1. Perispyris bicincta, n. sp. (Pl. 88, fig. 13).
Shell smooth, with two deep transverse annular strictures and a deep sagittal incision at the sternal base; one and a half times as long as broad. Cephalis nut-shaped, with large irregular roundish pores and very broad bars. Everywhere from its surface there arise numerous slender arborescent radial beams; by the anastomoses of their ramified branches there arise the flat cap-shaped cupola and the larger bilobed thorax; and also the external enveloping shell with loose delicate network.
Dimensions.—Inner shell 0.17 long, 0.1 broad; outer shell 0.23 long, 0.17 broad; ring 0.06 long.
Habitat.—Western Tropical Pacific, Station 225, depth 4475 fathoms.
2. Perispyris spongiosa, n. sp.
Shell rough, with two distinct transverse strictures and a deep sternal incision, similar to the preceding; the radial beams arising from the inner shell, and forming by anastomosing branches the outer shell, are thinner and more numerous, and the framework of the latter on the surface is very dense and spongy, therefore the shell is dark and not transparent.
Dimensions.—Inner shell 0.18 long, 0.12 broad; outer shell 0.24 long, 0.18 broad; ring 0.08 long.
Habitat.—Central Pacific, Station 265, depth 2900 fathoms.
3. Perispyris lentellipsis, n. sp. (Pl. 88, fig. 12).
Shell smooth, lentelliptical, with three different isopolar axes, perpendicular one to another. Transverse and sagittal strictures are wanting; but the large enclosed ring and the two pairs of large adjacent annular meshes indicate clearly the position and size of the hidden cephalis. The two other joints (the cupola on the upper and the thorax on the lower pole of the cephalis) are nearly equal, cap-shaped or hemispherical. The outer lentelliptical shell is little larger than the inner, connected with it by numerous thin bristle-shaped radial beams, and exhibits a delicate arachnoidal lattice-work.
Dimensions.—Inner shell 0.15 long, 0.1 broad; outer shell 0.18 long, 0.13 broad; ring 0.08 long.
Habitat.—Central Pacific, Station 272, depth 2600 fathoms.
Subfamily 3. Nephrospyrida (vel Paradictyida, Haeckel, 1881).
Definition.—Androspyrida without free basal feet and external constrictions. Shell either spherical or discoidal.
Genus 484. Sphærospyris,[1] n. gen.
Definition.—Androspyrida with a spherical or subspherical shell, without basal incision and transverse constriction; without free basal feet.
- ↑ Sphærospyris = Spherical wicker-basket; σφαῖρα, σπυρίς.
