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On Eloactis mazeli. 

 By 



Olwen M. Rees, B.Sc, 



University Colleyc of Wales, Aherystwyth. 

 With Figures 1-4 in the Text. 



JouEDAN was the first to describe Eloactis mazeli. In 1880 he published 

 Recherches zoologiques et histologiques sur les Zoanthaires du golfe de Mar- 

 seilles (1), and in this paper E. mazeli is described under the name of 

 Ilyanthus mazelii. Jourdan obtained his specimen from the muddy 

 sand of the north-eastern part of the Gulf from a depth of 60-80 metres. 

 He compares its external characters with those of Peachia, Ilyanthus, 

 and Halcampa ; the following is a translation : — 



" In form it approaches Peachia, from which it differs through the 

 absence of gonidial tubes. In the absence of terminal pores and in the 

 smoothness of the column it resembles Ilyanthus, while its cylindrical 

 form recalls that of Halcampa, though it differs from this genus in that 

 it lacks tubercles and a terminal swelling. Its buccal disc is conical, of 

 an orange tint striped with darker lines which run from the mouth to the 

 bases of the tentacles. These last are twenty in number and are arranged 

 in two cycles ; they are white with brown apices and the inner ones are 

 smaller than the external ones." 



" The column is cylindrical, and is orange-red with paler lines which 

 run down from the summit in the spaces intervening between the outer 

 tentacles. The basal region is lighter in colour and more membranous ; 

 it is non-adhesive, and the lower part of the column wall is often pushed 

 in, giving the base the appearance of being sunk in. Longitudinal and 

 transverse sections of the basal region show that this sunken portion has 

 no aperture." 



Jourdan could not study the structure much owing to the state of 

 preservation of his one specimen, also he was working in the early days 

 of the serial-section method. He was therefore unable to make out the 

 arrangement of the mesenteries, and thus could not place the animal in 

 its correct systematic position. 



In 1884 Andres, in Le Attinie (2), gave the following description of 



