OCEANID. 
Genus II. Turris, Lesson (1837). 
Conts, Brandt (1838). ? 
Umbrella sub-cylindrical or mitrate; ovaries four, double, dense, convoluted, 
lining the cavity of the peduncle; vessels simple; margin of the umbrella with 
numerous tentacula ; muscles of the disk conspicuous and highly developed ; mouth 
of the peduncle fimbriated. 
This well-marked genus was constituted by Lesson for three species of naked-eyed 
Meduse, having an organization which seemed to indicate a high position in their order, 
though not so high as the founder of the generic group would seem to place it. It forms part 
of the tribe Nucleifere in the arrangement of Lesson, where it is strangely associated with 
Pandea, Circe, and Bougainvillea. The high development of the muscular system in the 
species of Zurris, indicate their superiority to the Oceanie proper, which otherwise they 
closely resemble. The only species known besides the following, is the Zurris papua of the 
author cited, who discovered it near the island of Waigiou. 
The 7. papua has only eight tentacles, whilst our native species are remarkable for the 
number of those organs frmging their margin. This variation in number of tentacles seems 
a good source of specific distinction in the genus. 
1. Turris digitalis (sp.), Miller. 
Plate III, Fig. 1. 
Synonyms. Medusa digitale. O.¥. Muller, Prod. Z. D., p. 233, No. 2824 (1766). 
O. Fabricius, Fauna Groenlandica, p. 366 (1780). 
Melicerta digitale. Peron, Ann. du Mus., t. xiv, p. 352 (1809). 
Dianea digitale. amarck, Ann. Sans. Vert. (1817). 
Evrene digitale. Eschscholtz, Syst., p. 95 (1829). 
Turris borealis. Lesson, Prod. (1837), and Hist., p. 284 (1843). 
This beautiful species is an inhabitant of the northern seas. It was observed on the 
coast of Greenland by Otho Fabricius, who, in his ‘Fauna Groenlandica, one of the most 
remarkable zoological works of the last century, has given a short but expressive description 
of it. ‘“ Hzec omnium minima digitale tam figura, quam magnitudine refert. Corpus conicum 
hyalinum, vix in aqua observaretur, si non motu ejus margo coloratus in conspectum veniret. 
Strize multze vix notabiles longitudinaliter in verticem concurrunt. Margo ciliatus est ciliis 
