326 W. G. Van JSfanie — Bermuda Ascidians. 



writer himself spent some time daring the months of April and May 

 of that year at Bermuda, part of the time in companj'^ with Prof. 

 Verrill, and has consequently been able to collect and study nearly 

 all the species in a living state and in their natural surroundings. 

 The Avriter has also examined some specimens obtained by Prof. G. 

 Brown Goode in the years 1876 and 1877, though there proved to 

 be no forms among them which were not also obtained by the Yale 

 parties. 



The fauna of the Bermuda Islands is exceedingly rich in Com- 

 pound Ascidians, not only in the number of species, but in individ- 

 uals also, many of the forms being very abundant and generally 

 distributed about the islands. There may be other localities of no 

 greater extent where an equal variety of species and abundance of 

 individuals may be found, but there are probably few places where 

 all the generally recognized families of this group are so fully repre- 

 sented. A very large proportion of the more important genera of 

 the Compound Ascidians are also present, and a study of the 

 Bermuda forms comes very near to giving a complete and compre- 

 hensive idea of this group of animals. 



With the Simple Ascidians the case is different. The genera and 

 species are few, and though some of the species are common, none 

 are conspicuously abundant. One large and important family, the 

 Molgulidse, does not appear to be represented at all. 



No examples of the free-swimming Tunicata, the Pyrosomidae, 

 Thaliacea, and Larvacea were obtained, but no collecting of a kind 

 likeljr to result in finding them was attempted, owing to lack of 

 time. Unquestionably representatives of all these groups occur in 

 the vicinity of the islands and will be found when sought for. 



The following are the Bermuda Tunicata described by Herdman 

 in the Challenger Reports : — 



Symplegma viride. Ecteinascidia titrhinata. 



Didemman {?) inerme. Clavelina ohlonga. 



Botrylloides nigrum. Ascidia nigra Savigny, 



( = ^1. atra Lesueur). 



All but the last of these were new species. With the exception 

 of Syrnplegnta viride and perhaps Didemnian {?) inerme they are 

 represented in the Yale collections. 



Didemnum inerme is a form described by Herdman from a single 

 small specimen in such a poor state of preservation that nothing 

 could be made out in respect to the structure of the zooids, and he is 



