162 



Aus beiden, also seinen mikrotechnischen Eathschlägen, wie seinen 

 unerbetenen Correcturen, sucht Herr Br. die Berechtigung seines 

 Vorgehens abzuleiten. Ob mit Recht, überlasse ich der Beurtheilung 

 des geschätzten Leserkreises des Zoologischen Anzeigers. 



Halle a./S., 16. Febr. 1901. 



6. The Holothurians of the Pacific Coast of North America. 



By Hubert Lyman Clark, Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan, U.S.A. 

 (With 14 figs.) 



eingeg. 18. Februar 1901. 



A small collection of Holothurians, numbering 52 specimens and 

 representing at least 11 species, made near Pacific Grove, California, 

 during the past summer (1900), has recently come into my possession, 

 and has proved unusually interesting. It affords an opportunity for 

 the review and revision of our knowledge of the Holothurians of the 

 Pacific coast, which is notably imperfect. The first Holothurians re- 

 corded from this district were those collected at Sitka and described 

 by Eschscholtz in 1829. This list includes only 2 species both of 

 which were referred to the genus Chirodota^ one being called C. verru- 

 cosa and the other C. discolor. The former of these has not been iden- 

 tified with any known species, while the latter name is generally ap- 

 plied to the common Chiridota of the Alaskan coast. In 1835, Brandt 

 published an account of the animals collected by H. Hertens during 

 a voyage around the world, and he described 7 Holothurians from Sitka, 

 as follows: Aspidochir Mertensii, Liosoma sitchaense^ Cladodactyla al- 

 bida, C. miniata^ C. 7iigricans^ Cuvieria sitchaensis, and Diploperideris 

 sitchaensis. In 1881, Ludwig revised Brandt's list: he regards As- 

 pidochir as a Chiridota or Synapta, Liosoma sitchaense as synonymous 

 with Eschscholtz' Chirodota discolor, the 3 species of Cladodactyla 

 as valid species of Cucumaria ^ Cuvieria sitchaensis as identical with 

 Psoitis Fahricii D. & K., and Diploperideris as a species of Stichopus. 

 An interesting point brought out by this revision is that not one of the 

 generic names used by Brandt is now in good standing. In 1857, 

 Stimpson published his valuable paper on Pacific coast Crustacea and 

 Echinoderms, which included 12 species of Holothurians, of which Lio- 

 soma arenicola and Holothuria californica were described as new. He 

 also includes Pentacta frondosa Gunner. , which was reported from 

 San Francisco by Ayres in 1855. In 1864, Stimpson published the 

 description of 2 new Holothurians from Puget Sound, which he called 

 Pentacta popidif er and pip er a ta. Ludwig regards the former as iden- 

 tical with Cucumaria albida of Brandt and the latter synonymous with 



