2. Hymenactura pythagoræ, Haeckel.

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with six pores on its radius. Arms nearly trapezoidal, somewhat longer than the diameter of the central disk, at the truncated distal end nearly as broad, at the base two-thirds as broad. In each arm eight to nine transverse rows of square chambers, each chamber with one pore on the surface. Patagium enveloping the basal half of the arms, with four to five rectilinear parallel rows of chambers, forming together a regular triangle. Differs from the preceding species mainly in the quite different structure of the patagium, from the true Hymeniastrum pythagoræ in the phacoid shell of the central disk, which encloses only one simple medullary shell.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.11, of the medullary shell 0.04; length of the arms 0.13, basal breadth 0.07, distal breadth 0.12.

Habitat.—Fossil in the rocks of Barbados.

3. Hymenactura trigona, n. sp.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with four to five pores on its radius. Arms slender, lanceolate, three times as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell and five times as long as broad in the middle part; distal ends blunt. Patagium enveloping only the basal half of the arms, forming a regular triangle with concave sides.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.08, of the medullary shell 0.035; length of the arms 0.2, greatest breadth 0.04.

Habitat.—South Atlantic, Station 332, depth 2200 fathoms; fossil in the rocks of Barbados.

4. Hymenactura hexagona.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with four to five pores on its radius. Arms nearly equilateral triangular, three times as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell, at the truncated distal end nearly three-fourths as broad as long, at the narrow base only one-fourth as broad. Patagium complete, enveloping the arms completely, so that the whole body represents a regular hexagonal disk.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.08, of the medullary shell 0.04; length of the arms 0.18, basal breadth 0.04, distal breadth 0.16.

Habitat.—Fossil in the rocks of Barbados and Nicobar.

Subgenus 2. Hymenactinium, Haeckel.

Definition.—Distal ends of the arms armed with terminal spines.

5. Hymenactura ptolemæi, n. sp.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with six to seven pores on its radius. Arms nearly square, about as large as the phacoid shell, at the truncated distal end little broader than at the base, and armed with a strong pyramidal terminal spine. Patagium incomplete, enveloping the basal half of the arms.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.05; length and greatest breadth of the arms 0.08.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 268, depth 2900 fathoms; fossil in the rocks of Barbados.

6. Hymenactura copernici, n. sp. (Pl. 38, fig. 9).

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with six pores on its radius. Arms lanceolate, nearly twice as long as the phacoid shell, in the middle part twice as broad as the medullary shell, with a strong conical terminal spine at the distal end. In each arm about ten transverse rows of chambers. Patagium enveloping the basal half of the arms, with four convex parallel rows of chambers.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.035; length of the arms 0.17, greatest breadth 0.07.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 266, depth 2750 fathoms.

Genus 208. Astractura,^[247] Haeckel, 1881, Prodromus, p. 459.

Definition.—Coccodiscida with four chambered arms on the margin of the circular or quadrangular disk, crossed in two equatorial diameters, without a connecting patagium.

The genus Astractura has the form of a regular cross, four radial arms being opposite in two equatorial diameters perpendicular one to another. In the Porodiscida the same form is repeated by Stauralastrum, in the Spongodiscida by Spongasteriscus. The oldest known species of the genus is Astromma aristotelis of Ehrenberg, in which genus this author confounded triradial and four-radial forms.

Subgenus 1. Astracturium, Haeckel.

Definition.—Distal end of the arms blunt or truncated, without terminal spines.

1. Astractura ordinata, n. sp.

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with six pores on its radius, without a completely developed chambered ring. Arms trapezoidal, somewhat longer than the radius of the disk, at the truncated distal end as broad as long, at the base one-third smaller.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.08, of the medullary shell 0.03; length of the arms 0.05, distal breadth 0.05, basal breadth 0.035.

Habitat.—Tropical Atlantic, Station 348, depth 2450 fathoms; also fossil in Barbados.

2. Astractura clavigera, n. sp.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with ten pores on its radius, surrounded by one perfect chambered ring. Arms club-shaped, about as long as the radius of the central disk, at the rounded distal end two-thirds, at the base one-third as broad as long.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.05; length of the arms 0.06, basal breadth 0.02, distal breadth 0.04.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Stations 270 to 274, depths 2350 to 2925 fathoms; fossil in the rocks of Barbados.

