A. E. Verrill — JVew Aetinians. 215 



about as wide as the column. Cuticle of the scapus thin and 

 closely adherent ; integument of alcoholic specimens strongly 

 and closely wrinkled transversely and longitudinally, but with- 

 out distinct suckers or verrucse. Submarginal zone without 

 cuticle, plicated in contraction. Tentacles numerous, strongly 

 entacmseous, arranged in several circles. 



Mesenteries numerous, hexamerons, very unequal. Six 

 pairs of perfect and fertile mesenteries* in the type. These 

 have very thick and strong longitudinal muscles. Sphincter 

 muscle rather wide, diffuse. No acontia could be found in 

 several specimens dissected. 



The apparent lack of acontia and cinclides compels me to 

 refer this genus to the Paractidce, though it has the appear- 

 ance of a Phellia. 



Phelliopsis JPanamensis Ver. Figures 37, 37a. 



Phellia Panamensis Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., I, p. 490, 1869. Andres, op. 

 cit., p. 127, 1884. Hertwig, Voy. Challenger, vi, p. 81, 1883. 



The original description of this species is pretty complete, 

 as to external characters. 



The tentacles are in four or five close circles ; they vary 

 from 72 to 96 or more ; they are strongly sulcated by contrac- 

 tion. In longitudinal sections the stomodseum is short, strongly 

 plicated, and has two siphonoglyphs, while the elongated region 

 below it is largely occupied by the 12 thick and very muscular, 

 perfect mesenteries and the large gonads that they bear, extend- 

 ing from the stomodseum to very near the base (fig. 30, o). 

 The imperfect mesenteries, between these, are very much nar- 



* In my original description of the type species (1869), I stated that the large 

 primary mesenteries were very muscular and fertile, but Hertwig (Voy. Chal- 

 lenger, vi, p. 81, 1883), when little else had been published in regard to the 

 anatomy of any Phellia, expressed more than a doubt as to the correctness of my 

 statement. He wrote, in regard to it: "This so flatly contradicts all observations 

 on the distribution of the reproductive elements in the Actinias that Verrill must 

 somehow have been mistaken." "His observations are of no use for another 

 reason, namely, that he says nothing about the relation of the septa to the 

 oesophagus." 



As to the last remark, I origioally stated that the fertile septa were the large 

 ones, " corresponding to the 12 large inner tentacles" and presumed that every 

 naturalist would know that such mesenteries always join the oesophagus, or are 

 "perfect " to use Hertwig's term. His remark, however, illustrates the useless- 

 ness of generalizing as to the internal structure of genera of Actiniae that one has 

 not dissected. This has also been well shown in the case of the species referred 

 to Sagartia. 



As for those aetinians that belong to the true Sagartian Phellince, it is now 

 known, from the studies of Danielssen and others, that in many of the species the 

 perfect mesenteries are fertile, while in others they are sterile. But it is not 

 known whether these differences may not be due to age or to the season of the 

 year, in many aetinians. Perhaps the gonads develop successively on the dif- 

 ferent cycles of mesenteries in such cases. 



The species that Hertwig examined anatomically and described, in the work 

 cited, as Phellia pedinatus is not a Phellia, but probably belongs to Chondr actinia. 



