374 
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
Adamsia palliata (Boh.). 
Two specimens of this widely-distributed species occurred at this 
station, 
Bolocera tuedim (Johnst.). 
I believe this is the first Irish locality of this Northern species. 
The two specimens obtained were not of large size ; the body was 
flesh-coloured, the tentacles madder-brown. 
This collection of Actini£e, though small, is very interesting, as it 
brings out some important facts in geographical distribution. 
On a previous occasion {Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. ^ ser. 3, vol. 1, p. 42), 
I have pointed out the interdigitation o:ff the south-west of Ireland of 
species which are usually respectively regarded as typically JS'or- 
wegian and Lusitanian. We may now take a wider geographical range. 
The annual explorations of the New England seas by the U. S. Fish 
Commission have made known the occurrence there of many European 
species ; we are now in a position to reciprocate and record American 
forms on our side of the Atlantic. In other words, several species 
are North Atlantic in distribution. Thanks to the liberality of the 
United States Government we are acquiring a precise knowledge of 
the marine fauna of the N. E. of America, and the range of the 
several species. Our knowledge of the fauna of the Atlantic slope off 
the British Islands is extremely imperfect, and it cannot be satisfac- 
torily remedied until we have either a Fish Commission, who will 
make this one of their main objects, or a Special Commission on the 
lines of the Challenger," appointed to thoroughly investigate the 
marine zoology of our seas. On a future occasion, I hope to return 
to a consideration of the zoo-geography o'f the North Atlantic basin. 
A word of apology is needed for the incomplete state of this 
Eeport ; the material has been handed to me very shortly before start- 
ing on a visit to the Tropics, and I have had no time to submit the 
Actiniae to an anatomical investigation. — (June, 1888). 
