﻿226 



The Philippine Journal of Science 



1914 



two ducts originate from the point of junction of three main 

 ducts in the mouth arms. The central one (fig. 13, c) is formed 

 by the union of the ducts, which run along the outer edge of the 

 inner wing of the two arms supported by a common pillar and 

 give off smaller ducts to the branches of their inner wings. 

 This union occurs not far from the disk center in the axil 

 between two mouth arms supported on the same interradial 

 pillar. The other two (fig. 13, d) are the main central ducts 

 from the same two mouth arms. Each of those two main ducts 

 divides at the point of origin of the two outer arm wings 

 into 3 main branches, the two larger of which run to each of 

 the outer arm wings and join the ducts running along the 

 outer surfaces of these wings. These and the main ducts of 

 the arms are often double (fig. 13). The smaller one runs 

 through the center of the arm, giving off branches to the outer 

 ducts of the 3 wings till at the tip of the arm it and the outer 

 ducts of the 3 wings are joined. The main duct of each arm 

 sends off in its proximal portion one large connecting branch 

 and numerous smaller connecting branches to the outer duct 

 of the inner mouth arm. 



The medusa is transparent white, and the gonads are yellow. 



There are 3 specimens of this new and interesting medusa 

 collected by Dr. R. P. Cowles along the beach at Taytay, Palawan. 

 Measurements of them are given in the following table. 



Measurements of Lobonemoides gracilis sp. nov. 



Specimen. 



Type C. 2422 

 Cotype A ... 

 Cotype B ... 



Bell di- 

 ameter. 



Arm-di9k 

 diameter. 



Length 

 of the 

 mouth 



Width of (Width of 

 the sub- the inter- 

 grenital ostial 

 ostia. pillars. 



This is a very puzzling form to place systematically. It may 

 possibly be a growth form of Lobonema mayeri or some other 

 species of that genus, for in many ways it resembles these 

 medusa?, but it lacks the two main generic characters of 

 Lobonema, the tentaclelike marginal lappets and the perforated 

 arm membranes. Further, it was collected on the east coast 

 of Palawan, whereas L. mayeri was found only on the west coast. 

 The gonads of Lobonemoides gracilis are well developed although 

 not fully mature, and its sense organs and the arrangement of the 

 canals of the mouth arms are different from those of L. may 



