﻿392 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 102 



GOLFINGIA MARGARITACEA CALIFORNIENSIS, new subspecies 



Plate 23, Figures 1, 1, a, 2; Plate 24, Figures 6-8 



Diagnosis. — Size small, with a single ring of 16 tentacles (or fewer), 

 slender body, no papillae, and the glands most prominent at posterior 

 end of trmik and in a zone at base of mtrovert; two fixing muscles, F^ 

 anchoring esophagus to base of left dorsal retractor, and F* anchoring 

 intestine (posterior to coecum) to right side between bases of right 

 retractors; bases of dorsal retractors nearer together and coecum 

 relatively much larger than in typical form ; eggs much larger than in 

 the Alaskan form. Skin nearly or quite opaque, pale yellowish brown. 

 Length 9 mm. (introvert 3.5 mm.) to 19 mm. (introvert 8 mm.); 

 breadth of trunk up to 2 mm. A living specimen attained 20 mm. in 

 length. 



Description. — In typical Golfingia margaritacea the number of 

 tentacles increases with the size of the specimen, G. m. californiensis 

 is at the stage shown by Th^el (1905, fig. 196; typical form). His 

 figure 194 (forma sibirica) is somewhat more advanced, but its broader 

 circumoral disk and shorter tentacles are more like those of cali- 

 forniensis, which however has four larger and four smaller oral pads. 

 Theel shows the nuchal organ with a single central furrow. G. m. 

 californiensis has two fiu-rows dividing the sensory cushion into three 

 parts. G. m. formsi Jinmarckica (the typical form), 20 mm. long, has 

 34 tentacles (Th^el, 1905, p. 64) while forma sibirica, from Bering 

 Strait, 35 mm. long, has only 16 tentacles. G.m. californiensis is more 

 like sibirica, which likewise has more obtuse tentacles than the typical 

 form. G. m. sibirica has "a thin almost transparent body wall, with 

 hardly discernible reticulation." In californiensis the body wall is 

 opaque except at anterior end of the introvert, where the skin is 

 translucent and iridescent, and the reticulation is marked at the base 

 of the introvert and the posterior end, where also the glands are 

 prominent (pi. 24, fig. 8). The nephridiopores open at about the 

 level of the anus or slightly in advance and are externally rather con- 

 spicuous for such a small animal. 



The fixing muscles of californiensis are labeled F^ and F*, since they 

 are evidently homologous with F^ and F* of the Alaskan specimens. 

 The relatively large coecum may be a characteristic of small speci- 

 mens. In Alaskan examples 75 mm. long the coecum is rudimentary 

 and the spindle muscle rather weak. In the California form it is 

 rudimentary. The intestinal spire is long, with 30 to 32 single coils. 



Although specimens of californiensis are small, the eggs are 0.34 

 to 0.35 mm. in diameter. In a slightly larger Alaskan specimen 

 (Sitka) the eggs measure 0.25 mm. In an example from Dutch 

 Harbor, Unalaska, 75 mm. long, they measure only 0.22 to 0.24 mm. 

 in diameter. 



