Medusce and Ctenophora 5h 



A colour sketch, taken from life by Mr. Johansen (station 27r) shows 

 manubrium and tentacle bulbs reddish orange, which agrees with the earlier 

 accounts (Mayer, 1910, p. 64), the tentacles themselves pale bluish. 



Sarsia flammea has previously been recordfed from various localities in 

 Spitzbergen, from Greenland (Hartlaub, 1907), and from Barents sea (Linko, 

 190.5). 



The species is so closely allied to S.japponica (Maas, 1909, Bigelow, 1913) 

 that it may finally be nceessary to unite them. The only character which has 

 been invoked to separate them {japponica like flammea lacks ocelh) is the fact 

 that in the specimens of japponica so far examined by Maas and by me (1913) 

 the sexual products are irregularly massed, while in flammea they occupy the 

 whole gastric wall except for its proximal and distal extremities. But inasmuch 

 as the specimens oi japponica which I have seen (1913, p. 4) were not in the best 

 of condition, the question may be left open for the present. 



Family BOUGAINVILLEID^ Gegenbaur. 



? Bougainvillea britannica (Forbes) 



Hippocrene britanica Forbes, 1848, p. 84, fig. 2. For synonymy, see Mayer, 1910, p. 161; 

 Hartlaub, 1911, p. 162. 



Station 6b; lat. 56° 26' N., long. 133° W. (off southern Alaska); June 24, 

 1913, surface, 1 specimen, 6imm. high, in formalin, in fragmentary condition; 

 also coloured sketch of same, from life, by Mr. Johansen. 



Our knowledge of the Medusae of this genus from the Pacific coast of 

 America is so scanty that it is much to be regretted that the collection contains 

 only a single specimen, and that one in such poor condition that it can only be 

 provisionally identified. Its large number of marginal tenitacles (27 in one 

 bundle) class it with either B. brittanica, B. principis, B. bougainvillei, B. mac- 

 loviana, or B. super ciliaris. But as it has no trace of peduncle, it cannot be 

 associated with either of the last three. As between britannica and principis, 

 it is best referred to britanica, for the following reasons. 



Although apparently sexually mature (to judge from the large gonads), the 

 labial tentacles branch at most four times, as is usually the case in britanica 

 (Hartlaub, 1911, p. 163), whereas in principis, according to Hartlaub (1911, 

 p. 177) they are much more complex. The gelatinous substance is not especially 

 thick: there are about as many marginal tentacles as in britannica; the small 

 axial ocelli are similarly situated on the bases of the free tentacles; and the 

 marginal tentacular pads are shorter than the spaces between them, whereas 

 in principis they are longer. On the other hand, in their rather linear outlines 

 they more nearly approach principis; and this is also true of the short-stalked 

 condition of the labial tentacles. The gonads, so far as can be seen in their 

 present state, are adradial, which is true of both britannica and principis. 



In colour, this specimen agrees fairly well with britannica, its manubrium, 

 as sketched by Mr. Johansen, being dark reddish brown, tentacular pads grey, 

 ocelli black. 



In britannica the gonads are described by Hartlaub (1911) as brown with 

 reddish tint; the manubrium having a yellow stripe in each interradius. Ac- 

 cording to Forbes (1848) the manubrium is reddish orange, while Mayer (1910) 

 describes the endoderm of the stomach as golden yellow. 



Considering how many collections of Medusae have now been made along the 

 northwest coast of America, and in Bering sea, it is surprising that the Medusae 

 of Bougainvillea have so seldom been taken or described thence. So far as 

 I can learn, the complete list of records is as follows : — B. bougainvillei, probably 

 identical with B. superciliaris (1913, p. 9), by Mertens in Bering sea in 1829, 

 many specimens (Brandt, 1838). Probably identical with it is the B. mertensii of 



63246—2 



