138 Transactions. 



Art. XIII. — New Zealand Ctenophores. 

 By W. B. Benham, D.Sc. 



[Bead before the Otago Institute, I4th A^igust, ]90fi.] 

 Plate VII. 



Hitherto the only member of that group of " melon-jelly- 

 fish " that has been attributed to our seas is a pleurobrachid, 

 named Cydifpe dimidiata, Lesson.* This was obtained in the 

 Tasman Sea — or, as it was termed, " the channel between 

 New Zealand and New South Wales" — in 1770, by Banks and 

 Solander, during Captain Cook's first voyage. It was originally 

 named by them " Beroe biloba" but by Lessonj was placed in 

 his genus Eschscholthia and described by him as E. dimidiata. 

 It had been figured previously by Eschscholtz| ; and Chun, 

 presumably judging from this figure, identifies it as a member 

 of the genus Cydippe.^ It has not been studied further, and 

 nothing more is known of it than the short account given by 

 Lesson. I think that it may well be removed from our list. 



During the last few years I have collected or received 

 a few specimens of ctenophores which belong to two genera — 

 Beroe, Browne, 1756 ; and Enplohamis, Chun, 1880 — for each 

 of which I propose, though with considerable diffidence, owing 

 to lack of recent literature, a new specific name, though I recog- 

 nise that these may be found superfluous. 



Beroe shakespeari, n. sp. 



I received a number of individuals, well preserved in formalin^ 

 from Mr. E. Shakespear, the Curator of Little Barrier Island, 

 to whom my thanks are given for his kindness and thoughtful - 

 ness in presenting them to me. 



The specimens, some of which have a faint roseate hue, are 

 subglobular, but slightly compressed in the transverse or in- 

 fundibular plane, so that the " sagittal " diameter is rather 

 greater than the " transverse." 



The fifteen individuals vary from 27 mm. to 62 mm. in height, 

 and from 20 mm. to 50 mm. in diameter across the base, being 



* Lesson, Ann. Sci. Nat. (Zool.). 1836, ser. 2, vol. v, p. 254. 



t Lesson, Hist. Nat. Zoophytes, Acalephes. 1843, p. 102. 



1 Eschscholtz, Syst. der Acalephen, 1829, pi. ii, fig. 2. 



si f'hun. Fauna u. Flora des Golfes v. Neapel. Ctenophoren, p. 287 



(1880). 



