Fam. 3, Plate 1 1 .
EOLIS GLAUCA, Al d e r and H ancock.
E. sub-depressa, elongata, rufescens: brancbiis vermicularibus sub-conicis, sub-compressis, glaucis,
fusco et albo punctatis; in seriebus 14 dense digestis: tentaculis sub-linearibus, lsevibus: angulis
anterioribus pedis paululum expansis.
Eolis glauca, Aid. and Hanc., in Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 16, p. 314.
Hab. Dredged off Berry Head, in Torbay.
Body upwards of an inch, and three quarters long, rather depressed and elongated,
tapering to a fine point behind; pale red, more intense towards the head. Dorsal tentacles
approximating at the base, and spreading above, moderately long, rather slender and tapering,
smooth, of a full red, the tips whitish and obtuse. The eyes are small, and placed close behind
them. Oral tentacles set father wide apart, and about the same length as the dorsal pair,
their bases forming the sides of the head; white with a reddish tinge on the upper part
especially towards the base, and minutely speckled with opake. red. Branchice very
numerous, rather'stout, slightly depressed, vermicular, and tapering a good deal towards the
top; of a pale sage-green colour, speckled with brown and opake hoary white, and
frequently with a reddish tinge near the apex; the extreme tips pale. They extend forwards
round the base of the dorsal tehtacles, and are arranged in about fourteen transverse rows
down the sides of the back, leaving a bare space m the middle for about half way down. The
anterior rows contain ten or twelve papillae each, and as they approach the foot, each of these
rows is subdivided into two or three, forming a close series of papillae on the lower part of the
body : above there is a short space intervening between each row. The posterior rows are
set in close single series to near the tail, which extends a short way behind them, and is
generally produced into a fine linear point. Foot pale, slightly tinted with yellow, the spawn
appearing of a flesh colour through the centre : it is broadish, arched in front, slit transversely,
and extended at the sides into tentacular points.
A single specimen of this fine species was procured by the dredge off Berry
Head, in Torbay, in the summer of 1845. It lived with us some time, and showe.d but little,
activity.
Eolis glauca is perfectly distinct from any other species we are acquainted with, and,
with the exception of E . papillosa, is the largest of the British Eolides. It is at once distinguished
from E . papillosa by its more slender form, and the clustering of the anterior
branchiae, but more especially by the curious vermicular form of these appendageSj which are
capable of a considerable degree of motion in an undulating manner.