

stilling eg bygning peger mod nært slegtskab. Ældre 

 zoocier viser tildels temmelig stor lighed med zoocierne hos 

 Smittia reticulata. Da jeg for tiden ikke kan afgjøre, om 

 Stimpson og Sab's arter er identiske, har jeg opført Sars's 

 navn palmata. 



I sin beskrivelse gjorde M. Sårs opmerksom paa cle 

 bøielige rør af kitinagtig beskaffenhed, som var fæstede til 

 zoariet. 



Smitt (24, IV, p. SO), paapegede, at disse rør eller 

 rodtraade (tubular fibres) udgik fra selve zoocierne og at 

 de nærmede sig hinanden og tilslut voksede sammen til et 

 knippe mod koloniens proximale ende. Ved hjelp af dette 

 knippe var kolonierne fæstede til fremmede legemer paa 

 bunden, saasom ormrør og lignende. Vigelius (31, p. 16) 

 skriver: „They (the branches of the colony) are connected 

 by numerous tubular fibres, originating on both sides of 

 the zoarium from membranous rather pear-shaped enve- 

 lopes, which cover certain zooecia (fig. 2)". Disse tuber 

 danner merkelig nok et slags ibrlængelse nedad af zoocierne, 

 og deres betydning for koloniens liv, maa udentvivl være 

 at fungere som et støtteapparat, som holder det skjøre zoa- 

 rium sammen, selv om det brækkes af paa forskjellige 

 steder. 



Smittia reticulata, Mac Gill. 



Escharella legentilii, Smitt (24, IV), p. 10, 81, tab. 24, 



fig. 47 — 52. 

 Smittia reticulata, Hincks (8), p. 346, tab. 48, fig. 1 — 5. 



Findested. St. 290. 



Arten er funden i Karahavet (Levinsen), ved Novaja 

 Semlja (Smitt), Jan Mayen (Lorenz) og opføres ogsaa for 

 Grønland. Men den er ingen arkticus i streng forstand, 

 den forekommer saaledes ved Englands og Frankrigs kyster, 

 i Adriaterhavet, ja endog ved Nyzealand og Falklands- 

 øerne. 



Smittia trispinosa, Johnst. 



Escharella jacotini, Smitt (24, IV), p. 11, 86, tab. 24, fig. 



53 — 57. 

 Smittia trispinosa, Hincks (8), p. 353, tab. 49, fig. 1 — 8. 

 ,, „ var, arborea, Levinsen (lo), p. 16, tab. 



27, fig. 7, 8. 



Findesteder. St, 273, 326, 357. 



Paa de nævnte steder forekom kun den af Levinsen 

 opstillede eiendommelige form arborea. Denne varietet er 

 tågen foruden af Dimphna- og Nordhavsekspeditionen ogsaa 

 af Kuckenthal og Walter ved Spitsbergen (Bidenkap). Jeg 

 tog den vinteren 1899 i Porsangerfjorden, hvormed den 



cularia indicate a close relationship. Older zoæcia some- 

 times bear considerable resemblance to the zooecia in 

 Smittia reticulata. As I cannot at present decide whether 

 Stimpson' s and Sars's species are identical, I have put clown 

 Sars's name, palmata. 



M. Sårs, in his description, drew attention to the 

 flexible tubes of a chitinous consistency, that were attached 

 to the zoarium. 



Smitt (24, IV, p. 80) pointed out that these tubes 

 or root-fibres (tubular fibres) issued from the zocecia them- 

 selves, and that they approached one another, and at last 

 grew together into a bunch towards the proximal end of 

 the colony. By means of this bunch, the colonies were 

 attached to foreign bodies at the bottom, such as worm- 

 casts, and the like. Vigelius (31, p. 16) writes: "They 

 [the branches of the colony] are connected by numerous 

 tubular fibres, originating on both sides of the zoarium 

 from membranous, rather pear-shaped envelopes, which 

 cover certain zooecia (fig. 2)". These tubes, strange to say, 

 form a kind of prolongation downwards of the zocecia, and 

 their significance to the existence of the colony must with- 

 out doubt be to act as a support to keep the brittle zoa- 

 rium together, even if it be broken in several places. 



Smittia reticulata, MacGill. 



Escharella legentilii, Smitt (24, IV), pp. 10, 81; PL XXIV, 



figs. 47—52. 

 Smittia reticulata, .Hincks (8), p. 346; Pl. XLVIII, figs. 



l—o. 



Occurrence. Station 290. 



The species has been found in the Kara Sea (Le- 

 vinsen), at Novaja Semlja (Smitt), Jan Mayen (Lorenz), 

 and is also recorded from Greenland. But it is not strictly 

 speaking an arctic species, as it occurs on the coasts of 

 England and France, in the Adriatic, and even off New 

 Zealand and the Falkland Isles. 



Smittia trispinosa, Johnst. 



PL I, fig. 9. 



Escharella jacotini, Smitt (24, IV), pp. 11, 86; PL XXIV, 



figs. 53 — 57. 

 Smittia trispinosa, Hincks (8), p. 353; PL XLIX, figs. 



1-8. 

 „ „ var. arborea, Levinsen (15), p. 16; PL 



XXVII, figs. 7, 8. 



Occurrence. St. 273, 326, 357. 



Levinsen's peculiar form arborea was the only one 

 that occurred at the above places. This variety has not 

 only been found by the Dijmphna and North Atlantic Ex- 

 peditions, but also by Kuckenthal and Walter at Spits- 

 bergen (Bidenkap). I found it in the early part of 1899 



