XIV.

REMARKS ON SAGARTIA VENUSTA AND SAGARTIA NIVEA. By G. Y. DIXON, M. A.

[Communicated by PROFESSOR A. C. HADDON.]

[Read March 21, 1888.]

Sagartia venusta, Gosse.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1854. Actinia venusta, P. H. Gosse, Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., ser. 2, vol. xiv., p. 281.

1855. Sagartia venusta, . P. H. Gosse, Trans. Linn. Soc., vol.

1856.

Actinia venusta,

1857.

Cereus venusta,

P. H. Gosse, Ann. and Mag. of Nat.
Hist., ser. 2, vol. xvi., p. 294.

P. H. Gosse, Manual of Marine Zoology,
vol. i., p. 28.

P. H. Gosse, Tenby: A Seaside Holiday, pp. 39, 60, 97, 358-361, 367, 375, 387, 390, and 393. Pl. xxiii., figs. a and b.

. G. Tugwell, Manual of Sea Anemones,
pp. 56 and 98.

Milne-Edwards, Histoire Naturelle des
Coralliaires, vol. i., p. 273.

1858. Sagartia venusta, J. R. Greene, Nat. Hist. Rev., vol. v.,

1880.

E. P. Wright, Proc. Zool. and Bot. Assoc. of Dublin, vol. i., pp. 179 and 187; Nat. Hist. Rev., vol. vi., pp. 117 and 124.

P. H. Gosse, Actinologia Britannica, pp. 42, 53, 55, 60-66, 72, 87, 122, and Pl. i., fig. 7.

T. Hincks, Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist.
ser. 3, vol. viii., p. 361.

F. J. Foot, Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. of
Dublin, vol. iii., p. 65.

William Andrews, Proc. Nat. Hist.
Soc. Dub., vol. vi., p. 17.

P. Fischer, Comptes rendus, vol. lxxix.,
p. 1207 transl. Ann. and Mag. of
Nat. Hist., ser. 4, vol. xv., p. 373.

P. Fischer, Nouv. Arch. du Museum, vol.
X., pp. 212 and 239.

J. E. Taylor, Half-Hours at the Seaside,
p. 130.

H. W. Mackintosh, Guide to City and
County of Dublin, part ii., Fauna,
P. 6.

E. Jourdan, Ann. des Sci. Nat. (Zool.), ser. 6, vol. x., p. 33; Revue Scientifique, ser. 2, vol. x., p. 381.

G. Y. Dixon, Rathmines School News,
vol. viii., No. 3, p. 1.

Heliactis venusta, . A. Andres, Le Attinie, vol. i. (Fauna und
Flora des Golfes von Neapel, vol. ix.),

DESCRIPTION.

Form

Base-Adherent, slightly exceeding the column.

Column-Cylindrical, sometimes pillar-like; in height generally exceeding the diameter; smooth, or slightly corrugated; studded on the upper half with suckers, which form more or less distinct warts; and on the upper third perforated by cinclides; marked with numerous longitudinal lines corresponding to the insertions of the mesenteries, which shine through the body-wall. Substance fleshy.

Disk-Sometimes flat, but in large specimens generally concave and expanded, so as to exceed and overhang the column; margin more or less undulate; outline either oval or circular; radii inconspicuous, forty-eight in number, of which twenty-four run from the mouth to the feet of the tentacles of the first row, and the remaining twenty-four, which alternate with those just mentioned, are subdivided by the insertion of secondary and tertiary radii, which run to the feet of the tentacles in the second and third rows, respectively, but do not reach the mouth.

Tentacles-In number, 192; set in four rows, of which the first and second contain each twenty-four, the third forty-eight, and the fourth, which is marginal, ninety-six. This would appear to be the usual arrangement, though slight deviations are not infrequent. Those of the first row, when extended, are about as long as the diameter of the disk, and are generally turned upwards and outwards: the tentacles in the other rows diminish gradually, and are bent back further; those in the outer row are frequently extended horizontally to the disk: they are small, and sometimes contracted to the condition of mere papillæ, so as to form a fringe to the margin.

Mouth-Generally swollen and gaping, frequently thrown into lobes, sometimes raised on a cone, furnished with either one or two œsophageal grooves; lip tumid, and marked with ridges, which terminate the radii; a pair of œsophageal tubercles mark the juncture of the oesophageal groove with its corresponding radius; specimens with two grooves having, of course, two such pairs of tubercles; throat ridged; acontia emitted freely and copiously through the cinclides and the mouth.

Colour.

Column-Upper half varying from buff to an orange-brown; lower half paler, and sometimes marked with whitish longitudinal lines, which fade away as they ascend; suckers whitish.

Disk-Pellucid orange, without markings.

Tentacles-Pure, opaque, white; without markings, except that the colour is sometimes pellucid at the foot and at the tip. The tentacles of the outer row have sometimes an orange core. Mouth-Buff to brick-red; ridges of throat white.

Dimensions.

Diameter of column may reach one inch.

Diameter of expanded disk and tentacles may reach one inch and a-half; the total height may reach two inches.

DISTRIBUTION.

Sagartia venusta has been recorded as found in the following localities:

Monkstown, Co. Dublin, . H. W. Mackintosh.

Gulf of Marseilles, . . E. Jourdan (at 100 fathoms).