Mr. E. S. Russell on Depastrum cyathit'orme. 63 



as follows : — " Sernipollicaris, stipite disco circulari, repando 

 sese affigente ; corpore cyathiformi, margine dilatata, repanda 

 circulari, integra (s. non in radios divisa) tentaculifera, ten- 

 taculis saspissime in fasciculis 8 fere continuis, ad margine m 

 corporis dispositis ; organis generationis 8, binis approxi- 

 matis " (Faun. lit. Norveg. no. 1, p. 26, tab. iii. fig*. 8-13). 



Shortly afterwards it was found in great abundance by 

 Mr. David Landsborougb, .Tun., at Southend, Arran, and 

 also by Dr. Landsborough at Corriegils, Arran. The 

 specimens were identified by Mr. Joshua Alder as Lucernaria 

 cyathiformis, Sars, and he sent a drawing to Mr. George 

 Johnston, who, on the strength of this drawing, incorporated 

 the species in his ' Hist, of Brit. Zoophytes/ vol. i. p. 475 

 (London, 1847). 



Gosse (Synopsis Brit. Actinias, 1858) then founded the 

 genus Depastrum for specimens which he found at Weymouth, 

 which he regarded as identical with the Lucernaria cyathi- 

 formis of Sars. Next year some small specimens were found 

 by Allman (Rep. Brit. Assoc. Aberdeen, 1859) in the Orkney 

 Isles, which seem to have been immature specimens of 

 Depastrum cyathiforme, Gosse. It does not appear to have 

 been recorded at any other locality until found by Beaumont 

 at Port Erin, Isle of Man (' Fauna of Liverpool Bay,' iv. : 

 Liverpool, 1895). He mentions also a specimen from 

 Plymouth. 



In the month of July 1903 I rediscovered Depastrum on 

 the shore at West Bennan, Southend, Arran ; and in 

 August, while at the Millport Biological Station, near the 

 Lion Rock, Millport, and also near the old castle on the east 

 side of Little Cumbrae. The animal seems to have a wide 

 distribution, and I have no doubt that a careful search 

 would reveal its presence in many localities from which it is 

 hitherto unrecorded. 



I found Depastrum in large numbers under stones at 

 about half-tide, and also farther out. It adheres very firmly 

 to the underside or occasionally round the edges of fairly 

 large stones, so firmly that it has to be scraped off with a 

 knife. It is very local in its distribution, but generally 

 abundant where it does occur, though at one locality in 

 Little Cumbrae I found only a few scattered individuals. It 

 is difficult to account for its local distribution, but in my 

 experience it is never found in muddy localities nor in spots 

 where there is much decaying seaweed. It occurs well up 

 the beach, and appears to be quite a hardy form. In Arran 

 my largest specimens were got near low- water mark, but at 

 Cumbrae large specimens occurred more plentifully halfway 



