26 



Dyrets Bevægelser ere langsomme og træge; ved Ir- 

 ritation forkortes Tentaklerne, Munden tilsluttes og Krop- 

 pen trækker sig sammen til omtrent Halvdelen af dens 

 Længde i udstrakt Tilstand, hvorved den tillige bliver 

 saameget tykkere (se Fig. 30). Farven er paa Kroppen 

 lysebrun med mørkere indre Hule efter Kroppens ydre 

 Contourer, Tentaklerne og Kjønskapslerne brunlighvide, 

 de sidste med gjennemskinnende rustbrun indre Axe. 



Det Mærkværdigste ved vort Dyr er imidlertid dets 

 Udvikling, hvoraf det lykkedes mig at iagttage en interes- 

 sant og vigtig Phase. 



Medens hos det ene af de 2 observerede Exemplarer 

 (Fig. 30) de drueformige Kjønskapsler eller Kjønsdyr vare 

 smaa og kun lidet udviklede, vare de enkelte eller dob- 

 belte hos det andet (Fig. 29, g, g) meget større og langt 

 mere udviklede. Indeni en af de største af disse sidste 

 Kapsler (Fig. 34) bemærkedes en allerede langt udviklet 

 Unge (a), hvilende paa den øverste tykkere Ende af Kap- 

 selens cylindrisk-kølleformige Axe (&). Denne Unge var 

 kugleformig, gjennemsigtig hvid, uden Mund, besat over- 

 alt rundtom med mange uden Orden adspredte, forholds- 

 vis temmelig store, cylindriske, i en kugleformig Knop 

 endende Tentakler, og saa stor, at den næsten udfyldte 

 det hele store Rum mellem den øverste Ende af Axen 

 og Kapselens ydre Hud (#), som dens Tentakler overalt 

 stødte an imod. I noget mindre Kapsler fandtes en gan- 

 ske lignende mindre Unge med færre Tentakler (Fig. 33), 

 og i de mindste (Fig. 32) endelig var der intet Spor af 

 nogen Unge at bemærke. 



Paa Bunden af det Kar, hvori jeg havde Dyret staa- 

 ende i Søvand, bemærkedes nogle allerede udklækkede 

 Unger (Fig. 35, 36). Disse lignede ganske de ovenfor 

 beskrevne i Kapslerne indsluttede, med den Forskjel, at 

 de vare endnu større (omtrent T y lange og næsten halvt 

 saa tykke), Kroppens Form ikke længere kuglerund, men 

 oval eller elliptist, og Tentaklerne talrigere. Antallet af 

 disse sidste (c, c) er vanskeligt at angive nøiagtigt; der 

 syntes mig imidlertid at være mindst 50, af hvilke de 

 største eller mest udstrakte havde en Længde omtrent 

 som Trediedelen af Kroppens Brede, andre vare mindre 



overens, er, som man ser, ganske og aldeles forskj eilig fra hvad 

 Tilfældet synes at være hos den brittiske Form, hvor der, saavel 

 efter Gosses som Hincks's Meddelelser, findes et virkeligt chitinag- 

 tigt Polyparium, der et Stykke kryber henad Stene og andre frem- 

 mede Gjenstande, hvortil det umiddelbart er fæstet, inden den 

 egentlige Polyp reiser sig iveiret. Naar hertil kommer den meget 

 ulige Form af Gemmestilkene, der hos den brittiske Form ere meget 

 stærkt forlængede og tynde, fuldkommen coryneagtige med den 

 øverste Del forsynede med enkelte spredte med en Knop endende 

 Tentakler, nedenfor hvilke først de egentlige Gemmer ere fæstede, 

 synes det virkelig som om vi her havde Repræsentanter af 2 omend 

 nærstaaende saa dog distincte Slægter for os. I saa Fald vilde alt- 

 saa Familien Myriothelidæ Hincks komme til at indeholde 2 Slæg- 

 ter, hver repræsenteret af en enkelt Art, nemlig SI. Myripthela 

 Sars med Arten phrygia Fabr. og SI. Spadix Gosse med Arten 

 purpurea Gosse eller rettere Cocksii Vigurs. 



Udg. Anm. 



The movements of the animal are slow and sluggish* 

 when it is irritated the tentacles are shortened; the mouth 

 is closed, and the body is contracted to about half its 

 extended length, whereby it becomes likewise so much 

 thicker (see fig. 30). The color of the body is light- 

 brown with a darker interior cavity corresponding in con- 

 tour to the surface-outline; the tentacles and the sexual 

 capsules brownish white; the latter with transparent 

 rusty brown interior axis. 



The most remarkable feature in our animal is how- 

 ever its development, of which I had occasion to observe 

 an interesting and important phase. 



While in one of the 2 specimens noticed (fig. 30), the 

 clustered sexual capsules or sexual animals were small 

 and only slightly developed, the single or double ones in 

 the other (fig. 29, g g) were much larger and far more 

 developed» Inside of one of the largest of these last 

 capsules (fig. 34), an already well developed embryo (a) 

 was observed resting on the upper thicker end of the 

 cylindrico-claviform axis (b) of the capsule. This embryo 

 was globular, transparent white, without a mouth, covered 

 everywhere all round with numerous proportionately large 

 cylindrical tentacles, which terminated in a knob and 

 were distributed without apparent order. It was so large 

 as nearly to occupy the whole space between the upper 

 end of the axis and the exterior skin of the capsule (p), 

 with which the tentacles everywhere came in contact. 

 In somewhat smaller capsules, there was a precisely 

 similar smaller embryo with fewer tentacles (fig. 33), and 

 finally in the smallest (o.g. 32), there was no trace of any 

 embryo observable. 



At the bottom of the vessel, where I had the animal 

 standing in sea-water, I observed some young ones al- 

 ready hatched (fig. 35, 36). They resembled exactly those 

 contained in the capsules above described, with this dif- 

 ference that they were still larger (about T y long and 

 nearly half as thick). The form of the body was no lon- 

 ger globular, but oval or elliptical; and the tentacles 

 were more numerous. The number of these latter (c c) 

 can not well be stated accurately; there appeared to 

 me to be at least 50 of which the largest, or most ex- 

 tended, were equal in length to about one third part of the 



is evidently quite different from what appears to be the case in 

 the British form, in which, according to both Gosse's and Hincks' 

 communications, there exists a real chitinous polypary immediately 

 fastened to, and creeping for a part of its length along stones and 

 other extraneous substances, before the proper polyp becomes erect. 

 And when we further consider the very dissimilar shape of the 

 reproductive stalks, which in the British form are very elongated, 

 perfectly coryne-like and have on the upper part some isolated 

 knobbed tentacles with the proper gonophores attached below — 

 it seems really as if we had here before us the representatives of 

 2 distinct, although related genera. In this case the family Myrio- 

 thelidæ Hincks would contain 2 genera, each represented by a single 

 species, namely the genus Myriothela Sars, species phrygia Fabr., 

 and the genus Spadix Gosse, species purpurea Gosse or more pro- 

 perly Cocksii Vigurs. 



Note of the Editor. 



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