OCEANIDiE. 



Genus II. Turris, Lesson (1837). 

 CoNis, Brandt (1838).? 



Umbrella sub-cylindrical or mitrate ; ovaries four, double, dense, convoluted, 

 lining the cavity of the peduncle ; vessels simple ; margin of the umbrella with 

 numerous tentacula ; muscles of the disk conspicuous and highly developed ; mouth 

 of the peduncle fimbriated. 



This well-marked genus was constituted by Lesson for three species of naked-eyed 

 Medusae, having an organization which, seemed to indicate a high position in their order, 

 though not so high as the founder of the generic group would seem to place it. It forms part 

 of the tribe Nucleiferee in the arrangement of Lesson, where it is strangely associated with 

 Pandea, Circe, and Bougainvillea. The high development of the muscular system in the 

 species of Turris, indicate their superiority to the Oceanice proper, which otherwise they 

 closely resemble. The only species known besides the following, is the Turris papua of the 

 author cited, who discovered it near the island of Waigiou. 



The T. papua has only eight tentacles, whilst our native species are remarkable for the 

 number of those organs fringing their margin. This variation in number of tentacles seems 

 a good source of specific distinction in the genus. 



1. Turris digitalis (sp.), Miiller. 



Plate III, Fig. 1. 



Synonyms. Medusa digitale. O. F. MuUer, Prod. Z. D., p. 233, No. 2824 (1766). 



O. Fabricius, Fauna Groenlandica, p. 366 (1780). 

 Melicerta digitale. Peron, Ann. du Mus., t. xiv, p. 352 (1809). 

 Dianea digitale. Lamarck, Ann. Sans. Vert. (1817). 

 Eirene digitale. Eschscholtz, Syst., p. 95 (1829). 

 Turris borealis. Lesson, Prod. (1837), and Hist., p. 284 (1843). 



This beautiful species is an inhabitant of the northern seas. It was observed on the 

 coast of Greenland by Otho Fabricius, who, in his ' Fauna Groenlandica,' one of the most 

 remarkable zoological works of the last century, has given a short but expressive description 

 of it. " Hsec omnium minima digitale tam figura, quam magnitudine refert. Corpus conicum 

 hyalinum, vix in aqua observaretur, si non motu ejus margo coloratus in conspectum veniret. 

 Striae multee vtx notabiles longitudinaliter in'verticem concurrunt. Margo ciliatus est ciliis 



