roundish, of different sizes. On the peculiar symmetry of this remarkable form, compare the detailed description in my Monograph.
Dimensions.—Length of the three joints, a 0.02, b 0.06, c 0.08; breadth, a 0.02, b 0.1, c 0.12.
Habitat.—Mediterranean, Messina, surface.
Genus 586. Pteropilium,[1] Haeckel, 1881, Prodromus, p. 435.
Definition.—Theopilida (vel Tricyrtida triradiata aperta) with three latticed free lateral wings on the sides of the thorax, prolonged into the horn of the cephalis in the form of three vertical, free cephalic wings.
The genus Pteropilium differs from the preceding closely allied Dictyoceras in the development of three free, vertical, latticed cephalic wings, expanded between the apical horn of the cephalis and the three wings of the thorax; they may be direct prolongations of the latter. Pteropilium, however, may also be derived directly from the Dicyrtida Callimitra or Clathrocorys by development of an abdomen. All these interesting forms are closely allied to the Plectoidea.
Subgenus 1. Clathropilium, Haeckel, 1881, Prodromus, p. 435.
Definition.—Thorax completely latticed, without three larger lateral holes between the three wings.
1. Pteropilium stratiotes, n. sp. (Pl. 70, figs. 9, 10).
Shell thin-walled, with two deep strictures. Length of the three joints = 1 : 5 : 4, breadth = 2 : 6 : 9. Cephalis hemispherical, with a vertical, straight, prismatic horn of three times the length. Thorax inflated, oblique, with three slender, nearly straight, widely divergent ribs, beginning from the collar stricture and united in its centre with the centripetal prolongation of the horn. The basal half of the three ribs is enclosed in the thorax wall, whilst the distal half lies outside it, and is connected with its lower half only by two divergent, reticulated wings. The upper edge of the ribs is connected with the occipital horn by a vertical, loosely reticulated, triangular wing. Abdomen half as long as the thorax, also of irregular and oblique form, with knee-shaped outline and a wide, truncate mouth. Network with irregular polygonal, for the most part quadrangular, meshes, separated by thin bars and forming irregular transverse rows. Some stronger, vein-like ribs ramify in the wall, diverging towards the mouth.
Dimensions.—Length of the three joints, a 0.03, b 0.1, c 0.08; breadth, a 0.04, b 0.12, c 0.18.
Habitat.—Central Pacific, Station 271, surface.
- ↑ Pteropilium = Small hat with wings; πτερόν, πίλιον.
