NO. 1923. DESCRIPTIOXfi OF PACIFIC ALCYON ARIA— NUTTING. 39 



Type-locality. — Oxfjord, Finmark. 



In one specimen the polyps are sometimes 15 in a row; otherwise 

 the specimen agrees with the description given above. 



This species appears to the writer to be identical with the one 

 called Verrillia hlakei Stearns, and redescribed by the writer in his 

 Alcyonaria of the Calif ornian Coast, 1909, page 706, where a discus- 

 sion of the synonymy will be found. 



These specimens agree so closely with the figures and descriptions 

 of Balticina JinmarcMca (Sare) that I assign them to that species 

 in spite of the apparent absence of spicules from the tentacles. 



BALTICINA PACIFICA Nutting. 

 Plate 6, fig. 4. 



Balticina vacijica Nutting, Alcyonaria of the Califomian coast, 1909, p. 704. 



Colony 47 cm. in length, of which the stem is 15 cm. In some 

 specimens there is a greatly distended swelling on the stem; in one 

 case 7 mm. thick and over 5 cm. long, while the least diameter of 

 the stem below the rachis is but 1.7 mm. In the specimen described, 

 however, the swelling is less distended than the end bulb, although 

 tlxis may be partially due to shrinking. 



There are about 94 rows of polyps, 2 or 3 to a row, on each side. 

 In the lower part of the raclus there is but one polyp to represent 

 each row; liigher up there is one large outer one and a rutUmentary 

 inner one; still higher a third, innermost one appears, and in the 

 fully developed rows there are three of about equal size. The rows 

 are quite oblique and are all on the latero- ventral surface, leaving 

 the whole dorsal surface bare. 



Each calyx has two sharp spines projecting from its outer margin, 

 the spines being filled with needlelike spicules which also extend to 

 other exposed parts of the calyx walls. The inner margin of the 

 calyx is not differentiated from the polyp body, and lies snugly 

 against the stem. The height of a typical calyx is about 3 mm., and 

 the diameter is 2 mm. The tentacles have their dorsal surfaces 

 covered with very numerous barlike spicules in many parallel rows. 

 In one specimen the body walls of the polyps are greatly distended, 

 and form sacklike transparent protuberances on the inner, or stem 

 side, of the polyp. 



Zooids: The zooids are very few and inconspicuous and irregular 

 in distribution, appearing as whitish dots sparsely distributed on the 

 ventral surface. The lateral zooids are in an irregular row or patch 

 of 5 or 6 between adjacent polyp rows. 



Spicules: These are numerous, being quite abundant in both poh'ps 

 and calyces. They appear to be wanting elsew^here. The axis 

 cylinder in the rachis is round in section, and smooth. 



