84 Mr. E. Forbes's Contributions 



H. brittanica, Forbes. Stomachal appendages as long as 

 the proboscis, four, equal, yellow, Tentaculiferous glands 

 four, red and white, with white tentacula. Umbrella 

 smooth. North of Ireland and East of Scotland. 



H. octopunctata, Sars. (Beskr. og Jagt. p. 28. t. 6. f. 14.) 

 Stomachal appendages shorter than proboscis, four, un- 

 equal. Tentaculiferous glands eight, black. Umbrella 

 smooth. Coast of Norway. 

 Plate I. fig. 2 a, Hippocrene brittanica, of the natural size ; 

 2 b, its stomachal appendages and oral arms ; 2 c, a tentacu- 

 liferous gland and tentacula. 



III. New Species o/'Thaumantias. 



The Medusce of this very natural genus, established by 

 Eschscholtz, have a simple stomachal cavity, from which pro- 

 ceed four simple canals ; no arms, but a proboscidiform 

 mouth, which cannot be prolonged beyond the general cavity, 

 and a margin surrounded by tentacula, which are usually 

 bulbous at their bases, and are highly extensile. The species 

 of Thaumantias are small animals, and probably numerous in 

 the northern seas. Hitherto they appear to have been mostly 

 confounded under the Medusa hcemispluerica of Muller, which 

 is a prettily coloured species, already recorded as a native of 

 the British seas. I have never met with an example which I 

 could refer to Muller's animal, but have found four very well 

 marked species which have hitherto been unrecorded. 



1. Thaumantias pileata, nov, sp. Umbrella cap-shaped. 

 Oral peduncle and clubs of the vessels pink. Proboscis 

 four-cleft at the mouth, lobes acute. Eyes large, black 

 and yellow, on the bulbous origins of the twenty tenta- 

 cula. 



This pretty species, the shape of which resembles that of a 

 Chinese hat, measured about an inch across. The clubs of its 

 vessels are small and narrow. It was taken at Port Rush, 

 on the north coast of Ireland, in June 1839. 



PI. I. fig. 3 a 8c b, Thaumantias 2ii^eata ; 3 c, its oral pe- 

 duncle. 



2. Thaumantias Thompsoni, nov. sp. Umbrella hemi- 

 spherical, very convex. Proboscis four-cleft, lobes tri- 

 angular. Clubs of the vessels, proboscis and bases of 

 tentacula yellow. Eyes minute, black, on the triangular 

 bases of the sixteen tentacula. 



PI. I. fig. 4 a Si. b, Thaumantias Thompsoni ; 4 c, one of the 

 tentacula. 



