222 FISHERIES OF THE ORIENTAL REGION, 



been divided into two sub-genera Thelenota and Microthele. 

 Ilolothuria is in some sort the type of the whole order. It has a 

 cylindrical, more or less elongated body, rounded towards the 

 extremities, tube-feet more numerous on the crawling surface, 

 scattered above and forming raised conical papillae, mouth 

 surrounded by 20 short tentacles, shield-like, branched at their 

 extremity, forming a double alternating series. All the order 

 have a singular facility for contracting to such an extent as to 

 disgorge the whole of the interior viscera as well as the tentacles. 

 At the end of some months the animal is said to reproduce them. 

 Synapke are perhaps the most interesting animals of the group, 

 with their mici'oscopic spicules like anchors with long shanks 

 fastened to little discs and standing out at right angles to the 

 skin, to which they give a characteristic rough and adhesive 

 feeling on being touched. The milk-white sticky exudation is a 

 form of cnidce ejection in which a poisoning power for defensive 

 purposes is included as in the sea-anemones. 



As already stated, the coral reefs are covered at low water with 

 a great many of these sea-slugs of all sorts of dingy colours, but 

 only a small proportion of them are of use for the Chinese market. 

 They are distinguished on the Australian coast by the names of 

 " Black-tish," " Teat-fish," " Red-fish," " Cotton-fish," and so on. 

 Amongst the Malays in the Moluccas, Borneo, and the Philippines, 

 the same kinds are distinguished by the names of Talipan and 

 Munang, Lolowan, Ma tan, Sapatos-China, Sapatos-grande, Balate- 

 blanco, Hangiuan, Bacolongan and Kih-kih-san. Some of these 

 names I give only on the authority of Capt. Cheyne in the 

 " Technologist," for I never heard them , but I have no doubt 

 they are in use, but with a different orthography. 



Bacolongan is a well-known Tagalo and Visayan term for the 

 first quality of balate or tripang. It is 11 to 15 inches long, oval, 

 brown, with a row of tube-feet on each side. It is hard, rigid, 

 does not move about much, and usually keeps to the deeper water, 

 and therefore can only be obtained by diving. I have not been 

 able to find any derivation for the name. 



