Dimensions.—Diameter of the shell 0.09 to 0.11, of the pores 0.002 to 0.004, of the bars 0.003 to 0.006; length of the tubuli 0.05 to 0.06; diameter of the inner aperture 0.02 to 0.03, of the outer aperture 0.05 to 0.07.
Habitat.—Western part of the South Atlantic, Station 325, surface.
Genus 41. Otosphæra,[1] n. gen.
Definition.—Collosphærida with simple shells, the pores of which are prolonged into external simple radial tubuli with fenestrated walls; outer mouth of the tubuli armed with a single tooth.
The genus Otosphæra differs from Solenosphæra by the single tooth on the external mouth of the tubuli, from Mazosphæra by the fenestration of the walls of the tubuli.
1. Otosphæra polymorpha, n. sp. (Pl. 7, fig. 6).
Shell quite irregular, polyhedral or roundish, very variable in size and form, with numerous very small pores, much smaller than the bars. Twenty to thirty pores in the half meridian of the shell. Porous tubuli of the shell commonly in variable number (one to four), but sometimes constant in number (one, two, three, or four) in the one and same colony. Tubuli irregular conical, commonly about as long as the radius of the shell; their outer aperture obliquely truncated, on one side prolonged into one large, prominent, bill-like, curved, acute tooth.
Dimensions.—Diameter of the shell 0.12 to 0.15, of the pores 0.001 to 0.002; length of the tubuli 0.06 to 0.08, inner aperture 0.03, outer aperture 0.02.
Habitat.—Indian Ocean, Madagascar, Rabbe, surface.
2. Otosphæra auriculata, n. sp. (Pl. 7, fig. 5).
Shell quite irregular, of extremely variable form, now inclining to roundish, now to polyhedral, with very numerous small pores, irregularly formed and distributed. Twelve to twenty-four pores in the half meridian of the shell, of very different size, for the most part larger than the bars. Porous tubuli of the shell of variable number (in one and the same colony), one to five, mostly three or four, of conical form, irregularly formed and scattered, commonly about half as long as the radius of the shell. Outer aperture of the tubuli obliquely truncated, with one large prominent, often curved, acute tooth.
Dimensions.—Diameter of the shell 0.1 to 0.2, of the pores 0.003 to 0.005; length of the tubuli 0.01 to 0.05, inner aperture 0.04, outer aperture 0.03.
Habitat.—Central Tropical Pacific, Stations 268 to 272, depths 2425 to 2925 fathoms.
- ↑ Otosphæra = Shell with ears; ὀτοσφαῖρα.
