conditions being clearly shown in Fauvel’s figures.1 Some preparations thus indicate
an outer and an inner folded collar.
The second segment is short and devoid of processes. The third bears dorsally the
fan of flattened pale», and, with the next segment, the four branchi» on each side
(Fauvel). The pale» form a more or less horizontal fan, with the longer bristles internal,
the shorter external. Each of the larger pale» (Plate CXXIV, fig. 4) has a flattened
finely striated shaft and a tapered tip with a granular interior, and a slender curved tip
ending m a fine point, the same minutely granular aspect being present in it as in the
region below. The concave edge of the distal curve is crenulated, after the manner of
similar structures in the Amphictenid».
The body (Plate CXII, fig. 3) reaches nearly an inch in length in spirit, and is
slightly tapered anteriorly, the bristled region of fourteen segments being narrowed both
anteriorly and posteriorly, and terminating in the narrower uncinigerous region of twelve
segments, the caudal extremity having a series of slender filiform cirri. Generally
speaking the segments of the anterior region are narrow, those of the posterior region
are wider. The terminal segment is comparatively small, and the filiform tapering
cirri, which Malmgren says are twenty in number, seem to surround the vent.T he
body is somewhat smoothly rounded dorsally, flattened and ventrally. marked by a median band
The branchiae are smooth, or slightly crenulate, tapering organs of a greenish hue
wmhidicdhle aornisee o, ft hthreee r oiwn .a transverse row on the third segment, and the fourth behind the
The anterior region is distinguished by the ventral glandular belts, and by the
presence of fourteen setigerous processes and fourteen lamellmfor the hooks. -Whilst two
or three of the anterior setigerous processes are smaller, the typical process is somewhat
flattened and carries the row of bristles more or less vertically, the longer and,stronger
bristles being dorsal, the somewhat shorter ventral. Bach bristle has a bulb at its
origin, then the shaft dilates a little, remains of equal diameter for some distance
(Plate CXXIV, figs. 4, 4 o', 46), then shows a slight curvature at the commencement' of
the tip, which has wings and tapers to a hair-like point. About eight of the stronger
forms , are present in each tuft, besides a series apparently of developing forms, the
slender tips of which project between the others at the level of the skin. A tendency of
the upper tips tp: bend downward and of the inferior upward is often apparent.
The lamellae or ridges for the hooks lie ventralward of the bristles and anteriorly
form ridges with even margins, but by-and-by a papilla appears at the dorsal edge and
forms toward the end of the region a cirrus with a slender tapering extremity, not
shown by Bauvel. The anterior hooks (Plate CXXIV, fig. 4 c) differ from the outlines
of Fauvel, having a broader body, about six teeth, and a rounded prow of a different ,
curvature from that figured by the French author.
The posterior region has twelve segments, and is distinguished by the absence of
bristles and the elongated nature of the lamellm for the hooks and of the cirrus, as well as
by the great antero-posterior diameter of the segments in relation to their transverse.
Each bears laterally the slender, tapering cirrus and beneath it the small elongated
lamell» for the hooks, which are considerably smaller than those in front, but have a
similar structure. If anything they are shorter and broader than those of the anterior
region and show five or six teeth and a rounded prow.
The general colour of a Zetlandic example is pale orange anteriorly from the wall of
the gut, whilst the posterior region is pale with the brownish line of the intestine. The
processes anteriorly are of a pale amber hue.
Fauvel found Gregarines in the alimentary canal. This author’s account of the
external and internal structure of Ampharete Grubei is both comprehensive and
complete.
Cunningham and Ramage1 (1888) enter Ampharete gracilis from the Forth, but a
further investigation is necessary, and unfortunately all the specimens collected by these
authors have disappeared.
A careful account of the tube of this species and its formation is given by Fauvel
(1897). It is composed of shell-fragments and secretion and is placed vertically on the
bottom, one half with thinner walls immersed in the sand and the other part with thicker
walls projecting from the surface.
Prof. Fauvel8 (1901) severely criticises the statements of M. Cosmovici concerning the
segmental organs, especially his view that when the nephridia do not carry the reproductive
elements externally they do not communicate with the coelom by a ciliated
funnel, and that when present the latter does not open into the preceding segment.
Fauvel especially quotes his observations on the nephridia of Ampharete Grubei, in which
only two pairs occur, viz., one piercing the anterior thoracic diaphragm, the other behind
it. The former is solely excretory, the latter gives passage to the genital products.
Ehlers3 (1875) mentions the occurrence of Ampharete Goesi, Malmgren, in the
“ Porcupine ” Expedition of 1869 at a depth of 767 fathoms, 59° 85' N., 9° 11' W. It is
a northern form, and may yet occur nearer the coast of Britain.
Besides the foregoing a form procured between tide-marks at St. Peter Port,
Guernsey, offers certain differences, though it likewise has fourteen pairs of bristle-tufts
anteriorly. Its hook has almost uniformly only five teeth, and its figure (Plate CXXIV,
fig. 4 c') is somewhat broader than that of Ampharete acutifrons, to the hook of which
Malmgren assigned six to nine teeth, whilst Hessle gives five for the anterior and ten for
the posterior hooks. Moreover, he states that the hooks of both Ampharete Goesi and
A. gracilis have five teeth, whilst Malmgren gives seven for the former and five or
six for the latter. A similar though minute form occurs in St. Magnus Bay, Shetland,
with six teeth as a rule to each hook. Unfortunately all the specimens were injured and
incomplete so that uncertainty at present! exists, and it would seem that the specific
characters of several species of Ampharete need revision. There are probably two or
three to be added to the fauna.
1 ‘ Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin./ vol. xxxiii, p. 659, pi. xlii, fig. 20.
8 f Bull. So. France et Belgique/ t. xxxvi, p. 167.
3 f Zeitsch. f. wiss. Zool./ Bd. xxvi, p. 27.