﻿2 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  W. 
  Fewkes 
  on 
  Ascorhiza 
  occidentalis. 
  

  

  In 
  dredging 
  just 
  outside 
  the 
  zone 
  of 
  kelp 
  in 
  this 
  channel 
  

   there 
  was 
  brought 
  up 
  by 
  the 
  dredge 
  a 
  most 
  exceptional 
  genus 
  

   of 
  Bryozoa, 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  to 
  present 
  more 
  than 
  usual 
  

   interest 
  to 
  students 
  of 
  the 
  morphology 
  of 
  this 
  group 
  of 
  animals. 
  

   For 
  this 
  strange 
  organism 
  the 
  name 
  Ascorhiza 
  is 
  proposed. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  marked 
  peculiarity 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  is 
  the 
  massing 
  

   of 
  the 
  zoarium 
  into 
  a 
  spherical 
  or 
  oval 
  capitulum 
  *, 
  mounted 
  

   on 
  a 
  jointed 
  stem, 
  which 
  is 
  flexible 
  and 
  highly 
  sensitive 
  to 
  

   the 
  touch 
  (PI. 
  I. 
  fig. 
  1). 
  While 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  said 
  positively 
  

   that 
  the 
  specimen 
  here 
  described 
  is 
  an 
  adult, 
  and 
  although 
  

   there 
  are 
  several 
  features 
  which 
  remind 
  one 
  of 
  an 
  immature 
  

   animal, 
  I 
  am 
  confident 
  that 
  a 
  similar 
  Bryozoon 
  has 
  never 
  

   been 
  described 
  from 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  sea-board 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States 
  and 
  that 
  nothing 
  like 
  it 
  is 
  recorded 
  from 
  European 
  

   seas. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  description 
  of 
  Ascorhiza 
  may 
  give 
  an 
  idea 
  

   of 
  its 
  external 
  form 
  and 
  exceptional 
  anatomy. 
  

  

  Ascorhiza 
  occidentalis, 
  gen. 
  et 
  sp. 
  nov. 
  

  

  Ascorhiza 
  was 
  dredged 
  f 
  in 
  20 
  fathoms 
  of 
  water 
  in 
  the 
  

   channel 
  off 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Santa 
  Barbara. 
  While 
  examining 
  

   a 
  small 
  rock 
  brought 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  dredge 
  there 
  was 
  detected 
  upon 
  

   it 
  an 
  organism 
  which 
  had 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  sac 
  mounted 
  on 
  

   a 
  slender 
  stalk. 
  I 
  was 
  at 
  first 
  at 
  a 
  loss 
  to 
  know 
  whether 
  

   the 
  organism 
  was 
  an 
  animal 
  or 
  a 
  plant. 
  Its 
  colour 
  is 
  

   almost 
  identical 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  huge 
  kelp 
  so 
  abundant 
  at 
  

   Santa 
  Barbara 
  ; 
  but 
  when 
  put 
  into 
  a 
  glass 
  vessel 
  and 
  irritated 
  

   with 
  a 
  needle 
  it 
  was 
  seen 
  to 
  sway 
  slowly 
  backwards 
  and 
  

   forwards 
  and 
  even 
  to 
  double 
  its 
  stem 
  on 
  itself. 
  A 
  study 
  of 
  

   the 
  specimen 
  with 
  a 
  hand- 
  lens 
  told 
  the 
  true 
  story 
  of 
  its 
  animal 
  

   affinities. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  new 
  genus 
  allied 
  to 
  certain 
  Bryozoan 
  

   genera, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  occur 
  in 
  shallow 
  seas, 
  some 
  in 
  the 
  deep 
  

   oceans, 
  and 
  one 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  fresh 
  water. 
  

  

  The 
  whole 
  animal 
  is 
  about 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  height 
  and 
  has 
  the 
  

   form 
  of 
  a 
  fleshy 
  globular 
  sac 
  mounted 
  on 
  a 
  stem 
  (fig. 
  1, 
  s). 
  

   The 
  colour 
  is 
  a 
  brownish 
  red 
  and 
  is 
  uniform 
  throughout 
  J. 
  

  

  * 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  Kirkpatrick 
  has 
  suggested 
  the 
  term 
  " 
  capitulum 
  " 
  for 
  this 
  

   club-shaped 
  structure. 
  I 
  am 
  indebted 
  to 
  him 
  for 
  several 
  valuable 
  sug- 
  

   gestions 
  in 
  the 
  preparation 
  of 
  this 
  account 
  of 
  Ascorhiza. 
  

  

  t 
  The 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  at 
  Santa 
  Barbara 
  is 
  lined 
  by 
  a 
  broad 
  zone 
  

   composed 
  of 
  the 
  huge 
  fronds 
  of 
  a 
  giant 
  Alga. 
  This 
  zone 
  is 
  situated 
  

   several 
  hundred 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  shore 
  and 
  marks 
  the 
  inner 
  limit 
  of 
  shallow- 
  

   water 
  dredging. 
  Between 
  the 
  inner 
  edge 
  of 
  this 
  zone 
  and 
  the 
  shore 
  it 
  is 
  

   next 
  to 
  impossible 
  to 
  dredge. 
  

  

  \ 
  The 
  colour 
  closely 
  approximates 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  giant 
  kelp 
  (Macrocystis). 
  

  

  