248 



ON A NEW SPECIES OF LOPHOPODELLA (POLYZOA) . 



By Rex W. Bretnall, 



Invertebrate Zoologist, The Australian Museum. 



(With a Figure in the text.) 



I. Introduction. 



The species about to be described was obtained by Mr. A. R. McCulloch, of 



the Australian Museum, in February 1920, from the Nepean River, New South 

 Wales. The specimens are from the same locality as, and are specifically identi- 

 cal with, those obtained by him for Dr. Goddard in 1909. These hitter were 

 placed m an aquarium, where they died, and were in a state of decomposition 

 when seen by Dr. Goddard, only the statoblasts being entire. Of these he says, 1 

 "Species of Plumatella occur in New South Wales, which, judging from the 

 nature of the statoblasts, differ from any known species"; and in the next para- 

 graph, "Mr. A. McCulloch found in the Nepean River, a mass of Polyzoa grow- 

 ing on a submerged stick; and judging from the nature of the statoblasts. we 

 have in this a new form." 



More recent work on the Phylactolaematous Polyzoa, notably that of Annan- 

 dale, 2 has now brought this group into more stable form; his key and diagnosis 

 of the genus Lophopodella is here amended, his nomenclature being retained . in 

 the preparation of this paper my thanks are due to Mr. A. R. McCulloch, of tne 

 Australian Museum, for the preparation of the figures; to Messrs. Kinghorn anc. 

 Musgrave of the same institution for the collecting of additional material: and to 

 Mr. E. A. Briggs of the University of Sydney for his kindly advice and assist- 

 ance. 



2. Methods of Preparation. 



As I had a large amount of material at my disposal, several methods ot pre- 

 servation were tried; but some of these, although successful with Fredericella, 

 failed when applied to Lophopodella. The two most successful methods are here 

 detailed, the former giving quite the best results: — 



1. The living material was placed in a petri dish, and crystals of Chloral 

 Hydrate were gradually added to the water; when complete anaesthetisation was 

 apparent, and there was no response from the tentacles on being irritated, the 

 specimens were transferred to a fixative recommended by Bles. 3 This fixative 

 is: — 



70%, llcohol 90 cc. 



Glacial Acetic 3 cc. 



Formalin 7 cc. 



1. Goddard, Proc. Linn. Soc. M.S. Wales, XXIV,. 1909, p.488. 



2. Annandale, fauna of British India, Freshwater Sponges, Hvdroids and 

 Polyzoa, 1911. 



3. Bles, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin.XLI., 1905, p.792. 



