MEDUSA. I. 2S 



wanting in others. The predominant colours of the gastro-genital organs are bhiish or greenish in the 

 Indo-Pacific forms as also in the Tropical-Atlantic form, whereas the reddish, yellowish, or brownish 

 colours are predominant in the North-Atlantic forms; blue, green, and violet ma\-, however, also 

 be met with in the latter. 



I am inclined to suppose, that all the forms of Laodicea described up to now, with the exception 

 of Laodicea pnlchra Browne, belong to one and the same species: Laodicea nndiilata Forbes and Good- 

 sir, a species which attains its most exuberant development in the North-Atlantic; in the tropical At- 

 lantic, the tropical Pacific, and the Indian Ocean the species is represented by forms, which may be 

 called more or less well-marked local varieties; in some cases the described differences from the typical 

 L. iDidnlata may even possibly be due to bad preservation. 



If this view be correct, the Geographical Distribution of Laodicea midii/ata is tlie following: 



1) Atlajitic Coasts of Northern Europe. — [L. iiiidnlata Forbes and Goodsir). — The occurrence 

 within this area will be discussed in a more detailed way further below. 



2) Mediterranean. — Neapel, "occasionally during the winter of 1907—08" (/.. crnciata, Mayer 

 1910). Messina, winter 1852 — 1853 [Thaitinanfias mediterranean Gegenbauer 1856). Triest \L. criiciata, 

 Graeffe 1884, Z. bigelozvi, Neppi & Stiasny 1911). Villafranca (L. critciata. Metschnikoff 1886). 



3) Atlantic Coasts of North-America, south of Cape Cod {L. calcarata A. Agassiz). — Nau.shon, 

 Vineyard Sound, between Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, Woods Hole (A. Agassiz 1865, Har- 

 gitt 1904, Mayer 1910, Bigelow 1914b and 1915). — During the numerous investigations of the 

 "Grampus" in the Massachusetts Ba}' Laodicea was never found. Duriug the investigations in July and 

 August 1913, ranging from Nova Scotia to Chesapeake Bay (Lat. about 44' / to 37° N.) the species 

 was found at four of the southernmost stations, between Delaware Ba\- and Chesapeake Bay (i. e. Lat. 

 37° to 38°26' N.) at the end of July (Bigelow 1915, p. 318 and the list p. 316— 317). 



4) Tropical Atlantic {L. itlothrix Haeckel). — Canary Islands (Haeckel 1879, \'an li of fe n 

 1912). Bahamas (Mayer 1904). Tortugas, Florida, common during the summer-numths (Mayer 1900). 



5) Fiji Islands, connnon in December {L. Jijiana and inaran/a, Agassiz and Mayer 1899). 



6) Torres Straits, September— October {L. fijiana, Mayer 191 5). 



7) North-Coast of Neiv Guinea and several places in the Malayan-Archipelago (L. ftjiatia \-ar. 

 indica, Maas 1905, L. niaasii, Browne 1907). 



8) West-Coast of Ceylon (L. indica., Browne 1905). 



9) Gulf of Aden (L. maasii, Vanhoffen 1911). 



All records agree, that this species occurs exclusively in the neighbourhood of the coast.s. 



Distribution and Occurrence in the north-eastern Atlantic. 



The material at my disposal has been collected at 28 different localities, which are here men- 

 tioned in the following order: the waters south of Iceland, round Rockall, west, north, and east of 

 Scotland, North-Sea, Skagerrak. (See Chart II p. 26.) 



I) — Lat. 64°o6' N., Long. 23°i4' W., Faxebugt, Iceland. Jul>- 2nd 1908. Depth 98 m. Voung-fish 

 trawl, 65 m wire. "Thor" stat. 45(08). — i specimen, 12 mm wide. 



The Ingolf-Expediiion. V, 8. 4 



