" HUXLEY" FROM NOUTII SIDE OF THE BAY OF BISCAY, AUGUST, lit06. 9 



Caudan in 5° 55' W., 46' 40' N., 400-500 metres. The specimen is 

 200 mm. long, and gives off one slender branch 100 mm. from the 

 base. The axis is 2 mm. in diameter at the base, and tapers gradually 

 to a very slender filamentous thread at the extremity. The inter- 

 nodes are from 10 to 15 mm. in length. 



Acanella arbuscula, Johnson. 



Mopsca arhuscidum, Johnson, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1862, p. 245, PI. XXXI. 

 figs. 1, la. 



Acanella arbuscula, Gray, Cat. Lith., 1870, p. 16, woodcut. 

 Station XIII. Lat. N. 48° 7'. Long. W. 8° 13'. 412 fathoms. 



This is a characteristic species of the Atlantic slope. It was first 

 described by Johnson from Madeira. It was found by the Challenger 

 in 1525 fathoms S.W. of the Canaries. It was found in no less than 

 four stations at depths of from 950 to 1710 metres in the Bay of Biscay 

 by the Caudan. 



Being very brittle owing to the alternating calcareous and horny 

 joints of the axis, the specimens always reach the systematist con- 

 siderably broken. 



In the Huxlen collection there is a main axis with nearly all the 

 branches broken off that is 150 mm. in length, the calcareous inter- 

 nodes 10 mm. in length, and the greatest diameter of the stem 5 mm. 



The most perfect " bushy part " of a colony is 105 mm. in height by 

 55 mm. in diameter. 



Family MURICEID^. 



Acanthogorgia ridleyi, Wright and Studer. 



A. ridleyi, Wright and Studer, Challenger Eeports, vol. xxxi. 1889, 

 p. 95, Plates XXII. and XXV. 



Statiox\ VII. Lat. N. 47" 36'. Long. W. 7° 31'. m fathoms. 



1 specimen. 



Station XIII. Lat. N. 48° 7'. Long. W. 8° 13'. 412 fathoms. 



5 specimens. 

 I have had a great deal of difficulty in determining the species of 

 the specimens of Acanthogorgia obtained by the Huxley. A great 

 many species of this genus have been described by authors, and in 

 most cases from the examination of a single specimen. There is no 

 account of the range of variation within the limits of a single species. 

 There can be little doubt, I think, that when the genus is overhauled 

 the number of species will be materially reduced. Having compared 

 our specimens with the species in the British Museum, I have found 



