Page:Scientific results HMS Challenger vol 18 part 1.djvu/894

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686
THE VOYAGE OF THE H.M.S. CHALLENGER.

constriction three times as long as the lentelliptical medullary shell. Four cupolas obliquely elliptical.

Dimensions.—Length of the cortical shell 0.16, breadth 0.12; length of the medullary shell 0.04, breadth 0.03.

Habitat.—North Pacific, Station 241, depth 2300 fathoms.


Genus 302. Zoniscus,[1] n. gen.

Definition.Zonarida with six dome-shaped chambers of the cortical shell, separated by three annular constrictions (one sagittal and two transverse, parallel to the equatorial plane).

The genus Zoniscus differs from Zonarium as well as from Zonidium by the development of the transverse girdle, which is not constricted, but on the contrary prominently vaulted in the equatorial plane. Therefore both wings of the transverse girdle form here two opposite lateral or "equatorial cupolas," as in Amphitholus. These are separated from four other domes (the "corner cupolas") by two transverse annular constrictions, which correspond to the free edges of the original transverse girdle. The corner domes of each pair are separated from each other by the sagittal septum.


1. Zoniscus rectangulus, n. sp.

Cortical shell nearly rectangular, with rounded corners, nearly one and a half times as long as broad. Surface thorny, without larger radial spines. Sagittal constriction scarcely half as long as the hexagonal medullary shell. Both equatorial cupolas (or wings of the transverse girdle) scarcely half as large as the four corner cupolas.

Dimensions.—Length of the cortical shell 0.15, breadth 0.11; length of the medullary shell 0.07, breadth 0.045.

Habitat.—North Pacific, Station 253, depth 3125 fathoms.


2. Zoniscus hexathalamus, n. sp.

Cortical shell nearly elliptical, one and a third times as long as broad. Surface nearly smooth, without radial spines. Sagittal constriction three times as long as the lentelliptical medullary shell. Both equatorial cupolas about as large as the four corner cupolas.

Dimensions.—Length of the cortical shell 0.12, breadth 0.09; length of the medullary shell 0.035, breadth 0.025.

Habitat.—North Pacific, Station 244, depth 2900 fathoms.


  1. Zoniscus = Elegant girdle; ζωνίσκος.