676 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



localities, among which may be mentioned the following : — Brachionus 

 falcatus Zach., showing numerous variations, and Metopidia (Notogonici) 

 Ehrenbergi Percy, both from Java ; Polychcetus Collinsii Gosse and 

 Brachionus militaris Ehrbg., from Cochin-China ; Euchlanis plicata 

 Levander, from the Sandwich Islands. No new species were found. 



Echinoderma. 



Peculiar Larval Asterid.* — R. Koehler and C. Vaney describe 

 under the name Stellosplmra mirabilis a peculiar larval Asterid, obtained 

 by the Prince of Monaco from a depth of 2000-3000 metres off the 

 Azores. It is unlike any known pelagic form, but its pedicellarige are 

 like those of star-fishes of the Forcipulte group. It is very probably 

 the larva of an abyssal form. The body is almost spherical, about 

 3 mm. in diameter, with superficial sharp calcareous corpuscles arranged 

 in groups and inserted on calcareous plates, with an internal enteron 

 showing two coils and two oesophageal diverticula. At a later stage the 

 corpuscles and plates are absorbed. A six-rayed symmetry indicated by 

 six equatorial plates persists after these disappear. The secondary plates 

 of the aboral poles show a five-rayed arrangement. The presence of 

 two buccal tentacles indicates bilateral symmetry. 



First Recorded Occurrence of Blastoidea in New South Wales.f 

 T. Griffith Taylor describes from Carboniferous beds at Clarencetown 

 the first Blastoid found in New South Wales. It is noteworthy for its 

 large size, the calyx probably measuring 7-8 cm. when intact. It is one 

 of the TroostoblastidEe and agrees most closely with Metablastus. 



New Brood-nursing Synaptid.J — S. Becher gives an account of 

 Synapta minuta sp. n. It is a brood-nursing species, of which fourteen 

 are now known. In the present species the body-cavity is used as brood 

 chamber. A consideration of the contractile rosette of the Holothurise 

 is included in the paper, the author concluding, contrary to the views of 

 earlier writers, that it is an adult and not simply a larval structure. 



Ccelentera. 



Reactions of Tubularia crocea.§ — A. S. Pearse has made a number 

 of experiments on this hydroid. The proximal tentacles react to 

 mechanical stimulation by bending towards the manubrium. The 

 distal tentacles react to mechanical and chemical stimulation by bending 

 towards or away from the mouth, and this action may be accompanied 

 by a bending of the manubrium towards the stimulated side. Appar- 

 ently no part of the hydranth is sensitive to very dilute solutions of 

 meat juice, onion juice, or oil-of-cloves. The minimum temperature 

 at which reactions occur is 0° C, and the maximum about 2Q° C. 

 Sudden change from strong light to shadow or from darkness to strong 

 light has no apparent effect upon the animals. 



* Comptes Rendus, cxlii. (1906) pp. 520-2. 



t Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. xxxi. (1906) pp 54-9 (4 figs.). 



% Zool. Anzeig., xxx. (1907) pp. 505-9 (3 figs.). 



§ Amer. Nat., xl. (1906) pp. 401-7 (1 fig.). 



