Scuta: these are sub-triangular and generally a little elongated, but they vary slightly in relative breadth (fig. [1 i], [1 l]), and likewise in the degree to which the basi-tergal angle is rounded off. The under surface is clouded with dull or pinkish-purple, or with green, or is nearly white. The articular ridge is not prominent, and the articular furrow is narrow. The adductor ridge is prominent, and runs upwards for some distance close and parallel to the articular ridge; and sometimes it extends nearly or quite up to the apex of the valve; in one single specimen the adductor ridge had an abraded appearance, and was very little developed. The crests for the rostral and lateral depressores are sharp and distinct. Along the occludent margin, the ends generally of the alternate lines of growth are enlarged into knobs, serving to lock the two valves together; but in many specimens only two or three knobs, at intervals of several lines of growth (fig. [1 b]), are developed.
Terga: when the upper end of the valve is not corroded, there is a distinct beak, hollow within for a thread of corium. The scutal margin is not much inflected, and the articular ridge not very prominent. The spur is placed quite close to the basi-scutal angle of the valve, so that there is no basal margin on that side of the valve. The width of the valve and of the spur, and the acumination of the extremity of the latter, varies in a remarkable manner. In the broad and commonest variety (fig. [1 k]), the basal margin of the valve form an angle of about 130° with the carinal side of the spur, and the basal end of the spur is broad and truncated. In the less common and narrow variety ([1 m]), the basal margin in some extreme cases forms very nearly a straight line with the carinal side of the spur; and the spur itself is bluntly pointed: in var. 7 it is sharply pointed.
Structure of the parietes and radii.—In all cases the four sutures are quite distinct, from top to bottom, on the internal lamina of the shell, and generally they run through the whole thickness of the walls, and are visible externally. Often they do not quite reach the outer lamina, and then the shell externally consists of a single piece, like a patella. Sometimes the sutures can be traced running through the parietal tubes only for a short distance from the internal surface; where they cease, the two walls of the suture become fused together. When a perfect suture is split open, the radius is represented (fig. [1 h]) by a few narrow, sinuous ridges, sending out on each side little branches or denticuli; these are received into corresponding furrows in the opposed compartment. These ridges run nearly parallel to each other, and somewhat obliquely, from the outer lamina of the shell to the basis. When the radii are developed, their edges are similarly formed, by sinuous denticulated ridges, with the interspaces between them filled up solidly. The alæ are but little prominent.
The mouth does not deviate from the generic type. The cirri are remarkable from the variability in the several pairs of the relative numbers of their segments, as shown in the following table. The segments do not correspond even on opposite sides of the same individual, as may be seen in the two lower lines of the table. I believe that variability to this degree is very uncommon in other cirripedes, though, as stated in the [Introduction], the number of the segments always increases with the growth of the individual. The terminal segments in the longer rami of both the first and third cirrus are antenniformed,—being elongated, and of a different shape, with fewer bristles, compared with the basal segments of the same cirri. It is apparently these terminal segments which are particularly liable to vary in number. In both rami of the third cirrus, some of the segments, from the sixth to the eleventh inclusive, (counting from the bottom), more especially the eighth, ninth, and tenth, carry a few spines coarsely and doubly pectinated; but as some of the adjoining segments carry spines which may be called doubly serrated, it is not easy to draw an exact line of demarcation. Sometimes, though rarely, a few of the nearly terminal segments in the second cirrus are furnished with similar, doubly pectinated spines.
