562 SIR CHARLES ELIOT. 



but from the extreme narrowness of the mouth pore and the oral tube it may be concluded 

 that they live by suction, probably on animal juices. Most authors repeat the statement of 

 Quoy and Gaimard that they are extremely sluggish and almost motionless. I cannot support 

 this from my own observations, as Phyllidia varicosa when kept in a basin crept continually 

 round and round as actively as any Dorid. Collingwood {Nudibranchiate Mollusca from the 

 Eastern Seas, 1878) describes the spawn as a long irregular narrow ribbon of a whitish 

 colour. When touched the skin of most Phyllidiadae secretes a liquid with a disagreeable 

 smell. 



Gen. Phyllidia Cuv. 



Vent dorsal : tentacles free. Tubercles in centre of back arranged in longitudinal lines : 

 Phyllidia sensu stricto. Tubercles in centre of back not arranged in lines but in groups: 

 Phyllidiella. 



24. Phyllidia varicosa Lamarck. 



Back with at least three median lines of tubercles, more or less confluent and forming 

 united ridges. Lateral tubercles varying, but generally two or three form an irregular line 

 or ridge running in from the mantle edge to the central dorsal area. Form somewhat 

 elongate; foot broad, darkish in colour, with a distinct black line down the middle. Four 

 specimens from N. Male and Hulule, Maldives. 



The colour of this species, as well as the disposition of the tubercles, seem very variable. 

 The living animals, which I have seen at Zanzibar, were of a slaty-blue with brilliant orange 

 tubercles. The .specimens preserved in the present collection' show three distinct varieties. 

 First, one magnificent specimen from the Maldive Islands, 6 cm. long; the smooth parts of 

 the back are of a brilliant black, the projections lilac, but considerably varying in intensity. 

 The median tubercles are fused into three distinct ridges, not uniting anteriorly or posteriorly, 

 the tubercles appearing merely as peaks on the ridge. Lateral tubercles more or less fused 

 into ridges, but irregular. Secondly, three specimens from the Maldive Islands from 3 to 4 cm. 

 in length. Tubercles and ridges much as in the previous variety : colour black and dirty 

 white, probably representing blue and yellow in life. Thirdly, six specimens from Rotuma 

 with much the same coloration as the last variety. The tubercles are not fused into ridges, 

 but are sometimes quite separate, sometimes connected by a low black elevation. Five of 

 the specimens show a tendency to have the tubercles arranged in seven longitudinal lines, 

 one median and three lateral on each side. In one specimen this arrangement is quite 

 symmetrical and complete. In the others the outer lateral rows are confused and indistinct. 

 The sixth specimen, as already mentioned, is quite abnormal and has merely seven large 

 and indistinctly compound tubercles scattered over the back, though its other characters appear 

 to be those of the species in every respect. 



25. Phyllidia elegans B. 



One specimen from Kolumadulu Atoll, Maldives, 40 /'. Form elongate, 2 cm. long. 

 Tentacles short and thick. Foot grey, with a thick black line down the centre. The ground 

 colour of the back appears to be black but there are eleven patches of a lighter colour 

 (in the preserved specimen dirty white), two median, one anterior, one posterior, four on 

 the right side and three on the left. They are studded with low confluent tubercles, of 



1 Including six from Rotuma in the South Pacific. 



