ASTRuEACEA. 
JLYANTUID.E. 
THE iSPKAWLET. 
Arachnactis alhida. 
Specific Character. Marginal tentacles longer than the column, gular 
tentacles about one-fourth of the length of the column. 
Arachnactis albida. Saks, Fauna Litt. Norveg. i. 28; pi. iv. tig. 1 — 6. 
Forbes and Goodsir, Trans. Koy. Soc. Edinb. xk. 310. 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 
Form. 
Column. Shortly cylindrical [pear-shaped, E. F.j, sub-globular in 
contraction, becoming gradually smaller and rounded at . the inferior 
extremity, where no orifice has been observed. Surface smooth [but with 
the power of adhering, at least by the inferior extremity (E. F.), which 
implies the existence of suckers]. Substance softly fleshy. 
Disk. [Undescribed.] 
Tentacles. Of two kinds. First series marginal, twelve to fourteen in 
number, filiform, tapering, very long, slender and pointed : of these 
eleven are about equal in length and thickness, while one or two are very 
much shorter and smaller, and un- 
equal inter sc. Some individuals 
show traces of the budding forth 
of another tentacle. These smaller 
and apparently sprouting tentacles 
always occur at that part of the 
circle which corresponds to one 
angle of the mouth. Second series 
springing immediately around the mouth-slit, eight to twelve in number 
[sixteen, E. F.], conical, pointed, scarcely one-tenth as long as those of the 
first series ; some smaller than the rest, and apparently budding, and these 
correspond in position with the budding ones of the first series. 
Mouth. A simple slit. 
Colour. 
Column. Pellucid whitish, displaying the dark brown stomach through 
its translucency [dusky white, tinged with tawny, E. F.]. 
Tentacles. First series whitish with dark brown tips [tawny and white, 
E. F.]. Second series dark brown on the front face. 