| First cirrus. | Second cirrus. | Third cirrus. | Sixth cirrus. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shorter ramus. | Longer ramus. | Shorter ramus. | Longer ramus. | Shorter ramus. | Longer ramus. | Either ramus. | |
| Specimen from Pernambuco, Brazil (var. 1) | 9 | 19 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 27 | 26 |
| Another specimen from the same cluster (var. 1) | 12 | 23 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 23 |
| From the Galapagos Archipelago, (var. 1) | 10 | 16 | 10 | 11? | 11 | 16 | 25 |
| From the Philippine Archipelago, (var. 4) | 10 | ? | 10 | 10 | 11 | 19 | 18 |
| From California (var. 5) | 15 | 24 | — | — | — | — | 22 |
| From the bottom of a ship (var. 7), young | — | — | 9 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 14 |
| From South America (var. 1) British Museum | 11 | 18 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 22 |
| Another specimen from the the last specimen | 16 | 25 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 23 | 27 |
| Same individual, but the cirri from the opposite side of the body | 15 | 28 | 15 | 21 | 16 | 23 | — |
Varieties.—Under the generic description, I have stated that after having spent some time in examining a very large suite of specimens of [T. porosa], I concluded that at least four of the varieties were true species. It so happened that all the specimens which I first examined of the var. (4) rubescens, had the narrow sloping terga, and scuta with only two or three great teeth on their occludent margins; but ultimately, in a group thus characterised, I found one or two individuals with terga precisely of the shape of those in var. (1) communis. Again, in a group of dull purple specimens of var. communis, a few had the narrow sloping terga, and scuta with teeth on their occludent margins, intermediate in size and number between the varieties with only one or two great teeth, and those with every alternate growth-ridge enlarged into a tooth. Hence var. rubescens completely broke down as a species.
With respect to var. (5) elegans (a M.S. specific name of Leach) I inferred at first, from external appearance alone, that it was distinct; the outer lamina of the shell and even the epidermis is preserved; the surface is strongly ribbed, and the whole shell, excepting the sheath, is nearly white; the terga are narrow, with a sloping basal margin as in var. (4) rubescens. Whole groups of specimens are thus characterised. But as var. communis is often white, and as the surface, when the outer lamina is preserved, is generally, as we shall presently see, ribbed longitudinally, the differences in var. elegans are quite unimportant.
The (6th) var. differs from var. communis only in the narrow radii having been developed, and consequently in the orifice being pentagonal, and in the outer, longitudinally ribbed lamina of the shell having been preserved. In the same group of specimens, I have seen every intermediate stage between this and the common form. It must not, however, be supposed that the young of var. communis always pass through these stages, for such is not the case. In the genus [Balanus] it has been seen, how capricious in some species is the development of the radii.
Of the other varieties, enumerated at the beginning, no further mention is required, excepting with respect to var. (7), the most singular of all. I have seen only three specimens, sent to me by Dr. Aug. Gould, of Boston, United States, and these from the appearance of their bases I have no doubt had been attached to a ship,—the only instance which I have met with, in the present species. The shell is steeply conical, with the orifice so small as to be reduced to a mere pore; the radii are extremely narrow and white; the shell is thin, with the surface smooth, but ribbed longitudinally and regularly; the outer lamina of the shell and the epidermis are perfectly preserved; the upper part of the shell is reddish purple, which dies away towards the base: careful examination of the apex shows that at the first growth the young shell was blueish-green. The terga are narrow, with a sloping basal margin, as in var. rubescens, but with the point of the spur sharper. I have formerly remarked that the shape of the terga seems influenced by the size of the orifice. The lower edge of the sheath depends freely: I have seen no other instance of this latter structure, so common, but so variable, in [Balanus], in the present species, except to a partial extent in one distorted specimen, in Mr. Stutchbury’s collection, adhering to [Balanus tintinnabulum], and probably taken from a ship’s bottom. I may add that this distorted specimen was remarkable from its radii being wider than in any other instance,—from its smooth uncoloured surface without longitudinal ribs,—and from the perfect preservation of the epidermis over its entire surface. Although Dr. Gould’s specimens, in external aspect, are absolutely and entirely different from the common varieties of [T. porosa], there are so many intermediate forms, and the differences are so little important that I feel no hesitation in attributing them to variation, consequent on the individuals having been exposed to unusual conditions, attached to the bottom of a ship.