Abstract

The collection has provided material for much work, and the results obtained are of considerable interest; they may be summarised as follows: There are only two Hydroid Zoophytes in the collection, both of which prove to be new species, i.e., Thuiaria divergens and Plumularia clavicula. The latter is of unusual interest, inasmuch as it exhibits characters of rare occurrence in the group. The apices of the branches are modified into tendrils, and the corbulae are of a very primitive type, having a slightly modified hydrotheca at the base of each costa.

The Hydrocorallines are represented by four species of Millepores: Millepora squarrosa, var. incrassata, Dana; M. platyphylla, Ehr.; M. nodosa, Esper.; and M. tortuosa, Dana.

Of the order Siphonophora, there is only one representative, i.e., Physalia megalista, Lamk., of which there are numerous examples. These have been carefully examined and compared with local material and also with specimens of Physalia utriculus, Eschscholtz. Attention is called to the occurrence of secondary tentacles in the basal groups of cormidia in both species; a character which has hitherto escaped observation. The specimens from Funafuti and numerous local examples, both living and preserved, have been utilized with a view to render their identification less difficult in the future. In order to accomplish this, the pneumatophore was carefully measured, the colour noted, and the number of appendages counted. The results of an examination of thirty-four specimens are given in tabular form, from which it will be seen that the two forms are very distinct.

The class Scyphozoa is represented by two species: Aurelia clausa, Lesson; and Phyllorhiza orithyia, Haeckel....

 
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Bibliographic Data

Short Form
Whitelegge, 1899, Aust. Mus. Mem. 3(7): 369–394
Author
T. Whitelegge
Year
1899
Title
XVI. The Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Actinozoa, and Vermes of Funafuti
Serial Title
Australian Museum Memoir
Volume
3
Issue
7
Start Page
369
End Page
394
DOI
10.3853/j.0067-1967.3.1899.502
Language
en
Plates
plates xxiii–xxvii
Date Published
06 March 1899
Cover Date
06 March 1899
ISSN (print)
0067-1967
CODEN
AUNMA5
Publisher
The Australian Museum
Place Published
Sydney, Australia
Digitized
26 February 2009
Available Online
16 July 2009
Reference Number
502
EndNote
502.enw
Title Page
502.pdf
File size: 79kB
Complete Work
502_complete.pdf
File size: 3103kB