THE APODOUS HOLOTHURIANS 79 



and Bedford ('99rt) a good variety. Further investigation is necessary to de- 

 termine whether it is entitled to any recognition. Kent ('93) describes and 

 figures 5^. beselii as bright pink, and furthermore his figure shows hut 10 tenta- 

 cles. Whether the Australian Synaptid thus figured really exists must be de- 

 termined by other observers, but if it does, it is obviously not beselii. 



Distribution. — Eeported from Kosseir, Eed Sea (Lampert) ; Zanzibar and 

 Mauritius (Lampert) ; Seychelles (Ludwig) ; Indian Ocean (Ludwig) ; Ceylon 

 (Pearson) ; Nicobar (Semper) ; Philippines (Semper) ; Celebes (Jager) ; nu- 

 merous stations, D. E. I. (Sluiter) ; Lucipara Islands (Lampert); Ternate (v. 

 Marenzeller) ; New Guinea (Bedford) ; Port Douglas, Queensland (Tenison- 

 Woods) ; Caroline Islands (Semper) ; New Hebrides (Theel) ; Marshall Islands, 

 (Chamisso and Eysenhardt) ; Samoan Islands (Semper); and Society Islands 

 (Eschscholtz, Theel). Evidently commonly and widely distributed throughout 

 the Indo-Pacific region. 



Eemaeks. — There can be no question, I think, that Synapta mammillosa Esch- 

 scholtz and HolotJiuria oceanica Lesson are identical ; and that they are both the 

 same as Jager 's beselii hardly admits of question. There is more room for doubt 

 as regards iiiaculafa Ch. & Eys., but I am entirely satisfied that the holothu- 

 rian so designated is the same huge Synapta. On the first comparison of the 

 colored figures given by Eschscholtz and by Chamisso and Eysenhardt, it seems 

 incredible that they can both represent the same species, but when we read 

 their descriptions and see how far the plates are from showing the natural 

 colors as they give them, we realize that little weight can be placed on that 

 point. Moreover, Eschscholtz 's picture is seemingly taken from a strongly con- 

 tracted specimen showing big verrucae, while the specimen of maculata was 

 evidently in normal condition. It may be mentioned in passing that Semper 's 

 colored figure also represents the animal as having prominent verrucae, and 

 therefore probably in an unusual state of contraction. While it is not out of the 

 question that maculata should be Opheodesoma grisea (Semper), the latter 

 species is not known from any of the South Sea Islands, and the evidence, 

 such as it is, all points to beselii Jager as being the species figured by Chamisso 

 and Eysenhardt. 



Although so well known to zoologists, very little is recorded of the 

 habits of this interesting giant Synaptid. Semper ('68) says they move 

 about between the rocks and on the sand of the reefs, but are exceedingly 

 sluggish. On account of their size and appearance they well deserve the name 

 "sea-serpent," which is sometimes applied to them. Studer (see Lampert 

 '89&), on the other hand, affirms that their movements among the blocks of coral 

 are remarkably swift for a holothurian. Sluiter ( '90) says that those he found 

 in the Bay of Batavia were exactly like Opheodesoma grisea in appearance and 

 could only be distinguished by an examination of the calcareous plates ; he adds 

 that while he at first overlooked ''beselii" on this account, more careful investi- 

 gation convinced him that it was really much more common there than grisea. 



