XVI.—On the Structure and Life-History of Metephelota coronata gen. nov., sp. nov. (Suctoria, Ephelotidæ)

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
• Main Author: Willis, A. G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1947
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; General Environmental Science; Pacific; Balaenoptera musculus; Blue whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0080456800004816; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0080456800004816

The present paper records an investigation into a new and unusual suctorian, found epizoic on the cuticle of the Cirripede, Conchoderma aurita . The Cirripede host was obtained from a Blue Whale ( Balaenoptera musculus ), in the S. Pacific. The collection was made at the Whaling Factory Ship Southern Empress , by the Whaling Inspector, Commander H. Buckle, and the material was then sent to Britain with the collections of H.M.R.S. Discovery . The new form, Metephelota coronata , was first discovered by Professor H. Graham Cannon in the course of an anatomical study on Conchoderma . Recognising that M. coronata might be a new member of the Ephelotidæ (Collin, 1912), Professor Cannon, with great kindness, transferred the whole of the available material to me for further study. This has shown that the material consists of a single new species, generically distinct from Ephelota and Podocyathus , the two previously known genera of the Ephelotidæ.