Note on Walteria leuckarti U 



BY 



Isao Ijima, Rig., L'b.D., Rig.-Hak. 



That beautiful fir-tree-like Euplectellid. which I have described 

 under the name of Walteria leuckarti, is seldom brought up from the 

 depths in a blameless st ite of prese rvatiou^ what is not to be wondered 

 at, if we consider its large size and t,be fragile nature of its parts. At the 

 time I have given its full description in the Studies on the Hexact- 

 inellida, Contribution I (Jour. Sci Coll. Tokyo, vol. XV), I bave had 

 several specimens to base it on ; but there was amongst them only a 

 single specimen in which I thought the uppermost end of the tubular stem 

 was preserved intact. On the strength of the condition presented by that 

 specimen I have assumed that the stem is, as a general matter in the 

 species, closed at the attenuated apsx, the lumen communicating exter- 

 nally by those oscula found scattered on the sides. While I still 

 maintain that individuals conforming to that assumption, especially as 

 the result of the healing of a mechanical injury received, may occa- 

 sionally be met with in the nature, I have been led to consider the 

 presence of a small terminal osculum at the superior extremity as the 

 normal condition. Three specimens have recently been acquired by the 

 Science College, which all go to support that view. 



In these specimens— all robust .specimens, 2 ft. and over in height 

 and with well developed branches — the stem is about as thick as one's 

 little finger in the thickest part ; in the upper part it gradually narrows 

 itself towards the apical end, which is in an almost perfect state of pre- 

 servation in every case. 



Une of the specimens is remarkable for the fact that the stem is 

 bifurcated, each stem after the bifurcation bea: i eg the branches in the 



