520 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Conchocelis, a new genus of Perforating Algae.* — Mr. E. A. L. 
Batters finds on empty shells, chiefly of Mya truncata and Solen vagina , 
a pink perforating alga representing a new type. When freed from the 
calcareous substance on which it grows, it is found to consist of arti- 
culated branched filaments, radiating, when young, more or less from a 
central point, and of very various widths, varying between 1 • 5 and 7 * 5 
fx. Below the horizontal layer the filaments swell out here and there 
into irregularly shaped septate simple or slightly branched inflations 
from 20 to 30 fx in diameter, and 70 to 110 /x in length, and usually 
consisting of from 2 to 10 cells ; in the centre of each cell is a star- 
shaped chromatophore. The plant appears to be propagated by means of 
spores formed one in each cell of the inflations. On these characters the 
author founds the genus Conchocelis belonging to the Porphyracea3, with 
the following diagnosis : — Thallus minutus, e filis ramosis articulatis 
hie illic in utriculos septatos, forma irregulari dilatantibus, compositus ; 
propagatio fit per sporas in cellulis utriculorum evolutas ; uuica spora 
in singulis cellulis. 
Malformations of Ascophyllum and Desmarestia.f — Miss E. S. 
Barton describes galls on Ascophyllum nodosum and Desmarestia aculeata 
resembling those already detected on Rhodymenia palmata. Those 
produced on the Ascophyllum are almost invariably confined to the part 
of the thallus immediately above or below the air-vesicles, and are pro- 
duced by a new species of nematode, Tylenchus fucicolus. The malfor- 
mations on the Desmarestia are due to the attacks of an undescribed 
copepod. 
Parasitic Phaeosporese.l — M. C. Sauvageau describes the following 
species of Phaeosporeae parasitic on other algte : — Elachistea stellulata ; 
E. Areschougii ; E. (?) clandestina ; Ectocarpus investiens ; E. (?) velutinus ; 
E. Valiantei Born. (sp. ined.) on Cystoseira ericoides ; E. brevis n. sp. on 
Ascophyllum nodosum '; E. minimus Nag. (sp. ined.) on Himanthalea lorea 
at Dover and Berwick ; E. luteolus n. sp. on Fucus vesiculosus and serratus ; 
E. parasiticus n. sp. on Cystoclonia purpurascens, Gracilaria compressa, and 
Ceramium rubrum ; E. solitarius n. sp. on Dictyota dichotoma , Dictyopteris 
polypodioides , and Taonia atomaria ; E. fasciculatus ; and Streblonemopsis 
irritans . The eight parasitic species of Ectocarpus appear to form a 
natural group, agreeing in their small size, penetrating the living thallus 
of the host, and emerging from it in a more or less dense tuft. 
Spore-like Bodies in Closterium.§ — Mr. A. W. Bennett describes 
spore-like bodies found in Closterium lanceolatum and striolatum. They 
are round or elliptical, from 20 to 40 /x in diameter, bright green, and 
inclosed in cellulose. They do not appear to resemble any parasitic 
organism at present described. 
Propagation and Septation of Vaucheria.|| — Mr. A. W. Bennett 
describes a mode of non-sexual propagation in a Vaucheria , in the 
escape from the filaments of naked unciliated masses of coarsely granular 
* Phycol. Mem. (Murray) i. (1892) pp. 25-8 (1 pi.). 
f Tom. cit., pp. 21-4 (1 pi.). Cf. this Journal, 1891, p. 502. 
x Journ. de Bot. (Morot), vi. (1892) pp. 1-10, 36-44, 55-9, 76-80, 90-6, 97-106, 
124-31 (4 pis ). § Ann. of Bot., vi. (1892) pp. 150-2 (1 fig.). 
