AN UNDESGEIBED A CRANIATE. 235 



Jamaica. These specimens were taken by the Johns Hopkins 

 Marine Laboratory and merely mentioned as Amphioxus (21), but 

 subsequent examination has proved their identity with the forms 

 previously known from St. Thomas, South America and the 

 Southern United States. 



As early as 1887 the same Laboratory while at Nassau, N. P., 

 obtained miniature swimming forms in the harbor. These were 

 taken again by us in July of 1892 at the same place, and proved 

 to be immature specimens of what we will call Asymmetron lucay- 

 anum, so that we may regard this form as probably occurring all 

 through the Bahama Islands. 



Meanwhile there had appeared brief mention of the occurrence 

 of Acraniates at various points upon the coast of North America. 



Thus, in an account of the Zoology of California (12) published in 

 1868, J. G. Cooper mentions the occurrence of Branchiostoma f 

 found in the sand at San Diego, California, and gives a popularized 

 characterization that leaves no doubt as to the acraniate character 

 of the creature. From the notice of Gill (13) it appears that these 

 Californian lancelets were dredged at a depth of ten fathoms, and 

 that only three specimens were found. One of these is now in the 

 collection of the Smithsonian Institution, labelled E. californiensis. 

 As this and many others from the same locality have an arrange- 

 ment of myotomes unlike that of described species, we may con- 

 clude that it is specifically distinct though it has been referred to 

 as B. lanceolatum, by Jordan and Gilbert (14), who had, however, 

 not seen the specimens, and regarded (15) all American forms as 

 not specifically distinct from the European, as far as had been 

 proven. 



On the Atlantic coast Coues and Yarrow (16) dredged a dozen or 

 more specimens on Bird Shoal, Beaufort, N. C. They identified 

 these as JBranchiostoma caribceum. This discovery was, however, 

 spoken of by Jordan and Gilbert in their list of Beaufort Fishes (17) 

 under the name Amphioxus caribceus, though later, as above men- 

 tioned, all American forms were regarded as undistinguished from 

 the European. 



At the same place Amphioxus was collected by members of the 

 Johns Hopkins University in 1880-1-2-4-5. 



