Page:Scientific results HMS Challenger vol 18 part 1.djvu/971

Rh 4. Stauracantha scalaris, n. sp.

Spines four-winged prismatic, with four broad prominent edges, truncated apex, and small basal leaf-cross; in the proximal third with four compressed lamellar apophyses. Each apophysis is pinnate with opposite pinnulæ, or crossed at right angles by three to six parallel transverse rods.

Dimensions.—Length of the spines 0.24, breadth 0.016; central distance of the apophyses 0.12.

Habitat.—Indian Ocean (Madagascar), Rabbe, surface.

5. Stauracantha johannis, n. sp. (Pl. 132, fig. 11).

Spines four-sided pyramidal, with simple apex and broad basal leaf-cross, with four large conical apophyses about in their middle. Each apophysis bears two irregular rows of alternating perpendicular lateral branches, the length of which decreases from the base towards the apex of the apophysis.

Dimensions.—Length of the spines 0.2, middle breadth 0.02; central distance of the apophyses 0.1.

Habitat.—South-east Pacific (off Juan Fernandez), Station 300, surface.

6. Stauracantha murrayana, Haeckel.

Xiphacantha species, Wyville Thomson, 1877, The Atlantic, vol. i. p. 235, fig. 53.

Xiphacantha murrayana, Haeckel, 1878, Protistenreich, p. 45, fig. 33.

Spines quadrangular prismatic, with pyramidal apex and small basal leaf-cross, with four regular conical apophyses in the proximal part. Each apophysis is crossed at right angles by two parallel transverse rods; the smaller apical rod is simple; the larger basal rod is crossed again on each side by a secondary perpendicular branch, which therefore is parallel to the apophysis itself.

Dimensions.—Length of the spines 0.3, breadth 0.01, distance of the apophyses 0.08.

Habitat.—South Atlantic, Station 332, surface.

7. Stauracantha pinnulata, n. sp.

Spines four-winged pyramidal, with prominent edges, simple apex and large basal leaf-cross, in the middle with doubly pinnate triangular apophyses. Each apophysis is crossed at right angles by three to four transverse parallel rods, which bear again perpendicular secondary branches; the outline of the doubly pinnate apophysis is an isosceles triangle.

Dimensions.—Length of the spines 0.3, middle breadth 0.02; distance of the apophyses 0.12.

Habitat.—North Pacific, Station 244, surface.