50 REPORT ON THE PENNATULIDA. 



ZooLooicAL Position and Affinities. 



The general zoolof^ical position of Fiiniculina is shown in the Table 

 given on page 1 of this Report. The generic characters, as given by 

 Kolliker, our greatest authority on the group, are as follows : — * 



" Genus : Funiculinn. Long slender Sea-feather ; stalk short, with 

 no conspicuous dilatations ; polypes inserted directly into rachis ; stem 

 quadrangular. Polypes protruding from long cups whose margins are 

 produced into eight pointed processes, each of which contains in its 

 interior a prolongation of one of the body compartments surrounding the 

 stomach, and in its walls longitudinal sei'ies of long slender calcareous 

 needles which extend a certain distance down the cups and end in a 

 number of oblique and transversely placed needles. Polypes in 

 obliquely placed rows on the dorsg,l angles and adjoining sides of the 

 rachis : tentacles with no calcareous needles. Zooids of same form as 

 polypes lying on dorsal surface of rachis nearer the middle line than 

 the sexual animals : at the lowennost end of the feather the zooids take 

 the place of the polypes and end in single rows on the lateral surfaces 

 of the rachis. Se.xual organs in the body-cavities of all adult polypes. 

 Radial nutrient canals not present. Integument of both rachis and 

 stalk beset with calcareous needles, especially abundant in the stalk."' 



Kolliker only recognises a single species, viz., Fiiniculina quadnnuju- 

 laris. He gives the following list of synonyms and definition of the 

 species : — t 



Sijuovymit. — Penna del pesce pavone. Bohadsch. 

 Pennatula quadranfiiilaris. Pallas. 

 Pennatula antennina. Linnaeus, Ellis, and Solander. 

 Funiculina tetragona. Lamarck. 



Pavonaria Antennina. Cuvier, Schweigger, Ehrenbei'g. 

 Pavonaria quadranrjularix. Blainville, D. Chiaje, E. Forbes, 



Johnston, M. Edwards. 

 Ftmicnlina antennina. V. D. Hoeven. 

 Funiculina Forbesii. Verrill. 

 Funiculina quadranciularis. Herklots. 



Definition of Species. — " Colony up to 53 inches long, and at its 

 widest part 0'4 to 0'5 inch breadth. Feather five to six times as long as 

 stalk. Polype cups cylindrical, forming a conical pointed end when 

 closed, very numerous, arranged in oblique rows or clusters on the 

 dorsal angles and neighbouring parts of the dorsal and lateral surfaces ; 

 the larger polypes 0'2 to 0'4 inch long. The pointed processes of the 

 cup-border (calyx) up to 0'02 inch long. Prolongations of the body- 

 cavity into the cup-border (calyx) 0"05 to 0-06 inch long. Calcareous 

 needles of the cup up to 0'024 to 0'028 inch long." 



By Verrill, as we have already seen, two species of Fiiniculina were 

 distinguished, the name Funiculina, Forbesii being proposed for the 



* Kolliker, op. cit.. p. 250, t Kiilliker, op. cit., ji. 25C, 



