KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 51. N:o |l. 69 
better developed. The budding of new polyps generally occurs in these balks. The 
developement of new coelenterons repeats the crowding within the coenenchym, accom- 
panied by the direct canal system. 
The armature in most cases is not very different from that in the principal species. 
The spindles in the upper part of the anthocodia are long and have scattered thorns, but 
this is not a very special characteristic. However, the extraordinary and characteristic 
shape of the colony has led me to distinguish this as a new variety, and so much the 
more as, in one of the collections of a later expedition (Sw. Spitzb. exp. 1908), from an 
altogether different habitat, I have found a specimen which is also characterized by the 
same peculiar construction of the colony. 
Habitat: 
Spitzbergen, Lat. 77” 25 N., Long. 27” 30' E., North of Hope Island, 100 met. (Spitzb. 
exp., ”:/, 1898), yellow brown clay, 0,7? C., 1 sp.; Ice Fiord, North Fiord, 197—190 met., 
loose clay, 0,77? C. (Sw. Spitzb. exp., ””/, 1908), 1 sp. (MOLANDER, 1915 M. S.). 
Gersemia mirabilis (DAN), 1887. 
The anthocodiae lie a few (5-6) together on each branch. An insignificant arma- 
ture in anthocodiae and the basal spicules few in number. The spicules in the lower part 
of anthocodia and the basal spicules chiefly irregular rollers with no distinct girdles; 
a uniform distribution of the weak thorns. The lower part of the anthocodia with spi- 
cules. (Pl. I fig. 10.) 
1887, Voeringia arborea, JUNGERSEN. 
1907, Eunephthya mirabilis, KÖKENTHAL. 
From a well-developed, membranous base rises the arboreal, ramified colony. The 
trunk, generally deeply furrowed, is slender and is provided all the way from the base 
with branches, which, however, are situated at a great distance from each other. The 
branches are relatively short, the trunk is high and the whole colony thus obtains an 
evident longitudinal extension. The main branches do not carry anthocodiae directly, 
but carry instead minor, very short branches with about 5—56 anthocodiae, which are 
distributed very closely on the points, not on the sides of the branches. A consequence 
of the development of the small branches is that a retraction of the anthocodiae is more 
difficult, and does not often occur, and a calyx often exists. The minor branches also 
may develop direct from the trunk. The branches are often expanded and transparent 
at the points. 
In young specimens, in which the small branches are not yet developed, the antho- 
codiae are placed evenly along the larger branches, but the anthocodiae are distributed 
in distinct groups of from 3 to 3 in number. 
The armature is weak within the anthocodia. The spicules in the upper part of 
the anthocodia are spindles of irregular shape, with scattered thorns, and with a distinct 
incurvation in the middle. They are few in number and lie in irregular, double rows. 
