89 

 Cavernularia elegans (Herklots, sp.)- 



I have found considerable difficulty in the determination 

 of this species. At first I thought it must be Veretillum 

 Australasiae of Gray. The figure given by Gray, although 

 very poor and drawn from a badly preserved specimen, 

 showed some characters in common with the Cape specimen. 

 It is, I believe, the only one of the club-shaped Pennatulids 

 in which the rachis is figured and described as being so much 

 as six times the length of the stalk. In some respects, too, 

 it appears to be closely allied to Herklot's Sarcobelemnon 

 elegans from Japan, the name of which was changed by 

 Richiardi to Veretillum elegans, and by Kolliker to Cavernu- 

 laria elegans, having apparently no axis and presenting on the 

 •-urface quadrangular markings similar to those in Herklots' 

 original figure. 



The proportionate length of the rachis is, however, much 

 less in Herklot's species than in our specimen A ; but I am 

 not inclined to regard it as being distinct. 



There can be no doubt that it belongs to Kolliker's family 

 Veretilleae, the polyps being evenly distributed round the 

 rachis and the " sarcosoma " abundant ; there can also be no 

 doubt that it belongs to the same author's Cavernularidae as 

 the spicules of the axis are long rods, and to his genus 

 Cavernularia. as there are no spicules in the polyps, and no 

 axis. Of the two species of Cavernularia mentioned by 

 Kolliker which have no axis, it clearly comes nearer to C. 

 elegans than to the very variable and widely-distributed C. 

 obesa, the spicules of the rachis being almost entirely super- 

 ficial. 



Specimen A. 



This specimen was obtained in False Bay at a depth of 

 about 25 fathoms. 



Total length . . 

 Length of Rachis 



„ of Stalk 

 Greatest diameter 



145 mm. 

 120 mm. 



25 mm. 



27, mm. 



There is immense variety in the size and shape of the 

 spicules. The longest of the rod-like spicules which crowd 



