CAUYBDEIDvE — CHIROPSALMUS. 515 



Genus CHIROPSALMUS L. Agassiz, 1862. 



Chiropsalmus, Agassiz^ L., 1862, Cont. Nat. Hist. U. S., vol. 4, p. 174. — Haeckel, 1S80, Syst. derMedusen, p. 446. — von Len- 

 DENFELD, 1884, Proc. Linnean Soc, New South Wales, vol. 9, p. 247. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



With 4 interradial, branched pedalia which give rise to a number of tentacles. 4 wide 



perradially situated stomach-pockets in the subumbrella, and each of these gives rise to 



finger-shaped, unbranched, hernia-hke pouches which project into the bell-cavity. Wide, 

 marginal pouches and numerous canals in the velarium. 8 leaf-shaped gonads. 



The type species of this genus is Chiropsahnus quadrumanus, described as Tamoya 

 quadrumanus by F. Muller, 1859. This species is found in the warmer waters along the 

 Atlantic coasts of North and South America south of Cape Hatteras. 



Chiropsalmus quadrumanus L. Agassiz. 



Plate 57, fig. 3. 



Tamoya quadrumanus, MiiLLER, F., 1859, Abhandl. Naturf. Gesell, Halle, BJ. 5, pp. i-ii, taf. 2, 3,fign. 18-32. 

 Chiropsalmus quadrumanus, Agassiz, L., 1862, Cont. Nat. Hist. U. S., vol. 4, p. 174. — Haeckel, 1880, .Syst. der Medusen, p. 



447. — VON Lendenfeld, 1884, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, vol. 9, p. 248. — Conant, 1898, Mem. Johns Hopkins 



Univ. Biol. Lab., vol. 4, No. i, p. 4 



Bell dome-shaped, about 140 mm. wide and 100 mm. high. 4 large, hand-shaped 

 pedalia, the 7 to 9 finger-like branches of which give rise each to a single, long, slender tentacle. 

 7 to 9 tentacles thus arise from each pedalium. These tentacles are hollow and flexible, and 

 are covered with numerous, closely set rings of nematocysts. A large axial-canal extends 

 through the pedalium and gives off branches, one to each tentacle. The 4 sense-organs are 

 situated within 4 covered niches upon sides of bell at about one-sixth the distance from margin 

 to apex. There are 6 ectodermal eyes upon the sense-club, 2 large median and 4 small lateral. 

 Velarium very wide with 16 large branched pouches which extend into it from the 4 main, 

 gastrovascular spaces of the bell. The 16 velar pouches give rise in turn to numerous small, 

 branching canals which ramify through the velarium. Stomach wide and globular, the mouth 

 surrounded by 4 large, triangular lips. 4 wide, perradial pouches extend from stomach into 

 wall of bell; each of these pouches gives rise to 2 finger-shaped, hollow, hernia-like sacs 

 which project from the subumbrella side into the cavity of the bell; these 8 sacs are situated 

 very near base of stomach. There are 4 interradial, crooked, crescent-shaped rows of gastric 

 cirri on inner walls of stomach. 



This species was found by Miiller at Desterro, Santa Catharina, Brazil, and later it was 

 obtained by H. V. Wilson at Beaufort, North Carolina, where it is quite abundant on the 

 sea-bottom, about a mile off shore, though sometimes found within the harbor itself. 



Chiropsalmus buitendijki Horst. 



Chiropsalmus buitendijki, HoRST, 1907, Notes from the Leyden Museum, vol. 29, No. 2, p. 101, plate 2, figs. 1-6. 



This species from the harbor of Batavia, Java, is distinguished by its 8 long, simple, 

 finger-shaped, subumbrella pocket-arms nearly as long as the depth ot the bell-cavity, so that 

 they almost touch the velarium. The pedalia also have 5 or 6 lateral branches arranged, 

 judging from Horst's figure, in a linear series on the outer side of the main shaft, the largest 

 branch being nearest the bell. In other species ot Chiropsalmus the side branches oi the 

 pedalia are irregularly arranged. 



In other respects the Javanese medusa resembles the other species of Chiropsalmus. Bell 

 cubical, 65 to 70 mm. high and wide, with a slightly arched apex. Main shafts of pedalia 

 sickle-shaped, about half as long as bell-height, and laterally compressed. The 5 or more 

 lateral branches all arise from the abaxial side of the pedalium and form a decreasing series, 

 the smallest being outermost. The rhopalia are in niches about one-fifth the distance between 

 velarium and bell-apex. Each club has 2 large median and 4 small lateral eyes. The velarium 

 is wide, has 4 frenula;, and 16 dendritically branched velar canals. Bell transparent, flexible 

 parts of tentacles of a rosy hue. In its simple finger-shaped processes ot the subumbrella floor 

 of the bell this species resembles the American Chiropsalmus quadrumanus to which it is 

 closely related. 



