46 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES j 



.IS""™ in breadth, once or once and a half as long as broad, nodes con- ' 



stricted. 



To this species is referred, -with considerable doubt, a rare Ulotlirix found by Mr. 

 Collins at Nahant. The filaments are six or seven inches long, very soft, and they can 

 with difficulty be removed from the paper on which they are pressed. The cells ave- 

 rage from .035-90™™ in breadth by .054-. 324™™ in length. In Rhode Island Plants, by 

 S. T. Olney, Providence Franklin Society, April, 1847, under No. 1189, is the following : 

 "Conferva coUahens, A^.^ 'or near it' — Harv. MSS. Sogonnet Point! Narragansett 

 Pier!" In the Nereis Am. Bor., Part III, no reference is made to C. collahens, Ag., by 

 Harvey, whom Olney quotes in his list. Harvey, however, in the Nereis, describes 

 a new species, Cha'tomorplia Olneyi, which calls to mind C. coUaheus, and perhaps that 

 is the plant referred to by Mr. Olney. 



CH^TOMORPHA, Klitz. 



(Fiom xai-TT], hair, SLud fiopcpr}, shape.) 



Filaments grass green, coarse and rigid, unbranched, either attached 

 in tufts or floating in masses, cells variable in length, often much 

 longer than broad. 



The species of this genus may be divided into two groups. In the first the fila- 

 ments arise in tufts from a definite base. In the second the filaments are twisted to- 

 gether and form intricate masses, which rest upon stones and other algoe. It may be 

 a question whether the members of the last-named group are not the advanced stage 

 of the species of the first group, which, as they have developed, have become twisted 

 together and torn from their attachments. It would be comparatively a simple mat- 

 ter to classify our own species taken by themselves, but in comparing them with for- 

 eign species it becomes very complicated in consequence of the confusion of names 

 apphed to some of the common European species. We can only briefly mention the 

 synonyms, which are almost hopelessly confused. 



C. ]\iELAGONiTJ^i, (Web. & Mohr.) KUtz. ( Conferva Melagonium^ Phyc. 

 Brit., PL 99 a.) 



Filaments erect, base scutate, coarse and wiry, dark glaucous green, 

 cells .4-5 """ broad by .4-7 "^ long. 



In tide-pools. 



Common from Boston northward j Northern Europe. 



The most easily recognized species of the genus with us. It grows in deep tide- 

 pools, attached to pebbles and rocks. The filaments can be recognized at a distance 

 by their dark glaucous-green color and rigidity. It is generally a foot or more in 

 length, and the filaments are usually free, but become more or less twisted together. 

 It does not adhere well to paper in drying, and in spite of its coarseness it does not 

 bear immersion in fresh water. 



0. ^REA, (Dillw.) Kiltz. [Conferva wrea^ Phyc. Brit., PI. 99 h.) 



Filaments erect, base scutate, setaceous, yellowish green, cells 

 .25-40™™ long by .15-30™™ broad. 



In high-tide pools. 



Kew York Harbor, Harvey; Kew Haven, Prof Eaton; Kewport, 

 Bailey; Gloucester j Europe. 



This species has a wider range than the last, being found not only in the north of 

 Europe, but also in the Mediterranean and other warm seas. With us it is not un- 



