120 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 14 



tain the same width for most of their length. The opesia is long ellipti- 

 cal, the mural rim thin and slightly raised ; there is a narrow cryptocyst 

 proximally and laterally. The avicularia are oval, small and inconspicu- 

 ous, scarcely raised, one on each side of the proximal gymnocyst a little 

 in advance of the terminal rim of the preceding zooecium. The ovicell 

 is small (width 0.14 mm), short and cap-shaped. 



Widely distributed around the world in warmer waters ; common in 

 the West Indian region, Smitt 1873:3; Levinsen 1909:120 {N. tenella) ; 

 Osburn 1914:191 and 1940:400, and Canu and Bassler 1928:26. It 

 has not hitherto been reported from the Pacific coast of America. 



Hancock Station 500, La Plata Island, Ecuador, 20 fms, several por- 

 tions of a very characteristic colony. 



Nellia tenuis Harmer, 1926 

 Plate 13, fig. 3 

 Nellia tenuis Harmer, 1926:245. 

 Nellia tenuis, Osburn, 1940 :400. 



Zoarial habit characteristic of the genus, erect jointed stems arising 

 from creeping stolons ; internodes shorter than in A^. oculata and increas- 

 ing in breadth gradually from the very narrow base. Zooecia compara- 

 tively short and wide (length 0.45 mm) ; opesia somewhat ovate, the 

 cryptocyst well developed proximally and narrower laterally. The most 

 striking feature is found in the avicularian chambers which are long, 

 extending backward in a slight curve to embrace the distal end of the 

 preceding zooecium ; the rostrum elevated and hooked and the triangular 

 mandible decurved at the tip. 



The ovicell is larger (0.16 mm broad) and more complete than in 

 oculata. 



Recorded by Harmer for Paternoster Islands, Borneo, Mindanao and 

 the China Sea. Osburn reported it from Porto Rico. It has not hitherto 

 been known from the Pacific coast of the Americas. 



Hancock Station 114-33, Bahia Honda, Panama, shallow water, 

 several colonies. 



Family ScrUpOCellariidae Levinsen, 1909 

 Of the eight genera commonly associated with this family, four fall 

 within the scope of the present work. The zoarium is erect or more or 

 less spreading, usually jointed at the bifurcations ; the zooecia in two or 

 more series and all facing in the same direction ; frontal and lateral 

 avicularia are usually present ; dorsal vibracula or avicularia are present 



