﻿303 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY 



by the central portion of the star-shaped fissure, but also upon any point in the extent 

 of the star, and at times I have even seen two Sarsiae entangled between the folds of 

 the mouth, one at the very peripheric extremity of an arm of the cross, and the other 

 near the middle of another arm, as represented in Plate VII. Fig. 11. So that there 

 cannot be left a shadow of doubt as to the real nature both of this fringed star and 

 its fissure, as well as the central open space. 



Staurophora has, we can say positively, a narrow, oblong mouth, with extensively 

 prolonged angles reaching nearly to the margin of the periphery, where the folds converge 

 and unite, and give rise to a narrow vascular radiating tube, identical with the chymif- 

 erous tubes in Sarsia and Thaumantias, and other naked-eyed Medusae. In Staurophora 

 the only difference is the relative shortness of these radiating tubes, which are shorter 

 than in other genera in proportion to the greater extent of the cavity of the mouth ; but 

 here, as in all, the mouth, central cavity, and radiating tubes communicate with the mar- 

 ginal circular tube, and through it distribute the digested food into all parts. 



Respecting the form of the central cross, I have further to remark, that in our species 

 the fissure formed by the folds of the membrane of the mouth is undulated in its course, 

 as well as the membrane itself, and that the lower margin of the membrane is deeply 

 but irregularly lobed. In that respect the species from Boston Bay differs from that of 

 the Northwest Coast, in which, to judge from the figure of Mertens, the canal is straight, 

 and, as expressly mentioned by Brandt, the surrounding membrane, which hangs down, 

 is deeply cleft into fringed distinct lobes ; so that there can be no doubt as to the specific 

 distinction between the two species, though they otherwise agree closely. From the 

 peculiarities just described, I propose to call the Eastern species Staurophora laciniata, 

 Brandt having named the other species after its discoverer, the able and lamented 

 Mertens. 



I have little to say respecting the organs of reproduction, as my specimens were 

 collected at a season when the eggs did not seem to have advanced far in their develop- 

 ment. I can only state that they are grouped as in Thaumantias, along the radiating 

 chymiferous tubes, where they form a narrow elongated cluster, extending from the ex- 

 tremity of the cross along its fissure for some way towards the centre, where they are 

 lost at about one third of its length. How large the eggs grow before they are mature 

 has not been ascertained, nor could their microscopic structure be satisfactorily inves- 

 tigated, as they seem more closely imbedded in the substance of the disk than in other 

 species, and are always crushed when separating the fringes from the disk. 



Staurophora laciniata has a light, bluish milky color, and is very transparent, though 

 less so than most of the species of naked-eyed Medusae. I have, for that reason, been 



