410 Miscellaneous. 



But not only had I found our British species to be the same as 

 //. catanensis, Grube, but that the Holothurians sent out from the 

 Zool. Stat. Naples as '■'■Holotlmria Poll " are also referable to the 

 species we are considering. Is, then, H. Poli = H. catanensis? — that 

 is a question which has exercised me for a long time. Delle 

 Chiaje's figure of M. Poll (Anim. s. Vert. K^apoli, pi. vi. fig. 1 ; re- 

 produced in Anim. Invert. Sic. Cit. pi. ex. fig. 1) seems to be a good 

 representation of H. catanensis. This species sent out as U. Poli is 

 evidenth' common at Naples, and, if not rightly named, how is it 

 that H. Poli has not been found, and how comes it that H, Forskahli, 

 of which Delle Chiaje writes " Ob ejusdem raritatem viscera hand 

 examinare potui," is common at Naples ? Am I to conclude that 

 ForslaJili has become common and Poli disappeared, or are they one 

 species ? Theel, in the ' Challenger ' Report on Holothuroidea, 

 part ii. 1886, p. 223, is completely puzzled about IT. Poll. 



Will Dr. von Mareuzeller or some other authority clear up this 

 matter by giving us good illustrations of the spicules of the body, 

 papillte, pedicels, and tentacles of H. Poli? for by their spicula are 

 the Holothurians most easily distinguished. 



The question is, who is right as to the identification of H. Poli, 

 the Zool. Stat, or certain authors ? — for example, the descriptions of 

 Theel just referred to, the figures by Sars of the spicules (Bidr. 

 til Kunds. Middelhavets Littoral-Fauna, 1857, figs, 75-77), which he 

 called H. tuhulosa, but Ludvig and Mareuzeller refer to H. Poli, and 

 those of Selenka (Beit. z. Anat. u. System, der Holothurien, 1867, 

 pi. xviii. figs. 44-46). These figures represent '• buttons " {Theel) ; 

 there are no buttons in H. Poli as identified at Naples. I do not 

 see why Sars's figures should not have been drawn from " buttons " 

 of H. tubulosa (fig. 77 being characteristic) and those of Selenka 

 from H. JStellati. Leaving, then, this question of If. Poli as one of 

 acknowledged doubt and ignorance on my part, we have — 



Holothuria Forshahli, Delle Ch., 1^2^,=- Nigger or Cotton Spinner, 

 Peach, 184:5, = Holothuria nigra. Gray, 1848, = Cticumaria 

 nigra, " Couch," Kinahan, \8bd,= Holothuria catanensis, Grube, 

 1864, = Stichojnts Selenka', Th. Barrois, 1882, = Holothuria Fors- 

 Jcalii*, Mareuzeller, 1893. 



I have specimens in my collection from Polperro, Cornwall 

 (Laughrin); Valentia, Ireland (^. 21. N., 1870) ; Plymouth {Marine 

 Biol. Lab.); Naples {Zool. Stat., as "■H.Poli"): Lesiua {Maren- 

 zeller, as "H. catanensis") ; Fosse de Cap Breton, Bay of Biscay 

 {A. M. K, 1880). 



* As regards the spelling of this name, we may choose from H. Fors- 

 kaolii, Chiaje, 1823, H. ForskaJili, Chiaje, 1841, H. tubulosa, var. Forskali, 

 Lamarck, 1840, = -H". ForskaUi, Selenka, Ludvig, and Marenzeller. The 

 spelling I have adopted is the name as corrected by Chiaje, and is in 

 accordiiiice with the rules of nomenclature. 



