﻿398 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 102 



closely surrounded by the thicker glandular papillae. These spinelets 

 have a dark-brown granular cortical layer, which rubs off easily, and 

 are 0.14 to 0.17 mm. long. They appear to be soft and flexible. The 

 tentacles are rather short and grooved and are extensions of an oral 

 fold thrown into about 8 angular groups — perhaps 30 to 40 tentacles in 

 all. The contraction of the head and the softness of the tissue make 

 it difficult to be exact. 



The two retractors arise about midway between the base of the 

 introvert and the end of the body and are distinct both above and 

 below as far as the head, although the esophagus is attached to them 

 for over four-fifths their length. The inner surface of the body wall 

 has a satiny luster. There are no fixing muscles. The wing muscles 

 are unusually large. The strong spindle muscle is attached immedi- 

 ately behind the anus and is fused to the wall of the rectum but does 

 not extend beyond the intestinal spire. Well-developed mesenteries 

 anchor the esophagus to the retractors. 



The nephridia are small and open on nearly the same level as the 

 anus. The neplu-ostome is characteristic. The dorsal lip is entire, 

 but the ventral is thrown into folds with five or six marginal lobes. 



The appearance of the esophagus as it leaves the support of the 

 retractors is showTi on plate 25, figure 5. The slight constrictions 

 continue to the head. There is no rectal coecimi and the spire con- 

 tains many coils difficult to count, as the spindle muscle is contracted 

 and has telescoped them. 



The contractile vessel is functional for only a short distance behind 

 the head. From here a very slender thread of tissue can be traced 

 along the esophagus to where the vessel normally ends. It can be seen 

 only under brilliant illumination. 



Brain large with two eye spots only slightly pigmented. 



2^?/7?e.— U.S.N.M. No. 21219, 1,059 fathoms, green mud, March 22, 

 1904, one specimen. 



Type locality. — Albatross station 4387, off San Diego, Calif., 

 32°32'40'' N., 118°04'20" W. 



Remarks. — It would have been difficult to place this species without 

 the aid of Th^el's (1905) work on Arctic sipunculids, to which the 

 following page and figure citations refer. 



While Golfingia laetmophila appears to belong to Th^el's G. abys- 

 sorum section (p. 57) on account of the translucent skin of the trunk, 

 few papillae, reduction of the contractile vessel, and presence of intro- 

 vert spines, its tentacle crown is as well developed as that of G. 

 eremita (fig. 187) or G. margaritacea (fig. 194). The exact number of 

 tentacles is not diagnostic, as it increases with age. The tentacles of 

 abyssorum (fig. 206) are much simpler, and while Wesenberg-Lund 

 (1933, p. 9) found fewer and longer tentacles in a specimen from the 



