Fam. 3, Plate 36.
EOLIS DESPECTA, Johnston.
E. alba, lined, olivaced undata in medio dorsi; brancbiis amplis, ovatis, in serie unica utrinque
digestis : tentaculis dorsalibus longis, lateribus pedis anterioribus non productis.
Eolidia despecta, Johns, in Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. 8, p. 378, fig. 35 e : idem in Ann. Nat. Hist,
vol. 1, p. 123.
Hab. On corallines at or beyond low-water mark. Berwick Bay, Dr. Johnston. Whitley, Northumberland.
Oban, Argyleshire.
Body two or three lines long, slender, tapering gradually to a point behind; transparent
white with a slight greenish tinge in the centre from the viscera shining through.
Two reddish streaks pass backwards from the dorsal tentacles towards the first branchial
papillae, and two fainter ones also pass forward to the oral tentacles; besides these there is
a streak of pale red on each side of the body below the branchiae. These reddish markings
are, however, sometimes wanting. Dorsal tentacles long, tapering, smooth, and stout,
approximating at their bases, but generally spread much apart and inclined forwards; pellucid,
with the red streak of the head and shoulders passing a little way upwards. The oral
pair short, not above one third the length of the dorsal ones, linear and pellucid. BrancJuce
large, oblong-ovate, pointed, forming a single line of four papillae on each side of the back.
The first pair are opposite each other, the rest alternating. The central part of each papilla
is of a pale olive green or yellowish brown, coarsely and irregularly granulated with a much
darker shade of the same colour; the outside rim whitish and transparent; the tips opaque
white, with sometimes a reddish band. A dark vessel of the same colour as the branchise,
and similarly granulated, is seen passing down the centre of the back in a zig-zag line sending
off a branch into one of the papillae on each side alternately at the angles. Foot very narrow,
tapering to a point behind, and extending considerably beyond the papillae; the front is
rounded and not produced at the sides. The eyes are small.
The specimen from which Dr. Johnston’s description of this pretty little species was
taken had only three papillae on each side, and was probably a young one. It is subject to
a little variation in colour and markings; some individuals being very pale, while others
have the red or olive markings more or less conspicuous. The very large and undulating
central branch of the digestive system is lined with coloured granules, and has in all probability
the same function to perform as the glands of the papillae. It may therefore be considered
a portion of the hepatic organ. In this peculiarity, as well as in its general aspect,
this little creature shows a departure from, the type of Eolis. It appears nearly allied to
the Limax tergipes of Forskal, upon which Cuvier founded his genus Tergipes ; but that
eminent naturalist was, we think, led into an error by relying upon the structure and func