78 THE APODOUS HOLOTHURIANS 



SYNAPTA Eschscholtz, 1829. 

 Chondroda'a Ostergren, 1898 (partim). 



Tentacles pinnate, 15, occasionally Id; individuals not fully mature have 

 14 or fewer. Digits numerous, 15-30 on each side. Cartilaginous ring present. 

 Polian vessels very numerous (up to 50) and sometimes branched. Stone- 

 canal single and branched, or there may be two or even a small tuft of them. 

 Stock of anchors finely toothed, but not branched; arms smooth, but vertex, 

 with a few minute knobs, arranged in one or two groups. Anchor-plates sub- 

 rectangular or irregular, much longer than wide, with seven or eight large, and 

 numerous small, smooth holes; at posterior end, on outer side, a well-arched 

 bow crosses plate. Miliary granules abundant, but tentacles without sup- 

 porting rods. 



This is also a monotypic genus (with the type species maculata) and may 

 be easily recognized by the large size and the characteristic calcareous parti- 

 cles, while the branched polian vessels and stone-canals are also notable. 

 Theel ('86«) considers, with good reason, that Lesson's ('30) HolotJiiiria 

 oceanica is synonymous with the single species of this genus. Whether Oiicin- 

 olahes forsteri and fuscescens of Brandt ('35), Holothuria radiosa of Eeynaud 

 (in Lesson '30), Holothuria tentaculata of Forster (in de Blainville '21), Fis- 

 tularia dor ey ana of Quoy and Gaimard ('33), and Syiiapta fasciata of Kuhl 

 and Van Hasselt ('69) also belong here it is impossible to say positively, but 

 some, if not all, of them probably do. 



Synapta maculata. 



Plates I and IV, Figs. 17-19 and 26. 



Holothuria maculata Chamisso and Eysenliardt, 18'i\, p. 352, pi. xxv. 



Synapta mammillosa Eschscholtz, 1829, Hpt. 2, p. 12; pi. x. fig. 1. 



Holothuria oceanica Lesson, 1830, p. 99; pi. 35. 



Synapta beselii Jiiger, 1833, p. 15; Semj^er, 1868, pi. i. Calcareous particles in 



Theel, 1886«, pi. i. fig. 12. 

 Synapta oceanica Jiiger, 1833. 

 Synapta mammillosa Jiiger, 1833. 

 Synapta maculata Jager, 1833. 

 Synapta asfrolahi Held, 1857, p. 269. 

 Synapta agasnizii Selenka, 1867, p. 361. 

 Synapta Beselii (also Besellii) Tenison-Woods, 1880, p. 13'.>. 

 Chondroda'a heselii ()stergren, 1898&. 



Length. — 1-2 meters with diameter not over 50 mm. 



Color. — Brown, greenish brown, dark olive-green, or bluish gray, often 

 with large spots and blotches of darker and lighter shades, or less commonly 

 with the dark markings arranged in five longitudinal stripes. The striped 

 form is the agaf^sizii of Selenka, which Lanipert ( '85) considers a valid species 