Subgenus 2. Astractinium, Haeckel.

Definition.—Distal end of the arms furnished with a radial spine.

3. Astractura aristotelis, Haeckel.

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with six to eight pores on its radius, surrounded by one perfect chambered ring. Arms nearly trapezoidal, about as long as the diameter of the central disk, at the base half as broad, at the truncated distal end nearly as broad as long, and armed with a large pyramidal terminal spine. Each arm with about eight transverse and longitudinal rows of chambers.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.11, of the medullary shell 0.04; length of the arms 0.1, basal breadth 0.05, distal breadth 0.09.

Habitat.—Cosmopolitan; Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, at various depths; fossil in the Tertiary rocks of Barbados and Nicobar.

4. Astractura democriti, n. sp.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with five to seven pores on its radius, without perfect chambered ring. Arms about twice as long as broad, longer than the diameter of the central disk, at the truncated distal end a little broader than at the base, and armed with a strong, pyramidal, terminal spine.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.05; length of the arms 0.15, basal breadth 0.04, distal breadth 0.08.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 266, depth 2750 fathoms; fossil in Barbados.

5. Astractura hippocratis, n. sp.

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with seven pores on its radius, surrounded by two to three perfect chambered rings. Arms nearly square, scarcely as long and nearly as broad as the diameter of the central disk, at the rounded distal end armed with a very strong, pyramidal, terminal spine, longer than the arm itself, and at the base as broad as the medullary shell.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.09, of the medullary shell 0.03; length of the arms 0.08, breadth 0.1.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 265, depth 2900 fathoms.

Genus 209. Stauractura,^[248] Haeckel, 1881, Prodromus, p. 459.

Definition.—Coccodiscida with four chambered arms on the margin of the circular or quadrangular disk, crossed in two equatorial diameters, connected by a spongy patagium.

The genus Stauractura differs from the foregoing in the patagium between the arms, and bears therefore the same relation to it as Histiastrum in the Porodiscida does to Stauralastrum. All known species of this genus form a regular square, if we connect the end points of the arm axes by lines.

Subgenus 1. Stauracturium, Haeckel.

Definition.—Distal end of the arms blunt or truncated, without terminal spines.

1. Stauractura octogona, n. sp.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with eight pores in its radius. Arms nearly square, little larger than the phacoid shell, with broad truncated distal ends. The corners of the latter are so connected by the complete patagium, that the whole shell forms a regular octagon.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.05; length of the arms 0.12, distal breadth 0.11.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 266, depth 2750 fathoms.

2. Stauractura tetragona, n. sp.

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with eleven pores on its radius. Arms club-shaped, nearly as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell, and one and a half times as long as broad at the distal part; at the distal end rounded, blunt, without terminal spine. The terminal points of the arms are so connected by a thin, complete patagium, that the whole shell becomes a regular square.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.13, of the medullary shell 0.045; length of the arms 0.12, greatest breadth 0.08.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 265, depth 2900 fathoms.

Subgenus 2. Stauractinium, Haeckel.

Definition.—Distal end of the arms furnished with a radial spine.

3. Stauractura medusina, n. sp.

Phacoid shell two and a half times as broad as the medullary shell, with nine pores on its radius. Arms club-shaped, one and a half times as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell, and in the outer third nearly as broad as the latter, at the base scarcely one-third as broad; their truncated distal end armed with a strong pyramidal terminal spine. Patagium incomplete, enveloping only the basal half of the arms, with three rectilinear parallel rows of chambers, forming a square.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.04; length of the arms 0.14, greatest breadth 0.08.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 268, depth 2900 fathoms.

4. Stauractura quadrata, n. sp.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with seven pores on the radius. Arms nearly square, about as large as the phacoid shell, with a strong pyramidal terminal spine at the distal end. Patagium complete, between every two arms triangular, with rectilinear parallel rows of chambers; it connects the end points of the arm radius in such a manner that the whole shell becomes a regular square.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.09, of the medullary shell 0.045; length of the arms 0.1, greatest breadth 0.08.

