LA 
1915.] A. OKA : The Tunicata of the Indian Museum. AN 
thin and colourless. In the marginal zone it is traversed by numerous blood vessels 
with terminal knobs like those of Botryllus. 
The Mantle is very thin all over, with no specially developed musculature. It 
is quite transparent, allowing all internal viscera to show through distinctly. 
The Tentacles are simple, filiform, with pointed tips. They are twenty in num- 
ber, and of two sizes, placed large and small alternately. 
The Branchial Sac is well developed and occupies a large portion of the internal 
cavity. Itis not folded, but bears a number (fifteen or more) of internal longi- 
tudinal bars on both sides. The stigmata are broad and short, sometimes oval in 
shape, and are arranged more or less regularly in transverse rows on both sides of 
the endostyle; in other places their arrangement is quite irregular. The transverse 
vessels, where they are present, are only slightly larger than the interstigmatic 
vessels, and are all of one size. The endostyle is long but narrow. 
The Dorsal Tubercle is elongated longitudinally and placed between the posterior 
arms of the peripharyngeal ridge; its opening is a short simple longitudinal slit. 
The nerve ganglion is seen lying immediately behind the dorsal tubercle. 
The Dorsal Lamina is a very narrow plain membrane. 
The Alimentary Canal is very much like that of Botryllus. It forms a simple 
loop consisting of oesophagus, stomach, and intestine, and is placed under the 
posterior portion of the branchial sac, mostly on the left side of the median line. 
The oesophagus is very short and bent ventrally to open into the stomach. The 
stomach is oval-shaped with its walls folded longitudinally. It is provided with a 
small curved blind sac. The intestine is bent in the shape of the letter S, and has 
its posterior half surrounded by a ramifying gland whose duct opens into the blind 
sac of the stomach. The margin of the anal opening is entire. 
The Gonads consist of a number of small polycarps projecting from the walls of 
the peribranchial cavity. They are arranged in two rows, one on each side of the 
endostyle. Each polycarp is rounded in shape and is made up of two parts, the 
ovarial lying nearer the endostyle and the testicular occupying the outer half. 
Locality.—Puri, Orissa. “Golden Crown”. About fifty large and small speci- 
mens attached to a fragment of oyster-shell. 
This species is especially interesting as it exhibits a close resemblance to certain 
compound Ascidians, such as the Botryllidae and the Polystyelidae. The shape of 
the body, the structure of the branchial sac and the alimentary canal, and the 
condition of the reproductive organs are all so strikingly similar to the corresponding 
parts in members of the above named families that the only thing wanting for 
placing it in one of these families is the common investing mass. At first I con- 
sidered the possibility of the reproduction by budding and carefully examined some 
of the specimens, but was unable to find any trace of the occurrence of this mode of 
propagation. Besides, compound Ascidians are, so far as I know, never solitary, 
and even in a minute colony containing a single full grown ascidiozooid there are 
always one or two large and some smaller buds imbedded in the common test. That 
the test is traversed by blood vessels with enlarged terminal bulbs like those of 
