28 



MEDUSA. I. 



28) 12 miles NW. 3/4 W. of Hirshals lighthouse, Skagerrak. October gth 1904. Depth 640 m. 

 Young-fish trawl, in intermediate strata. "Thor" stat. 273. 7 specimens. (Plankton Laboratory, 

 Copenhagen). 



The specimens from the "Michael Sars" 1910 and the "Armauer Hansen" are in Bergens Mu- 

 seum, the specimens from the "Thor" stat 273 and 1074 are in the collection of the Plankton Labora- 

 tory in Copenhagen; the other specimens are all in the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen. 



The information, given in the literature, on the occurrence of Laodicea undulata in the North 

 Atlantic area are rather few and scattered and, moreover, not always reliable, in so far as the species 

 has frequently been confounded with Cosmetira pilosella Forbes. 



The type-specimens of Forbes and Good sir were found in the Minch between Scotland and 

 the Hebrides "on a very warm day, when the sea was very calm . . .". 



"Laodice cruciata (Thaumantias pilosella Forbes)" has been recorded from St. Andrews Bay by 

 Mclntosh (1888) and by Crawford (1891) who states, that it "swarmed throughout August and 

 continued in diminishing numbers till November". After recording the species under the name quoted 

 above, the latter author adds: "with marginal cirri and clubs". This seems to show, that the recorded 

 species is really Laodicea undulata and not Cosmetira pilosella. 



During the investigations of Browne in the Firth of Clyde 1901 02 Laodicea undulata was 

 not found. 



According to B r o w n e (1900, p. 720) the species has been found several times in the neighbourhood of 

 Valencia Harbour, Ireland. In 1895 it was found in April and July, in 1896 from July to the beginning 

 of September; in 1897 it appeared in May and was fairly common in August and September and again 

 in November, whereafter it disappeared. In 1898 it was found from June to November and was very 

 abundant during July and August Browne adds: "This species has not often been recorded in Bri- 

 tish seas". In the paper here quoted Browne calls the species with the name of L. calcarata. It 

 was also at Valencia Harbour that Miss D e 1 a p succeeded in rearing Laodicea from the Hydroid Cuspi- 

 della costata Hincks, in June 1906 (Browne 1907, p. 464). 



The medusa recorded by Browne 1895 (Report on the Medusae of the L. M. B. C. District) as 

 "Laodice crucial^ belongs to Cosmetira pilosella Forbes. But in the same paper (p. 276) is mentioned 

 a specimen of "Laodice calcarata L. Agassiz", found at Port Erin on May 5th 1894, a young specimen, 

 5mm in diameter "... with about 30 tentacles, and cirri of both shapes" (i.e. filiform cirri and cor- 

 dyli). "It corresponds to the description given by Agassiz". This medusa has, undoubtedly, been a 

 Laodicea undulata, which species may, accordingly, be found at Port Erin. 



From Plymouth "Laodice cruciata^ has been mentioned by Garstang (1894, p. 215), but also 

 in this case the medusa in question has actually been Cosmetira pilosella Forbes. Browne (1897 b) 

 gives a list of medusae, found at Plymouth during September 1893, 1895, and 1897. Laodicea is not 

 mentioned in that list Neither is it recorded in the "Plymouth Marine Invertebrate Fauna" 1904, whereas 

 "Euchilota pilosella (Forbes)" is said to be common every summer in the neighbourhood of Plymouth. 



Nevertheless, Laodicea undtilata actually occurs in the British Channel. In the British Museum 

 of Natural History in London I have seen two specimens from Plymouth, and it is recorded from the 



