1918.] The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 251 
Mr. Hedley is obvious. A highly specialized derivative from a very ancient 
stock, and quite unlike anything else known to exist in any other part of 
the world, the Nannochoristidae form one of those test-groups upon which 
the theory may be found to stand or fall. The distribution of this family, 
so far as is at present known, in Tasmania, the eastern highlands of 
Australia, and in New Zealand, can only be explained by dispersal from 
an original common Antarctic ancestor. If another form belonging to 
this family were to be found in south Chile or Patagonia the evidence 
would be complete ; but it seems almost hopeless to expect this region 
to be searched for such out-of-the-wav insects for a very long time to 
come. 55 ' ‘ W. N. 'B, J. A. T. 
British Antarctic (“Terra Nova”) Expedition, 1910: Natural History 
Report. 
Marine Algae, by A. Gepp and E. S. Gepp ; Melobesieae, by Mine Paul 
Lemoine. Botany , part II, pp. 17-28. 
The small amount of seaweed material collected by the “ Terra Nova ” 
is rather disappointing for such an expedition ; one would expect far more. 
Clearly, as pointed out by Mr. Gepp, seaweeds kt were not the subject of 
the collectors’ special attention.” The far southern seas must contain 
many forms of marine Algae not yet recorded. 
Including fragments, the number of Algae recorded by Mr. and Mrs 
Gepp for this expedition is twenty-one. Eleven of these have been well 
known to New Zealand for many years. These are — Caulerpa hypnoides 
C. Ag., C. articulata Harv., Pterocladia lucida J. Ag., Stenogramma 
interruptum Mont., Dactylmenia Berggreni J. Ag., Anal. Algol ( Kallymenia 
Berggreni J. Ag., Epier.), Melanthalia abscissa Hook. & Harv., Gracilaria 
multipartita Harv., Plocamium abnorme Hook. & Harv., P. coccineum var. 
jlexuosum Harv., Ptilota formosissima Mont., Bostrychia arbuscula Hook. & 
Harv. 
One species is apparently quite new, and has not previously been 
recorded from New Zealand— viz., Melobesia Geppii Lemoine, which was 
collected at Spirits Bay, North Cape. Of the other seaweeds mentioned 
by Mr. and Mrs. Gepp, numbering nine, and unknown to New Zealand, 
three were so fragmentary that they could not be given specific rank until 
more material of the same character was collected. J. C. S. 
Echinoderma : Part I.— Actinogonidiata, by Professor F. Jeffrey Bell. 
Zoology , vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1-10. 
Of the two species of Echini taken near the North Cape by the “ Terra 
Nova,” one, Astropyga radiata, not previously found in New Zealand waters, 
occurs throughout the Indo-Pacific region ; and the other, a Laganum, is 
represented by young specimens only, not identifiable. It has long been 
known that a species of Laganum not yet identified, but probably one of 
the Australian species, occurs off the southern shores of the South Island. 
The two Asteroids collected are well-known forms-— Asterina regularis, 
and the widely spread Astropecten poly acanthus, previously recorded from 
the Bay of Plenty. 
Seven Ophiurans were taken in New Zealand. Pectinura is represented 
by young specimens not identified. Two specimens of Ophiothrix, “ pro¬ 
bably new,” the first of this widely spread genus found in the New Zealand 
seas, are not described. A specimen of Clark’s Ophiomyxa brevirima was 
obtained off the North Cape. Specimens previously found in the vicinity 
