ANTHOZOA OF THE WOODS HODE REGION. 
243 
Habitat: Very general. It seems to find itself at home almost anywhere — on rocks in tide guts, 
brackish ponds, upon eelgrass, on living shells of Myiilus, among colonies of Molgula and Cynthia, and 
others too numerous to mention. 
Sagartia abyssicola Verrill. 
Sagarlia abyssicola Verrill, Am. Jour. Sci., vol. xxui, 1882, p. 314: Bull. Mus. Com. Zool., vol. xi, 1883, p. 45. Parker, 
Am. Nat., vol. xxxtv, 1900. 
Assuming a valid significance in the name of this species, its habitat might seem to carry it easily 
beyond the scope of this report. It has, however, become so familiar from recent collections, and from 
depths in no sense abyssal, that it seems very proper to make at least a brief record of its occiurence. 
In view of the excellent descriptions and figures given by Verrill (vide supra), there is no occasion 
for attempting anything of the sort here. Its more usual habitat is the tubes of tlie annelid, Hyalinoecia 
artifax, but it is occasionally foimd attached to stones, shells, etc. When brought up in the dredge it 
is almost invariably contracted into a low conical lump, resembling more or less a small Metridium in 
a state of close contraction. The tentacles are numerous, longer than the diameter of the body, slender, 
and tapering. Acontia are numerous and protruded freely. The color is usually a dull brown in pre- 
served specimens. 
Distribution: Various records diow it to be more or less common along much of the coast line, at 
depths of 50 to 60 fathoms and beyond. 
CYLISTA Gosse, 1860. 
Cylista leucolena Verrill. [PI. xun, fig. 8.] 
Sagartia leucolena Verrill. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. X. 1866. p. 336; Inv. An. Vineyard Sound. 1S74, pp. 329, 
738; Am. Jour. Sci., 4th, vol. vi, 1898. p. 495. 
Cylista leucolena Andres, Fauna u. Flora GoUes Neapel. bd. ix, p. 131. Parker, Am. Nat., vol. xxxiv, 1900. 
This species is common and abundant throughout the region, but its small size and retiring habits 
tend to render its presence more or less obscure or even unknown. 
The following characteristics may be regarded as diagnostic. Body elongated, cylindrical even in 
contraction, smooth, or with minute papillae disposed in scattered but more or less vertical rows. Pedal 
disk well developed, by means of which the creature may adhere tenaciously to almost any object, 
and also serving as a means of locomotion. Oral disk concave, mouth with about 10 pairs of corruga- 
tions, or lips, which are of a brownish color. Body translucent, enabling one to observe the mesen- 
teries which appear as whitish longitudinal lines within the body. Tentacles rather numerous, 40 to 60 
or more, in some three series, the inner longest, all delicate, attenuate at tips. Color usually delicate 
pinkish or flesh color to almost white, sometimes with a greenish tinge, especially near oral end and 
bases of tentacles when contracted;® tentacles whitish, often greenish at basal ends. Size variable 
according to age, the average being about 30 to 40 mm. in height by about 5 or 6 mm. in diameter. 
In a few points this description does not wholly agree with that of Verrill. For example, the size 
ranges somewhat smaller, Verrill giving the height as from 50 to 65 mm. Again, his statement that 
“one of the primary tentacles in the longitudinal plane opposite one end of the mouth is much longer 
than the others, and often differently colored than the others,” I was not able to confirm, except in a 
rare specimen now and then. Surely it can not be regarded as a diagnostic feature. It was not unusual 
to find at certain times that one or even several of the tentacles of the inner series might become more 
a Occasionally an interesting variety of this species is found, distinguished by a marked color difference, specimens being 
bright or deeply orange colored. A few specimens were taken at Woods Hole and at first taken to be a new species; but a study 
of sections failed to show any structural distinction of consequence. 
Later I received from Miss Anna Luther, of Jersey City, several Uving specimens which had been taken at Bay Shore, Long 
Island, and all of the same distinct orange coloration. At this locality the orange color predominates, only an occasional specimen 
of the white variety occurring. They are quite hardy and live in a balanced aquarium for months if occasionally fed. In this 
they are quite like the white variety of Woods Hole. So far as I am aware this marked color distinction has not hitherto been 
pointed out. 
