200 Mr. H. J. Carter on 



Synascidia cauliculata, ? n. sp. 



Cormus or head obversely conical, flower-pot shaped, some- 

 what compressed now ; gelatinous flaccid, semitranslucent, 

 surfaced by sixteen or more ridges, each about l-12th in. in 

 its broadest or upper part, which extend upwards from the 

 contracted or fixed end, more or less parallelly, to the free 

 margin of the cormus, over which they bend inwards towards 

 the centre, which is rather depressed ; each ridge bearing a 

 double row of synascidians, one on each side, increasing in size 

 upwards as they become more and more developed, until they 

 reach the upper part of the head where this is completed. Colour 

 that of grey semitransparent gelatine, cuticled. Head about 

 1£ in. high and 1 in. its broadest diameter, that is at the free 

 or upper margin. Stem round, corrugated transversely, 

 smooth, leathery, of a yellowish shining colour, decreasing 

 gradually in size from its union with the cormus to its lower 

 extremity, which is terminated by a root-like expansion ; 

 composed of a tough, yellow, smooth cuticle circumferentially, 

 followed by a thin layer of granular cells : the rest made up 

 of double circular cells or holes, like the figure "8," separated 

 by a thin septum, each cell about 1 -300th in. in diameter, 

 imbedded in granuliferous gelatinous cartilage. Stem 6 in. 

 long, by l-6th in. in diameter, close to the cormus, and 

 l-24th in. at the other end. Synascidian not examined fur- 

 ther than was sufficient to determine the nature of the object. 



Hob. Marine. 



Loc. Port Phillip Heads, South Australia. 



Fam. 2. Gumminida. 



The specimen of Chondrilla nucula, to which I have alluded, 

 is subglobular, lobate, about | in. high and 2 in. in hori- 

 zontal diameter now in its spirit-preserved state ; if dried 

 this would be considerably less. When fresh the colour was 

 much the same as it is now, viz. " dark grey, nearly black." 

 In short, it is precisely the same as the Adriatic species first 

 described by Schmidt, which I find to be world-wide in dis- 

 tribution. 



It may be remembered here that I have already described 

 and illustrated a species of Chondrilla of a buff-colour from 

 Port Jackson, under the name of C. australiensis ( l Annals,' 

 1873, vol. xii. p. 23, pi. i. figs. 10-15). In appearance and 

 colour, besides growing over all bodies with which it comes 

 in contact, this much resembles Halisarca australiensis, but 

 here again the resemblance ceases, for Chondrilla australi- 

 ensis is corticate and possesses spicules ; while C. australiensis 



