76 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.43. 



Locality. — Station 4987; Kamoi Msaki Light, N. 76° E., 3.2 miles; 

 59 fathoms. 



Type-specimen.— Cat. No. 30037, U.S.N.M. 



This species differs from others in the genus m the calyces, wliich 

 are not truly cylindrical, and in the tendency toward a definite en 

 chevron arrangement in the calyx walls. 



Genus MURICEIDES V/right and Studer (einended by 



Nutting). 



Muricddes Stvder-]- Clematma Studer. 



Calyces cylindrical or conical, their walls filled with vertically 

 placed spindles, clubs, disks, tri-radiate forms, etc. No crown of 

 points. Spicules on tentacle bases arranged en chevron. 



MURICEIDES CYLINDRICA, new species. 

 Plate 11, figs. 1, la; plate 20, fig. 3. 



Colony stragghng in habit, 15 cm. in height, soft and flexible, flat- 

 tened at branch origins, giving off' two ramified branches near its 

 base which are at right angles to the other branches. These latter 

 are on the same plane and are very irregularly disposed, there being 

 6 on one side and 3 on the other. The calyces are irregularly distrib- 

 uted on the branches, but are ordinarily lateral in position although 

 they are on all sides of the distal twdgs. On an average they are about 

 2 mm. apart, although this varies greatly. 



The variation in size of individual calyces is also very great. They 

 are tubular in form and arc surmounted by the pol}^ head, which is 

 relatively large. A tj^ical calyx measures a little over 2 mm. to 

 margin and is 1.7 mm. in diameter, and the mass of tentacles and 

 operculiun rises about 2 mm. above this. The walls are filled with 

 rather small, short, much tuberculated spindles vertically arranged 

 and ending in jagged, irregular, not conspicuous points around the 

 margm. The polyps are apparently not retractile, all of them resting 

 with the collaret above the margin. Collaret very strong, composed 

 of several transverse rows of rather small spindles aggregated in a 

 conspicuous band. 



The operculum is heavy, composed of numerous rather small spin- 

 dles arranged en chevron on basal parts of tentacles and lying parallel 

 in vertical bands on distal parts. 



These bands are broad and conspicuous, covering the entire dorsal 

 surfaces of the tentacles. The coenenchyma of stem and branches is 

 covered with small, stout, warty spindles irregularly disposed, but 

 more often longitudinally arranged. 



Spicules : These are all spindles, small for this family, those of calyx 

 walls longer and relatively more slender than those of the coenen- 



