Abstract
LONDON Linnean Society, Dec. 17.-Dr. Allman, president, in the chair.— The President read a paper on the Diagnosis of new Genera and Species of Hydroids. Several very interesting collections of Hydroida had recently been placed in the author's hands for determination. One of the most insportant of these is from the zoological museum of the University of Copenhagen, and consists entirely of gynmoblastic forms obtained from various its of the world, brtt principally ft out the Scandinavian shores, The author is indebted for it to Prof. Lutien, ol the Unisersity of Ctipenhagen. Anotl,er collection, cottsistin4 of caiytto itlastir lot 'ns, was estate in the Japan seas by ('apt. St. John, of ii, hi. S,ht'/'ni, and sent to ti, it i,'iel or hit di'trni in stion by Mr. J. Gwytitt JeIIre3 s. by whit t it is destiaed lot' the lii ittsh Mmeutn. For nijiotitci v.duuble collection, ontainhtg ntsny new species, the author is iudebted to Mr. husk sslnle a collection, belonging chiefly to the family of Plunnilaritla', ci as made by Mr. Iloldssrorth tts Ce bitt, and contants set cral citrioos forms; and, lastlc', for a small collection front tic shores of Spitriteigen, the author is indebted to the Rev. hh. Eaton, by ss hoot it ross obtained during a recent yacht vo age to that n glen. Among Site flCSV species front the (openhagen Musruiti, one of the tnost inlere 5tisg is a l-lytlractn.is, front Spitibcrgen. It is distmguiulied trim IL i',i,a,i/a of our outs sit rca by its ne eriy smooth spines, betS lustre e-.pscialiy by the peculiar condition of its gonosoitte, the blastostyics being ci, ttent et of th0 capt tulutti win cli form so chat,sctc risti c a bee' tire in 17, ci hiitrt/ti, silnit' c-ads cozies otily a single s1thet icai spm mae of comparatively ItuOtmottu sire, lie pro]toe's for it the name of /1, mtoi'cagptz. The sante collection contains a new Cladocoryne, the second species us yet discovered of this tetnarkaitle genus. it was foitnd attached 'to 0 stlf-wecd, attd is especially interesting in bentg provided with its teproductive zoolds, sti uc totes t,itherto unknown in the genus. These are developed antoitg the tentacles, and are almost without doubt medusiform, though tins 1toiut could tint be' determined with absolute cat balmy. l'or the new species the mines of C'. Jc/tt/ieo was propo ed. Another hiydtoicl ftetm the saints collection was a beautiful Am,slth,e's, a gettus nearly allied to Corymorpha. It was obtained front Iceland, One of its tarot striking- features consists in the great length of its proximal tentacles; the-se are nearly as long as the entire stetti i outid iltieht, itt the lit in'' at it 'Vt, they run'S hcti down in the form of a graceful inverted tassel of flexhle filaments subject to the impulse of every passing current of the surround. mc' water. Tite name of A. islandka was proposed for it. The Japem colic- 'tints containerl, among other interesting species, a C ampatularia, remarkable for the compatatively enormous size of its cups, which exceeded by about Pvc times the dimensions of those of the largest British species. It was named C. grand/s. I his colleetton contained also a beautiful Thuiaria, for which the name of A. coienci/a was proposed, and in which use fentale gonanglum or ri ceptacle br Site (tea was erow'ned isv abortS nine vety long bifutcating lsollosv spines, wIstch formed a cage-like chamber into wlsich the ova subsequently passed. An extenstois of the cte'nosarc is continue'I from the enlarged summit of tier blastosivie or fleshy colunsisar axis of the gonangium through tim whole length of the spines atsd as the blastostyle must lte lionsologically tegarde-d as a ltydranth arreete'd and adapted to functions connected witls reproduction instead of nutrition, Use author looked upots the spines as representing tlse tentacles of a hydranths which had lost tlseir prehensile functions, become clothed with chitine, atsd adapted to the protection of the ova during an early period of their development. Mr. llusk's collection coistained many beautiful flew species of calyptohilastic hydroids. Among these was a Sertularehla, whose tubular liydrothecee, free from the stein in nearly their entire length, wete deeply cleft r.L their distal ends, in the manner of a mitre. For this curious species the name of A psisccipus was proposed. A stew genus, tinder the name of Gemmin,1/a, was constituted for a sertularialike form, lit which the hydrotheem, instead of being situated ott the opposite sides of the stem, were all brought to tise front cf the stem, and there because adnate to one another in pairs. A l,eauttful Thitiaria, with a remarkable dicholonmous ramification of the main stem, and with the gunangia situated in the axils of the branches, presented a striking resemblance to the infloresI eeoc-c of certain common caryophyllaceous plants, and was nan'ed A (nm/mm. Mr. Holdsworths's collection, made on the coast of Ceylon, cnntains some very s'enaarlcable species. Among these is a nsagnificent Phtmulsrian of the Aglaophetsian type, rendered striking by the great length of its mesial nematophores, and by the presence of two very long divergent teeth wlsich proect from Use margin of the remarkably patulous hydrothecte'. The species grows in the form of crowded tufts of beautifully graceful plumes. It would seem to belong to the group which Kirchenpauer places in hts sub-genus Makrorynchia, and the mines of Ma/crort',ic/zia ms/per is noiv projioseel for it; bitt as no gonusome has as yet been found in any of the sit ecbocns, the generic name is only provisionally assigned to it. For another beautiful form from the same collection the autltor has constituted a new genus under the name of The-cl/it. Its hydrotliccas and neinatophores are forinctl mu tlse type of thom of Shiv genus Aglaophenis, but its goitopisores are not protected by corbulas, anti its rantification Isreseists tile peculiarity of being doutihy pbtnate, so thief it represeuc its the' AgLii1iteenia scctinis if the PluisiuIaridc a loan whit-Is is thee Idiumul_irian section is represented by the ge'sus L) lthit5terots, a genus recently cou5tituteel by the author ft>r one of the deep-sea lsydtoids of the fittcet1tiiec' Exploring I/'-ijicditl-.n. The name of Pitt,7a ertmiiz is ae,igned to the' present species, which grosvs in dense tithes to Site bright of about a foot, In Mr. Eaton's collection. fre,iu Spitethergen, the mile wchl-pre-erved l'ydroid is a little' Se.rtularia with regularly p iinate ratnitic-stion, elongated hsydrothec,s, and a long Ovate gun Sit'gums eurioti,,ly constricted ne.ir its mittdle. The authsor gives it the ninse,f.s. 'cc//ct.
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Societies and Academies . Nature 11, 179–180 (1874). https://doi.org/10.1038/011179a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/011179a0