Dimensions.—Diameter of the spherical outer shell 0.15, inner shell 0.11; pores of the inner 0.01, bars 0.005.
Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 274, depth 2750 fathoms.
Genus 299. Cubotholus,[1] n. gen.
Definition.—Tholonida with simple cortical shell (without external veil), composed of six hemispherical cupolas, opposite in pairs on the poles of three axes perpendicular one to another, covering six sides of the cuboidal Larnacilla-shaped central chamber (with medullary shell).
The genus Cubotholus differs from Tholocubus in the possession of a medullary shell in the central chamber, and may be derived from this genus by its production; but it may also be derived from Staurotholus by apposition of two opposite domes on the flat sides of the cross-shell. Sometimes all six domes are of the same size and form, but commonly different in pairs.
Subgenus 1. Cubotholissa, Haeckel.
Definition.—Surface of the shell smooth or rough, without radial spines.
1. Cubotholus regularis, n. sp. (Pl. 10, fig. 14).
On the six sides of the cubical central chamber six hemispherical cupolas of the same size and form. Surface smooth. Pores regular, circular, twice as broad as the bars; eight in the basal semicircle of each cupola. Medullary shell apparently spherical (?), connected with the eight corners of the central chamber by eight radial beams, regularly disposed. (This species is remarkable for the perfect symmetry of the shell, the six sides of which appear to be quite similar. It differs from the similar Tholocubus regularis in the possession of a medullary shell.)
Dimensions.—Diameter of the cortical shell (equal in all three dimensive axes) 0.15; pores 0.01, bars 0.005; diameter of the medullary shell 0.04.
Habitat.—Pacific, central area, Station 273, depth 2350 fathoms.
2. Cubotholus quadraticus, n. sp.
Surface of the shell smooth. Both principal cupolas (on the poles of the longitudinal axis) larger than the four other cupolas, which have the same size and lie cross-wise in the equatorial plane. (Therefore two of the three fundamental axes equal, the third larger.) Pores subregular, circular, three times as broad as the bars; ten to twelve in the semicircle of each cupola-basis.
Dimensions.—Major axis 0.16, minor axis 0.12; pores 0.012, bars 0.004.
Habitat.—Indian Ocean, Zanzibar, Pullen; depth 2200 fathoms.
- ↑ Cubotholus = Shell with cupolas disposed on six cube-sides; κῦβος, θόλος.
