The genus Saturnalis (with simple lattice-sphere) and the two similar genera Saturnulus (with two concentric spheres) and Saturninus (with three spheres) form together the small peculiar group of Saturnalida, distinguished by a remarkable circular or elliptical ring, connecting the distal ends of the two equal opposite polar spines. This ring indicates a certain equatorial plane, and therefore brings these Sphæroidea into relation with the Discoidea.
Subgenus 1. Saturnalina, Haeckel.
Definition.—Ring smooth, without spines or thorns.
1. Saturnalis circularis, n. sp.
Pores of the spherical shell regular, circular, hexagonally framed, twice as broad as the bars. Ten to twelve pores on the half equator. Ring circular, smooth, its diameter three times as great as that of the sphere.
Dimensions.—Diameter of the sphere 0.07, pores 0.005, bars 0.0025; diameter of the circular ring 0.2, thickness of the axial beams and the ring 0.01.
Habitat.—South Atlantic, Station 332, depth 2200 fathoms.
2. Saturnalis annularis, n. sp. (Pl. [13], fig. 16).
Pores of the spherical shell regular, circular, with elevated hexagonal frames, of the same breadth as the bars. Sixteen to twenty pores on the half equator. Ring elliptical, smooth, somewhat constricted at the poles of the axis, its diameter three times as great as that of the sphere.
Dimensions.—Diameter of the sphere 0.09, pores and bars 0.005, major axis of the elliptical ring 0.27 to 0.3, minor axis 0.19 to 0.2; thickness of the ring and of the axial beams 0.01.