11 



paa Spiritusexemplarer paa Grund af Kontraktionen. Basal- 

 delen er nøgen, membranagtig udvidet og indtil 40""" i 

 Omkrecls. De øverste to Trediedele af Stammen er rundtom 

 forsynet med Grene, imedens den nederste Trediedel er 

 blottet for samme; men her sees enkelte Polyper at ud- 

 springe direkte fra Stammen. Grenene staa noget fra 

 hverandre, saa at ikke Stammen dækkes; de ere runde, 

 tykke, riflede paalangs og af forskjellig Længde; i Eegelen 

 ere de nederste de længste, enkelte ere udelte og ere da 

 besatte med Polyper; men de fleste ere delte og have en 

 eller flere Smaagrene, hvorfra Polyperne udspringe. Saavel 

 paa Grenene som paa Smaagrenene ere Polyperne stillede 

 uden nogen Regelmæssighed og staa temmelig langt fra 

 hverandre, undtagen paa Enderne, hvor de staa tættere, Fig. 

 14. 15. Den øverste Ende af Stammen er afrundet, og 

 paa den sidder en Gruppe Polyper, omtrent 12—15 i 

 Antal; men strax nedenfor sees paa et Exemplar et Par 

 meget korte, tykke Grene, der bære nogle faa Polyper, 

 hvis Bagkroppe egentlig danne Grenene, medens paa et 

 andet Exemplar en lang Gren udspringer fra Stammens 

 øverste Trediedel, og paa dens afrundede Ende sees 7 

 Polyper. I det Hele tåget frembyde de 3 Specimina, som 

 vi have, flere Forskjelligheder med Hensyn til ' Grenenes 

 Beskaffenhed og Polypernes Antal. Paa et Exemplar, der 

 er det minclste, 25™ m høit, staa Grenene tæt sammen og ere 

 rigt besatte med Polyper, saa at baade Stammen og Grenene 

 skjules. Paa de to andre Exemplarer ere Grenene læn- 

 gere fra hverandre og bære færre Polyper, hvorved Zoan- 

 thodemet faar et noget forskjelligt Udseende. Saavel 

 Stammen som Grenene ere temmelig faste og ru at føle paa. 



Polyperne ere retraktile, cylindriske, noget bredere ved 

 Tentakelranden end ved deres Grund, 10 — 12""" lange, 

 3 — 4mm brede. Kroppen er 6 — 7""" lang; dens ydre Flade 

 har 8 stærke, Ribber; saavel disse som de mellemliggende 

 Felter ere rigt besatte med Spilder, Fig. 15. 16, der, som 

 vi senere skulle se, ere ordnede paa en egen Maade. De 

 omtalte Ribber forlænge sig over paa Conenenchymet, eller 

 rettere paa Cellevæggens ydre og øverste Del, saa at, naar 

 Polypen er indtrukken, men Celleaabningen ikke lukket, 

 ser det ud, som om dennes Rand er forsynet med 8 Papil- 

 ler, og naar Cellen er lukket, har den Udseende af en 

 8-straalet Stjerne, Fig. 15. Naar jeg nævner Celle, mener 

 jeg Hulheden i Coenenchymet for Polypen; thi dennes 

 Krop er jo egentlig en Fortsættelse af Coenenchymets 

 ydre Væg. Tentaklerne ere 4— 5'" m lange og have paa 

 deres aborale Flade en Pantserbeklædning af Spilder. 

 Pinnulerne ere temmelig lange og ere ligeledes paa deres 

 aborale Flade bepantsret med Spilder, Fig. 16. 17. Mund- 

 skiven er lidt hvælvet, og Munden danner en Tverspalte. 



tudinally. The longitudinal ducts are very prominent and 

 undulating in specimens preserved in Alchohol, owing 

 to their shrinkage. The basal portion is bare and meni- 

 braneacously dilated, and it measures about 40 mm in circum- 

 ference. The uppermost two-third parts of the stem is 

 furnished with branches, placed around it, whilst the 

 lowest third part is bare of them, but in this situation 

 a few polyps are seen to spring direct from the stem. 

 The branches are placed somewhat apart from each other, 

 so that the stem is not covered; they are cylindrical, 

 thick, and longitudinally grooved, and variable in length. 

 Usually, the lowest ones are the longest, and a few of 

 them are not ramified, in which case they are beset with 

 polyps; but most of them are ramous, and furnished 

 with one or more branchlets, from which the polyps 

 spring. Both upon the branches and the branchlets, the 

 polyps are placed without any regularity and situated 

 pretty far apart from each other, except upon the extrem- 

 ities, where they are placed closer together (figs. 14. 15). 

 The uppermost extremity of the stem is rounded off and, 

 upon it, there is placed a group of polyps, about 12 — 15 

 in number, but immediately underneath there is seen, in 

 one specimen, a couple of very short, thick branches, bear- 

 ing a few polyps whose posterior body, really, forms the 

 branches; whilst in another specimen, a long branch shoots 

 out from the uppermost third part oi the stem and, upon 

 its rounded extremity, 7 polyps are visible. Altogether, 

 the three specimens which I have, present several variations 

 with regard to the character of the branches, and the number 

 of polyps. In one specimen which is the smallest one and 

 measures 25""" in height, the branches are placed close 

 together, and are so richly beset with polyps, that both 

 the stem and the branches are concealed. In the two 

 other specimens, the branches are placed further apart 

 from each other, and carry fewer polyps, which gives 

 the Zoanthodem a somewhat different appearance. Both, 

 the stem and the branches, are pretty firm, and rough to 

 the touch. 



The polyps are retractile, cylindrical, and somewhat 

 broader at the tentacular margin than at their root. They 

 measure 10—12""" in length and 3—4""" in breadth. The 

 body measures 6 — 7"™ in length. The exterior surface is 

 furnished with 8 strong ribs and both, these as well as 

 the intermediate areas, are richly beset with spicules 

 (figs. 15 — 16) which, as we shall by and bye see, are 

 arranged in a peculiar manner. The ribs, just mentioned, 

 prolong themselves into the sarcosoma or, more correctly, 

 into the exterior and uppermost part of the wall of the 

 cell, so that when the polyp is retracted, but with its 

 cellular aperture open, it looks as if the margin was fur- 

 nished with 8 papillae, but when the cell is closed it has 

 the appearance of an 8-rayed star (fig. 15). When I say 

 the cell, I mean the cavity for the polyp in the sarco- 

 soma, because its body is, really, a continuation of the 

 outer wall of the sarcosoma. The tentacles measure 

 4 — 5""" in length, and upon their aboral surface have a 

 sheathing of spicules. The pinnules are rather long, 



9* 



