742 



CYDIPPE. 



bodies are furnished with rows of flattened cilia, set in rows above each other some- 

 thing like the teeth of a comb. There are many members of this beautiful order to be 

 found in our seas, of which the common CYDIPPE is an excellent example. 



This lovely creature may easily be captured by the simple process of towing a gauze 

 net over the side of a sailing-boat. When removed from the water the net will be found 

 studded with variously-sized knobs of transparent gelatine, not particularly attractive, 

 and presenting no salient points whatever. Let, however, these apparently inanimate 

 lumps of jelly be transferred to a vessel filled with sea-water, and then how different 

 is their aspect ! 



Until the eye is accustomed to their shapes, they are not very easily seen, owing to 

 their transparency and the similarity between their refractive powers and those of the 

 water. I have often noticed persons looking at my glass jars without discovering that 

 a single living creature was within them, though each jar was tenanted by two or three 

 of these beautiful creatures. 



By degrees, however, they become plainly visible, the chief points of attraction being 



the eight bands of ever-moving 

 cilia that are drawn longitudin- 

 ally over the body, and by means 

 of which the creature performs 

 its wonderful evolutions. The 

 Cydippe is never still, but ca- 

 reers through the water with 

 ceaseless movement, sometimes 

 rising and falling in one spot, 

 sometimes rolling over and over, 

 sometimes spinning on its longer 

 axis, but mostly pursuing a partly 

 spiral course, turning slowly on 

 itself as it proceeds through the 

 water. 



During these movements, a 

 faint iridescence plays over the 

 whole body of the Cydippe, but 

 its chief glories are concentrated 

 upon the bands of cilia which are 

 drawn over the body. On these 

 the colors are too brilliant, and 

 yet evanescent, for description. 

 Miniature rainbows seem to rip- 

 ple along these living belts ; and 

 as the Cydippe glides gracefully along, it appears to be encircled with many diadems 

 of self-illumined jewelry. If examined by the microscope, the ciliae of which the 

 locomotive bands are composed are seen to bear some resemblance to very narrow 

 Venetian blinds, each lath closing or opening in regular succession. 



Pendant from the body are further seen two long filaments, to which are attached a 

 number of shorter and still finer threads, not unlike the hoods and snoods on a deep 

 sea-line, and used, indeed, for a similar purpose. The Cydippe can protrude or retract 

 these tentacles at will, and is continually throwing them out from the body or drawing 

 them back again, so that they never seem to be exactly the same length, one being 

 often three or four times as long as the other. The manner in which these tentacles 

 trail after the creature is extremely graceful, and the observer cannot resist a feeling 

 of wonder that they should avoid entanglement. 



The tenacles are employed for the purpose of catching prey, the Cydippe having been 

 observed in the very act of seizing and eating its food. The long threads arrested the 

 object as soon as touched, and in a very short time they were drawn to the central mouth, 

 and the prey safely lodged within. The smaller crustaceans appear to be the favorite 



Sarsla tubulosa. Wlllsla stellata. Cydippe pllcus. 



Dlphyes companulifera. 



