A. E. Verrill — New Actinians. 379 



nearly smooth surface. Outside of collar and upper parts of 

 column below it are covered with intricate wrinkles and irregular 

 vermiculate elevations, which surround and enclose numerous 

 deep round pits, mostly closely crowded together. In most of 

 the pits there is a large spherical egg, about 2 mm in diameter; 

 most of these project beyond the pits, but some are entirely 

 concealed in the thickened integument. 



The egg-bearing pits are most numerous within 12 to 15 mm 

 of the collar margin, but some occur lower down. They form 

 a conspicuous zone all around the body, in which the eggs are 

 •so crowded as to be in contact in the alcoholic specimens. 

 They adhere firmly. Lower down on the column there are 

 sucker-like pits in vertical rows, decreasing in size downward 

 and mostly disappearing near the middle. They are obscured 

 by the wrinkled surface, but become very evident where the 

 soft wrinkled ectoderm is rubbed off. 



In vertical section the wall is moderately thick and very 

 firm both in base and column, plicated by wrinkles; the layers 

 are easily visible with the naked eye, both in base and column ; 

 the circular muscular layer shows as a continuous yellow line. 

 The mesoglcea is variable in thickness, being thickened near 

 the base and in the basal disk, but especially so at and below 

 the collar, where the egg- pits occur ; in this region it is very 

 much thickened around and between the pits, but is very thin 

 under them, so that it is very irregular and much lobulated ; 

 above the collar it is thin. The sphincter muscle is large, 

 round or ovate in section, circumscribed and pedicellate. The 

 mesenteries form about 36 pairs, of which 24 or more are 

 perfect, but they are irregularly developed in the different 

 sextants. In one case six fully developed and nearly equal 

 pairs occur on one side of a pair of directives, while on the 

 other side those of the fourth and fifth cycles are much smaller 

 than the rest. The perfect pairs and most of the others bear 

 large and broad longitudinal muscles, which .are thick and 

 strongly plicated. All or nearly all the mesenteries bear 

 large gonads, which are so densely crowded together, in the 

 specimen dissected, that it is not possible to separate them, or 

 place them accurately. They contain numerous large ova 

 similar in size and appearance to those on the exterior of the 

 body. Color not recorded. 



Height, in alcohol, about 2*25 inches (56 mm ) ; diameter 2'5 

 inches (62 mm ). 



East of Banquereau, off Nova Scotia, 150 fathoms, Sch. 

 " Polar Wave," lot 37, 1878, 1 specimen ; off Nova Scotia, 200 

 fathoms, Capt. John Rowe, lot 35, 1 specimen. 



