836 ORDER TENTACULIFERA-SUCTORIA. 



throughout, have been observed by Claparbde and Lachmann in association with 

 this species. 



Acineta Saifulae, Meresch. Pl. XLVIII. Fig. 29. 



Lorica elongate-conical, two or three times as long as broad, widest 

 anteriorly and gradually tapering towards its narrowest posterior region, 

 finely striate or annulate transversely, the anterior half of the lorica 

 separated from the posterior one by a membranous septum or platform, upon 

 which the body of the animalcule reclines ; pedicle slender, about twice the 

 leno-th of the lorica, straight or slightly arcuate, hollow and continuous with 

 the walls of the lorica ; animalcule elongate-ovate, projecting for a distance 

 of about one-half of its entire length beyond the aperture of the lorica ; 

 tentacles slender, distributed throughout the exposed periphery ; endoplasm 

 granular, pale yellow ; endoplast spherical, subcentral ; contractile vesicle 

 unobserved. Length of lorica 1-400". 



Hab. — Salt water : White Sea (Mereschkowsky). 



This species is described by Mereschkowsky * from spirit-preserved examples 

 only. While in the contour of its lorica it to some extent resembles the Acineta divisa 

 of Fraipont, it may be readily distinguished from that form by the distinct annula- 

 tion of the surface of the lorica, and by the continuity of its cavity throughout the 

 substance of the pedicle. In this last-named respect it stands alone among the 

 known salt-water representatives of the genus, while Acineta mystacina, and more 

 particularly the variety A. longipes, is the only fresh-water form that is similarly 

 characterized. 



Acineta divisa, Fraipont. Pl. XLVIII. Figs. 8-1 i. 



Lorica symmetrically conical or wineglass-shaped, widest and some- 

 what expanded at the anterior border, tapering thence towards the 

 posterior extremity, divided subcentrally by a delicate transverse mem- 

 branous septum upon which the body of the animalcule reclines ; pedicle 

 slender, five or six times the length of the lorica, not constricted at its 

 point of junction with it; animalcule subspherical or ovate, elevated above 

 the aperture of the lorica, capable of considerable extension ; tentacles 

 numerous, distinctly capitate, developed equally over the anterior peri- 

 pheral border ; parenchyma pale yellow, finely granular ; endoplast ovate or 

 nodular, subcentral. Length of lorica 1-600". Hab. — Salt water. 



Excepting for its smaller size, the more solid mode of junction of the lorica with 

 its pedicle, and the presence of an internal membranous septum upon which the 

 animalcule rests, this species very closely resembles the Acineta patnla of Claparfede 

 and Lachmann previously described. According to its discoverer, M. Fraipont,f this 

 species exhibits remarkable reproductive phenomena. Small pyriform capsular 

 diverticula are developed from the anterior surface of the animalcule's body — not 

 accompanied by an outgrowth of the parent endoplast as in Hetniophrya gonmipara 

 ■ — within which are independently generated minute peritrichously ciliated embryos, 

 which effect their exit through an operculum-like modification of the distal wall of 

 their respective capsules. A somewhat analogous reproductive process has been 

 shown by Stein to obtain in Acineta mystacina, though in that type it would appear 



* ' Ann. Nat. Hist.,' March 1881. 



t " Acinetiens de la Cote d'Ostende," ' Bull. Acad. Bruxelles,' 1879. 



