SOLMISSUS INCISA. 



67 



Hawaii under the name Solmaris punctatus, show that the species is generally 

 distributed throughout the Tropical Pacific. 



Whether S. marshalU is truly distinct from S. albescens, which it resembles 

 in every respect except for the considerably greater number of otocysts, or 

 is a geographic race of the latter, is not clear. To decide this question 

 requires more extensive knowledge than we now possess concerning the 

 constancy of the number of the otocysts, and whether or not they increase 

 indefinitely in number with growth, as some conditions in the present speci- 

 mens suggest. Although the Mediterranean species S. albescens has so long 

 been known, neither Gegenbaur ('56), the Hertwigs ('78), nor Haeckel ('79) 

 have given us any definite information on this point. Before any final deci- 

 sion can be reached it will be necessary to correlate the number of otocysts 

 with the diameter of the bell in a considerable series of specimens of S. albes- 

 cens. I have examined the two fragmentary specimens from the Hawaiian 

 Islands recorded by Mayer under the name Solmaris punctatus. They show 

 clearly the outlines of gastric pockets, and therefore belong not to Solmaris, 

 but to Solmissus, and there is nothing about them to justify separating them 

 from S. marshalU. 



Solmissus incisa Fewkes. 



Solmaris incisa Fewkes, '86, p. 954, pi. 9. 

 Solmissus faberi Haeckel, '79, p. 350. 

 Solmissus bleekii Haeckel, '79, p. 351. 



