LEPAS GALEATA (?) _Linnæus._ Mantissa altera Holmiæ, 1771.
CONOPEA ELONGATA. _Say._[90] Journal of Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia,
vol. ii, part 2, p. 323, 1822.
[90] If I have assigned the specific title of _galeatus_ to
the wrong species, yet Say's name of _elongatus_ ought not
strictly to be admitted; as the _Lepas elongata_ of Gmelin is a
Balanus,--probably a variety of _Balanus crenatus_. I may add, that
as the _Lepas galeata_ of Schröter ('Einleitung in die Conch.'
&c.), was attached to a Gorgonia from the East Indies, it cannot be
our present species, but probably is one of the three other allied
species, which all occur in India.
_Parietes not porose; basis porose. Tergum, with the apex square,
caused by the great development of the articular ridge._
_Hab._--Charlestown, South Carolina; Florida; West Indies; Central
America; attached to Gorgoniæ; Mus. Brit., Agassiz, Cuming,
Stutchbury.
_General Appearance._--This and the two following species come so
close in general appearance to the last, that it will be quite
superfluous to do more than describe the few points of difference.
The shell and basis are generally quite as much elongated as in the
last species, and sometimes much more so, owing to the carinal end
(fig. 4 _a_), with the corresponding portion of the basal cup, being
produced like the rostral end, into a flattened, sharp point: I have
seen a specimen in this state .9 of an inch in length, and only .25
in breadth in the broadest part. In many specimens, however, the
shape is exactly as in _B. calceolus_; but the rostrum seems less
usually furrowed from clasping the stem of the Gorgonia. The colour
is paler, pinker, and more distinctly striped longitudinally than
in _B. calceolus_; I have, however, seen some not-striped, purple
specimens (and one transversely freckled with white) from the West
Indies. The parietes are strongly-ribbed internally, and are not
permeated by pores. The radii have their sutural edges crenated. The
basal cup is permeated by pores.
The _Scutum_ differs from that in the last species, only in the pit
for the lateral depressor muscle, being much shallower, and less
defined, and in the apex being truncated. The _Tergum_ is remarkable
from its broad, square, truncated summit, which underlies the whole
broad apex of the scutum: the square summit of the tergum is formed
by a great and peculiar development of the uppermost part of the
articular ridge. The spur is a little narrower than in _B. calceolus_.
_Mouth_: on the crest of the labrum there are two teeth on each side
of the central notch. The mandibles have five teeth, of which the two
lower are very small. The maxillæ show a trace of a notch under the
upper large pair of spines; near the inferior angle there are two
long spines. _Cirri_: in the first pair, one ramus is nearly twice as
long as the other: the segments are not very protuberant. There is
a sharp point at the dorsal basis of the penis. The branchiæ are of
moderate size, and plicated on one side.