Habitat.—South Pacific, Station 295, depth 1500 fathoms.

Genus 210. Pentactura,^[249] Haeckel, 1881, Prodromus, p. 459.

Definition.—Coccodiscida with five chambered arms on the margin of the circular or pentagonal disk, without a connecting patagium.

The genus Pentactura possesses five free radial arms, and resembles Pentalastrum among the Porodiscida. The distance of the five arms seems to be sometimes equal, at other times different in one and the same species.

1. Pentactura pentactis, Haeckel.

Phacoid shell two and a half times as broad as the medullary shell, with eight pores on its radius. Arms regularly or irregularly disposed, nearly square, about half as large as the phacoid shell, at the truncated distal end little broader than at the base. In the specimen figured, and very imperfectly described by Ehrenberg, (loc. cit.), the arms were asymmetrically disposed, two opposite in one axis of the disk, two others on one side of this axis, the fifth opposite to these on the other side. Another specimen which I found in the Barbados rocks had five arms of equal size, regularly disposed, at equal intervals.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.04; length and breadth of the arms 0.05 to 0.06.

Habitat.—Fossil in the rocks of Barbados.

2. Pentactura astropecten, n. sp.

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with ten pores on its radius. Arms regularly disposed, club-shaped, nearly twice as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell, and equal to it in breadth at the rounded distal end. The latter is armed with a short conical spine, and is twice as broad as the base.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.09, of the medullary shell 0.03; length of the arms 0.17, basal breadth 0.05, distal breadth 0.08.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 265, depth 2900 fathoms.

Genus 211. Echinactura,^[250] n. gen.

Definition.—Coccodiscida with five chambered arms on the margin of the circular or pentagonal disk, connected by a spongy patagium.

The genus Echinactura differs from the foregoing Pentactura in the patagium between the arms, and bears therefore the same relation to it as Pentinastrum in the Porodiscida does to Pentalastrum.

1. Echinactura culcita, n. sp.

Phacoid shell pentagonal, three times as broad as the medullary shell, with nine pores on its radius. Arms egg-shaped, about as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell, and in the distal part half as broad. The blunt ends of the arms are so connected by the complete patagium that the whole shell becomes a regular pentagonal disk.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.1, of the medullary shell 0.035; length of the arms 0.11, basal breadth 0.04, distal breadth 0.06.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 266, depth 2750 fathoms.

2. Echinactura asteriscus, n. sp.

Phacoid shell twice as broad as the medullary shell, with seven pores on its radius. Arms lanceolate, twice as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell, in the middle part nearly as broad as the latter, at the distal end with a strong conical terminal spine. Patagium incomplete, enveloping only the basal half of the arms.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.09, of the medullary shell 0.045; length of the arms 0.2, greatest breadth 0.08.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 268, depth 2900 fathoms.

3. Echinactura goniaster, n. sp.

Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, with nine pores on its radius. Arms club-shaped, one and a half times as long as the diameter of the phacoid shell, in the distal part nearly as broad as the latter, in the basal part one-third as broad; at the end a strong pyramidal spine. Patagium nearly complete, with concave dentated margin between each pair of arms, therefore the pentagonal disk of the whole shell with concave sides.

Dimensions.—Diameter of the phacoid shell 0.12, of the medullary shell 0.04; length of the arms (without terminal spine) 0.18, basal breadth 0.04, distal breadth 0.1.

Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 265, depth 2900 fathoms.

Family XXI. Porodiscida, Haeckel (Pls. 41-47).

Definition.—Discoidea without phacoid shell, with flat discoidal shell, in which a simple spherical central chamber is surrounded by concentric chambered rings (each ring divided by radial beams into imperfect chambers). Surface of the disk on the two flat sides covered by a porous sieve-plate.

The family Porodiscida is by far the largest and richest in different and common forms among all Discoidea; already in my Monograph (1862) nine genera and twenty-eight species have been enumerated. Their number is here increased to more than thirty genera and two hundred species. Many of these species appertain to the most common and widely distributed Spumellaria, both living and fossil. But the study of their structure is not easy, and requires (as in the foregoing Coccodiscida) not only careful examination of the facial views of the disk, but also of the marginal view and of slides and sections through different planes.

