* J. W. Fewkes—Medusa from New England. 119 
Art. XIII.—A new Rhizostomatous Medusa from New Eng- 
land; by J. WALTER FEwKeEs. With Plate IV. 
A SMALL number of Acraspedote Medusze have been taken 
in shallow waters along the shores of New England. The 
genera thus far recorded are Aurelia, Cyanea, Dactylometra and 
Callinema. Other genera are known to make their way or to 
be carried along in the Gulf Stream into our latitudes, and may 
sometimes be washed on our coast. Among these may be 
mentioned Pelagia, Periphylla, Linerges and others.* Some of 
these have already been taken on George’s Bank and off Mar- 
‘tha’s Vineyard, but none have been recorded from the shallow 
waters along the coast line. 
Through the kindness of Professor A. H. Verrill I am able 
to add to the above list of Medusz found in shallow water 
near the coast, a fifth genus, a large Acraspedote jelly-fish, not 
only new to New Hngland, but also one which is unlike any 
yet captured on the Atlantic coast of North America. This 
Medusa, the only non-tentaculated Acraspedote, so far as we 
now know, which ventures into our waters, is allied to a com- 
mon species found on the western shores of Hurope, Pilema 
(Rhizostoma, auth.) octopus Heeck., and to the P. pulmo of 
the Mediterranean Sea. It has no nearer relatives in the 
waters of the United States, so far as known, than the well- 
known Cassiopea frondosa and Stomolophus Meleagris Ag. of 
Florida, the Carolinas, and the Gulf Stream. 
The ‘single specimen of this new medusa from which my 
description and figure were made was captured in September, 
1886, in New Haven harbor.t It was more or less mutilated 
when it came into my hands for examination, but owing to the 
exceptional toughness of the umbrella and oral arms, it was 
possible to study the more important organs and to write a 
description of them before the external form of the specimen 
had greatly changed. 
* A list of Acraspeda found in the Gulf Stream by the U. 8. Fish Com. Str. 
Albatross will be found elsewhere. There is no reason now known why any of 
these genera should not straggle at times into our southern bays and sounds. 
+ It was taken alive near the Yale Boat House at the mouth of the Quinnipiac 
River, near the extreme upper end of the harbor, where the water is somewhat 
brackish, perhaps four miles from Long Island Sound. It was caught by Mr. 
Arthur J. M. Andrus and preserved by Mr. George EH. VerrilJl. during my absence 
from New Haven. When living, the diameter was about 18 inches. When first 
seen by me, after it had been in alcohol about a week, the oral cylinder and frills, 
and the radial tubes of the umbrella were of a rich deep brown; the distal oral 
filaments were whitish; the disk or ‘‘umbrella” was uniform translucent bluish 
white. My son told me that the color had changed but little from what it was in 
life. A. E, VERRILL. 
Am. Jour. Sci.—Tuirp SERIES, Vou. XX XIII, No. 194.—Frpruary, 1887. 
8 A 
