20 



HYDROIDA 



soon as it was irritated by the preservation fluid, it contracted to a lengtli of only 9 cm., and simultan- 

 ously the diameter of the distal portion of the polyp increased to the measure of 2-3 mm. This 

 observation shows how little importance is, in fact, to be attached to the absolute measures of the 

 polyp in the limitation of the species of Myriothela. While the individuals from st. 117 wholly agree 

 with the earlier descriptions and drawings of the species, the defective specimen from st. 125 (tab. I, 

 fig. 8) at the first glance differs greatly. The broad, longitudinally strongly contracted basal portion 

 is studded with blastostyles in a narrow belt, above which the polyp tapers rapidly so as to assume 

 a conical appearance fairly reminding of the drawing by Bonne vie of Myriothela mitra (1899, tab. IV, 

 fig. 3). However, a closer examination shows that the distal portion of the polyp has been torn off. 



,.— . 2 000 m 



Text-fig. C. Localities of Myrioihela phiygia in the Northern Atlantic. 



and as its trunk above the blastostyles is studded with capitate tentacles, while the polyps of the 

 species mentioned have no tentacles at all, a mistake of identity is out of the question. 



Myriothela phrygia is an arctic deep-sea form, mainly occurring in the icy water at the bottom 

 of the northern seas. It is recorded from Taimyr (J ad er holm 1908), from the north of Norway, and 

 from the depths of the ocean between Spitzbergen and Greenland (Bonne vie 1899), besides from the 

 localities laid down in the map subjoined (Text-fig. C). The original description has been given on 

 specimens from Greenland, from where, however, we still lack particulars as to localities. "Ingolf 

 now adds two new finds in the waters of the Arctic Sea between Iceland and Jan Mayen. On the 

 whole, the occurrence of the species is scattered; most of the finds are situated in high-arctic regions, 

 and here the species is .seen to occur even at .so .small a depth as between 12.8 and 14.6 m (Jader- 

 holm 1908). Therefore, two localities are, indeed, apt to give surprise. One of these localities is recorded 