In my Monograph (1862, pp. 485, 491, 513) I had constituted for these Discoidea two different families, the Trematodiscida and Discospirida; but the comparative study of a far greater number of different types in the Challenger collection has since convinced me that those two families are but little different, and united by transitional forms within one and the same genus, so that they must be united as Porodiscida. Of the group, which Ehrenberg formerly had called "Calodictya," many genera appertain to the Porodiscida, whilst many others are true Spongodiscida.

The Porodiscida represent the first and the most important family of the Cyclodiscaria, or of those Discoidea which are devoid of the peculiar extracapsular lenticular "phacoid shell," characteristic of the three preceding families (united therefore as Phacodiscaria). Probably all Cyclodiscaria can be derived from Archidiscus, from a morphological as well as a phylogenetic point of view. Archidiscus seems to be the common ancestral form not only of the Porodiscida, but also of the nearly allied Pylodiscida and Spongodiscida. This important Archidiscus (Pl. 48, figs. 9-11) is a small lenticular circular disk, in which a simple latticed spherical central chamber is surrounded by one single concentric ring, connected with it by a variable number of radial beams in the equatorial plane. From this typical Archidiscus, as from their "architype," all other Cyclodiscaria may be derived; the Porodiscida by regular apposition of new concentric chambered rings on the margin, the Spongodiscida by irregular apposition of a spongy framework, the Pylodiscida by a peculiar interrupted, concentric, triradial growth, three radial arm-chambers alternating with three open gates or holes, so that already the first chambered ring is not complete.

Archidiscus (Pl. 48, figs. 9-11) is not only the common phylogenetic ancestral form of all Cyclodiscaria, but also the common ontogenetic original form of all Porodiscida, or at least of the greater part of them. The numerous species of Archidiscus, which are distinguished in the sequel, are at the same time the embryonic forms of different Porodiscida, corresponding to the "biogenetic main law of development." The small shell of Archidiscus is sometimes completely lenticular, circular, at other times more or less polygonal; commonly on the biconvex centre much thicker than on the margin, but sometimes also of nearly equal thickness (like a medal or a short cylinder). The latticed central chamber of it is probably in the majority of species spherical, but in some more or less compressed, lenticular; the number of small pores on its surface is probably commonly between ten and twenty (four to eight usually being visible on each hemisphere). The number of radial beams, which connect it with the equatorial ring, varies commonly from four to eight; but sometimes only two or three are to be found, in other cases nine to ten or more. The regular disposition of these beams (in certain equatorial axes of the disk) is probably of great importance, as determining the later development of characteristic radial appendages of the margin in the more highly developed Porodiscida. The equatorial ring itself, forming the margin of the lenticular disk, is either a simple solid ring or a broader latticed girdle; in the latter case it merges slowly into the opposite sieve-plates of the two flat disk sides, or the porous "cover-plates," covering its parallel or convex surfaces. These latter can be regarded as direct peripheral continuations of the polar regions of the spherical central chamber. The ring-chambers, surrounding the latter in a single circle, are commonly of nearly the same breadth, but often also of different irregular size. Their number varies between two and ten or more, but commonly between four and eight; each ring-chamber is covered on the upper and lower side by the sieve-plate, bounded on the inner (proximal) side by the wall of the central chamber, on the outer (distal) side by the marginal ring, on both lateral sides by the contiguous neighbouring ring-chambers.

The important question as to the phylogenetic origin of Archidiscus can be answered in a twofold way. The most simple form of Archidiscus (Archidiscus dioniscus) can be derived immediately from the Stylosphærida, Saturnalis (Pl. 13, fig. 16), only by the development of lattice-work between the equatorial ring and the two polar faces of the concentric central chamber (on the surface of the biconvex jelly-mantle). But on the other hand Archidiscus may also be derived from the simplest Phacodiscida, Sethodiscus (Pl. 33, figs. 1-3), by the stronger compression of the biconvex lenticular shell, so that the enclosed medullary shell on the two poles runs together with the lenticular phacoid shell, of which only the peripheral part remains free, and thus forms the chambered ring; this latter explanation seems the more natural in many cases, as often in the Porodiscida the central chamber is enclosed in one or two concentric spherical or lenticular lattice-shells.

