278 



poses that the absence of wheels in this species may be due to the 

 preserving fluid. 



That this is really the fact, is shown by Dr. Mortensen in 

 1925 (Echinoderms of New Zealand and the Auckland-Campbell 

 Islands, pag. 378 — 379), who furthermore shows that geminifera 

 must be referred to Trochodota dunedinensis (Parker). Thus we 

 might abandon the genus Scoliodota, if we had not Théel's Au- 

 stralian specimens of "Chirodota^ japonica, which must be regarded 

 as specifically different from v. Mare nzeller's Japanese specimens. 

 This appears from the collection at hand, which includes some spec- 

 imens from Port Jackson which are without any doubt the same 

 species as Théel's specimens. The examination of these specimens 

 shows that they are lacking wheels in the skin, and as furthermore 

 they differ from Trochodota in several other characters, especially 

 in the shape of the calcareous ring, I have no doubt that they 

 represent a separate genus, which must keep the name Scoliodota. 



Thus we know for the present, eight different genera of the Chi- 

 ridotinae. Six of these are represented in Dr. Morte nsen's col- 

 lections, but as Dr. Mortensen has himself dealt with the two 

 genera Trochodota and Kolostoneura in the quoted paper, these are 

 not further mentioned here. I may only recall that Dr. Morten- 

 sen has described two new Trochodotas, Trochodota dendyi and 

 Trochodota dunedinensis var. microurna, the latter of which will most 

 likely prove to be an independent species, easily recognized by the 

 size and shape of the ciliated funnels. 



In the work on the Echinoderms of the Torres Strait, Clark 

 gives some excellent keys to the genera of the Chiridotinae, and 

 to the species of Trochodota, which will be of the greatest value 

 for students of this group of the Synaptidae. 



Chiridota Eschscholtz. 



Eschscholtz. 1829. Zoologischer Atlas II. pag. 12. 

 0stergren. 1898. Das System der Synaptiden. p. 118. 

 Clark. 1908. The Apodous Holothurians. pag. 113. 

 Clark. 1921. The Echinoderms of the Torres Strait, pag. 163. 



The genus Chiridota, as it is characterized by Clark in "The 

 Apodous Holothurians", is evidently a well defined genus, easily 



