable variation of racial import on the other. It would be an 

 ill service to science to attempt the diagnosis of local races without 

 such an investigation as I have indicated. The results of my work 

 so far as I have gone, are briefly given below. 



Station. — B. halanus usually makes its home on shells, probably 

 because they are the most abundant solid objects available in the 

 depths it inhabits. When growing on objects with an even surface, 

 such as Pecten magellanicus or Modiolus 'tnodiolus^ they reach their 

 ideal development ; but on the banks they are also common on Buc- 

 cinum, Tritonifusus^ Ajyorrhais, TerehratuUna, on pebbles, or more 

 rarely growing on one another. B. halanus is frequently associated 

 with B. hanien and B. crenaius. It is rather common in from 20 to 

 90 fathoms, but seems to drop out of the fauna rather abruptly at 

 the latter depth, as it would surely have been taken if present at some 

 of the very numerous Albatross stations in deeper water. South of 

 Cape Cod it seems exceptional above 18 or 20 fathoms, where B. 

 ehiirneus and B. amphitrite niveus are the prevalent species. Far- 

 ther north, on the Maine coast and northward, B. halanus is some- 

 times taken at depths of only a few fathoms. On Coffin Island, Mag- 

 dalen Islands, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mr. Bayard Long found 

 it at low water, on MytUus edulis. 



Variations in the structure of the wall. — The figures on plate 35 

 show the chief variations in the Ixisal septa of the walls. Figure 5, 

 from Georges Bank, is the normal and most frequent condition. 

 There are from one to four ribs on the inner lamina between the com- 

 plete septa ; outer lamina has several or many ^ery short lamella 

 within the margin. The rostrum here figured has 11 tubes. 



Plate 35, figure 3, represents portions of two rostra from Eastport, 

 Maine; strongly ribbed form. Here the inner and outer lamina) of 



