4 



WM. E. KITTER. 



final judgement as to affinities can not be pronou ced. In addition to the 

 straight intestine, which is the most obvious feature allying it to 

 Cyclosalpa, I have also depended to some extent for the assignment, on 

 the information obtained by examining the zooids of the salpa chain 

 carried by the parent. The young zooids are, however, still too immature 

 to permit one to decide with certainty what the form of the intestine will 

 be in the adult Apparently, however, it is destined to become a wide 

 loop something of the sort found in C. affinis and some other species of 

 the genus. Whether or not the backward extension of the intestine 

 instead of a forward extension as in other species of Cyclosalpa is a char- 

 acter sufficiently important to deserve being treated as of generic rank 

 must be decided by future study. Special attention may will be called to 

 the muscle bands. In number they exceed those of any other known 

 Salpa excepting S. tilesii-cöstala where the solitary generation has 

 eighteen to twenty bands. But the most interesting thing about the muscles 

 is the fact that so man)' of the bands are continuous around the entire 

 body of the animal. The species detracts considerably from the value of 

 the distinction between the Doliolidae, and the Salpidae, implied by the 

 terms cyclomyaria for the former, and hemimyaria for the latter. The 

 bridging across from band to band on the do-sal side in this species 

 recalls Salpa hcxagona ; b it the same thing occures to some extent in a 

 few other species. 



While thus calling attention to the resemblance of this Salpa to 

 Dolio/iim in the continuity of the muscle bands, we ma)- point out the 

 further resemblance between the two from the character of the intestine 

 in C. rétracta. The relative position of the stomach and the direction of 

 the intestine in / >. Ekrenbergii are quite similar to the position and direction 

 of the corresponding organsin the ('. rétracta. These similarities between 

 isolated species of the two groups can, however, hardly be supposed to 

 have great homological significance. 



The specific name, rétracta, has reference to the backward course of 

 the intestine. 



1 cannot c lose this note without expressing my apprec iation of the 



