P o 1 y z o a. 

 I. Rhabdopleura mirabilis. (M. Sars). 



11 sp. 

 (PI. I. & 2. li.-. 1—24). 



Halilo])hus mirahilis. M. Sars. ..Fortsatte Bemaerkninger oni (let dyiiske Livs Udbreclning i 

 Havets Dybdei"' p. 12. 



In the year 18GG I drew up in the dredge, together with other deep-sea animals, from 

 a dejith of 120 fathoms at Skraaven in Lofoten, a small ..Phytozoon" to which at first I paid 

 no great attention, as I took it to be a colony ofHydroids; I took therefore only a few exem- 

 plars, and put them in spirit with some other uncertain forms of animal life from the same 

 depth. After my return home however, on examining more closely this supposed Hydroid 

 colony, my Father found immediately that we had before us a very peculiar animal, which 

 quite certainly could not be a Hydroid, but seemed rather to be related to the Polyzoa; 

 although the shape and appearance of the single cells had undeniably a great resemblance to 

 the former, especially to some Campanularides. As a satisfactoiy examination of the animal 

 could not be made with the s])ecimens brought home in spirit, my Father urged me, the next 

 time I visited Lofoten to examine the animal in a living state as minutely as possible; as 

 hereby we should without doubt obtain interesting and instructive results. Tliis I had an op- 

 portunity of doing in the following year 1807; and I then examined, as minutely and consci- 

 enciously as possible with tlie instruments at my disposal, the structure of this little and 

 fragile animal, which I also found peculiar in the highest degree, and different from all that 

 I had previously known. My Father was also greatly surprised on learning the result of my 

 examination, and looking over the numerous drawings which I had made from the living ani- 

 mal It was clear enough that we had before us not only an entirely new genus and family, 

 hut even the type for a still higher division: and we found no small difficulty in referring it 

 to any known animal type. But as it appeared most nearly related to the Polyzoa, my Father 

 classed it with these, and noted it in his catalogue of deep-sea animals, compiled in 1868, 



under the denomination of ..Halilophus mirabilis" (the generic name taken from a certain 



1 



