ON KEW ACTIKIANS FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA. 963 



56. On two New Actinians from the Coast o£ British 

 Columbia. By J. Playfair McMurrich, C.M.Z.S. 



[Received August 1, 1913 : Read November 11, 1913.] 



(Plate XCVIII.*) 



Index. 

 Systematic : — Page 



Peach ia quinquecapitata, s]). u 963 



Bicidium esquorece, sp. n 967 



The two forms described below were obtained during a visit to 

 the Marine Station maintained by the Canadian Government at 

 Departure Bay, Vancouver Island. They are of especial interest 

 from the probability that they represent stages of a single species, 

 and belong to a group that has not yet been described as occurring 

 on the west coast of North America. Since the specific identity of 

 the two forms is only a probability, it has seemed well to regard 

 them for the present as distinct, and even, for reasons given 

 below, to assign them provisionally to different genera. 



PeACHIA QUINQUECAPITATA, Sp. n. (PL XCVIII. figS. 1-4.) 



This form (fig. 1) was dredged by Dr. C. McLean Fraser 

 in Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, in 15-20 fathoms. In the 

 majority of the individuals the base is depressed in the centre 

 and smaller than the column. It is thin, and in all cases 

 shows clearly the lines of insertion of the mesenteries as well- 

 marked invections, so that it can have possessed but very slight 

 adhesive powers, if any. In one individual the attachments of 

 the mesenteries did not quite reach the centre of the base, but 

 ended abrujDtly a short distance from it, leaving a cii'cular central 

 area which was exceedingly thin, but nevertheless not perforated. 

 In other examples this condition did not occur, the insertions 

 of the mesenteries extending quite to the centie, so that there 

 were no indications of a terminal pore, such as has been described 

 by Gosse (1860) in P. kastata. 



The column (fig. 1) is almost cylindrical, though usually 

 contracting somewhat towards either extremity and, in some 

 examples, is grooved by twelve well-marked invections, although 

 in others these are quite indistinct. Examined under a lens the 

 surface is seen to be studded with minute elevations, which ai-e 

 all the more noticeable by being of a paler colour than the 

 general surface. No foreign particles were adhering to these 

 elevations in any of the examples studied, and, as I had no 

 opportunity for examiniug living specimens, I cannot say whether 

 they had the power of adhering to surfaces with which they 

 came into contact, as seems to be the case w'ith the similar 



* For explanation of tlie Plate see p. 972. 



