164 



and enables us to characterize some of the species more accurately 

 than heretofore. There are 12 specimens of a Synapta which agree very 

 closely in general appearance with the 2 above mentioned from Puget 

 Sound. But they agree perfectly even in details with Synapta inhae- 

 re?is from our Atlantic coast, so that I can find no ground on which to 

 separate them from that species. This fact convinces me, after a care- 

 ful study of Selenka's description, that his albicans in spite of the 

 large number of digits on the tentacles, is not a distinct species and 

 the name should be regarded as a synonym of iìihaerens. This species 

 is known on the eastern coast of the United States from South Caro- 

 lina to Maine and in Europe from the Mediterranean to the Murman 

 coast. Its occurrence therefore in Puget Sound and on the coast of 

 California is a matter of considerable interest and hints at the proba- 

 bility of its being a circumpolar species extending southward to the 

 Mediterranean, South Carolina and California. 



The other 40 Holothurians are divided among 5 genera but, with 

 the exception of 3 specimens of a large Stichopus, they are all Dendro- 

 chirotae. The Stichopus is of considerable interest because there can 

 be little doubt that it is the species which Stimpson described as 

 Holothuria calif ornica. Mr. Benjamin Thomas, who collected and 

 kindly sent me these specimens, tells me it is the commonest Holo- 

 thurian at Pacific Grove and is known there as Holothuria calif ornica. 

 A comparison with Stimpson's description leaves no reasonable 

 doubt that this is the species which was before him. Owing to his 

 brief diagnosis, the species has received scant attention from later 

 writers. Thé el omits it from both his key and his tables of distribu- 

 tion, merely mentioning it as a "very incompletely known" species, 

 while Ludwig in 1892 omits it altogether from his table of known 

 species. It will be worthwhile therefore to mention here its distinguish- 

 ing characters. Its position in the genus Stichopus is suggested by 

 the flattened ventral surface and the large warts and papillae on the 

 dorsal side, and is clearly proven by the arrangement of the genital 

 gland in 2 tufts, one on each side of the mesentery. It reaches a 

 length of over a foot and is dark brown in color. It is easily distin- 

 guished from other members of the genus by the remarkable calca- 

 reous deposite. In the outer layer of the body wall are large numbers 

 of well developed tables, with discs which normally contain 4 central 

 holes and 4 larger and 8 smaller ones around the margin ; the spire 

 terminates in 20 — 24 teeth and has one or two cross-bars. Underneath 

 the tables is a layer of very numerous, long, thin buttons, usually with 

 9 pairs of holes. At the base of the tentacles and in the skin of the 

 oral disc are numerous, slightly knobbed or branched rods, and there 



