CA R YOPHYLLIA CEA . 



CAPNEADJE. 



THE YELLOW IMPERIAL. 

 Aureliania heterocera. 

 Plate IX. Fig. 12. 

 Specific Character. Base scarcely exceeding column : yellow. 



Corynactit heterocera. W. Thompson (w.), Proc. ZooLSoc. 1853. Gosse, 

 Man. Mar. ZooL i. 28. E. P. Weight, Nat. 

 Hist. Review, April, 1859, p. 122. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



Form. 



Base. Adherent to rocks : scarcely exceeding the column in width ; 

 very slightly undulate. 



Column. A stout cylindrical pillar, about as wide as high, but often con- 

 stricted below the margin, when the lower portion becomes nearly hemi- 

 spherical : margin forming a thick parapet, the inner edge of which is 

 crenate, and separated from the tentacles by a narrow fosse. Surface smooth, 

 entirely invested with a thin slimy epidermis, which is easily rubbed off. 

 and quickly renewed. Substance firm and coriaceous ; perfectly opaque. 



Disk. Nearly circular, entire, ample, membranous, flat or slightly 

 convex : radii fine but distinct. 



Tentacles. About 120, set in four rows, of which the outermost con- 

 tains 32 ; the others one or two less : they are short, thick, cylindrical, 

 with knobbed tips, diverse among themselves. The 

 knobs of the outermost row are little wider than 

 the stems, they are sub-conical, or kidney-shaped, 

 seemingly formed of two lobes, with a round 

 tubercle seated on the inner face just below the 

 knob. Of the second row the knobs consist of two 

 swellings divided by a constriction, each swelling 

 composed of two globose lobes placed side by side, 

 with a mucro terminating the whole. Of the two 

 innermost rows the knobs are nearly sessile j they 

 are rondo-quadrangular, or shaped somewhat like 



loaf of bread. In the expanded state all these 

 organs lie nearly horizontal, pointing outwards, and slightly overlapping 

 the parapet. 



TENTACLES OF A. HETE- 

 ROCERA. 