The second subfamily of the Porodiscida are the Trematodiscida, which are derived from the preceding Archidiscida by concentric growth in the equatorial plane. In the same way in which the simple chambered ring of Archidiscus is connected by radial beams with the central chamber, so in Porodiscus a variable number of concentric rings is connected with that first ring. The number of these concentric rings varies between two and ten or more, but commonly amounts to between three and five. The radial beams connecting them are either piercing or interrupted; their number increases gradually from the centre towards the periphery. The chambers between them are sometimes more regular, at other times more irregular in size and form. Their upper and lower wall is formed by the two covering "sieve-plates," or the porous cover-plates, which are continued from the central disk to the margin. If these two sieve-plates continue being parallel, the disk becomes medal-shaped or a short cylinder; if the two plates become more or less concavely vaulted one against the other, the disk becomes biconvex lenticular, the middle part thicker than the marginal part. Rarely the contrary is the case, the margin thicker than the centre, and then the disk biconcave.

In my Monograph I had separated as two different subfamilies the true Trematodiscida (with circular concentric rings) from the Discospirida (with spirally convoluted rings). But the enormous mass of specimens, which I afterwards examined in the Challenger collection, has convinced me that this separation was not natural. For in one and the same genus of most nearly allied forms we find on one hand quite regular concentric circular forms (Trematodiscus), on the other hand spirally convoluted forms (Discospira), and connecting between them such forms as are in the central part concentric, in the marginal part spiral (Perispira)—or conversely, these in the centre spiral, on the margin concentric (Centrospira)—and frequently also more or less irregular forms with interrupted rings (Atactodiscus); therefore, all those genera (Prodromus, 1881, Nos. 448-452) have only the value of subgenera of Porodiscus. But a distinct genus is Perichlamydium, in which the two sieve-plates run on the margin of the lens and form a broad hyaline porous or solid girdle. More important is the distinction of the Ommatodiscida, in which the margin of the disk exhibits one larger osculum, armed with a corona of spines (Ommatodiscus), or two oscula, opposite on the poles of one axis (Stomatodiscus). Whilst in many Porodiscida all chambers of the concentric rings lie in one and the same (equatorial) plane, in many others with further growth they become stratified in floors, and the whole disk is therefore composed of two to four or more parallel disks, each with a system of concentric chambered rings or girdles, quite as in the majority of the Coccodiscida (p. 457). Often the central part of the lenticular disk becomes thickened by apposition of such floors or strata, whilst the marginal part remains simple, with one single stratum. The communication between the chambers of the different strata seems to be the same as in the similar Coccodiscida.

Also the margin of the disk exhibits in the Porodiscida the same characteristic differences as in the foregoing family. In the subfamily of Stylodictyida it bears a certain number of solid radial spines, often regularly disposed (as in the Stylocyclida). In the subfamily of Euchitonida the margin is distinguished by the possession of two to six or more (commonly three or four) chambered arms, also situated in the plane of the disk, and of the same structure (sometimes more or less irregular, spongy). These arms are very variable in size, form, and structure, exhibit the same peculiarities as in the Astracturida, and are sometimes free, at other times connected by a "patagium" or an interbrachial spongy skeleton of different structure, like a web membrane (compare above, p. 458). In some genera the arms become forked or branched on the distal end. Sometimes their distal end bears a terminal radial spine.

The Central Capsule of the Porodiscida assumes generally the form of the including shell, with or without arms, but is constantly somewhat smaller, as it remains enclosed by the sieve-plates of the disk surface. Often the capsule is filled with many coloured oil-globules, disposed regularly in the chamber rows. The nucleus of it is enclosed by the central chamber, and in many cases by this and the innermost concentric rings.

Synopsis of the Genera of the Porodiscida.

Subfamily 1. Archidiscida, Haeckel.

Definition.—Porodiscida with a simple spherical or lenticular latticed central chamber, surrounded by a single concentric latticed ring, which is divided by radial beams into two to six or more radial chambers.