situated along the superior border of all the dorsal divisions of the feet, the first three
or four excepted, or behind the border, and extending to the ventral branch, resembling a
pinnatifid leaf (feuilles), with tufts or arbuscles, which generally divide at their origin
into several trunks, now coalescing, and again separating more or less distantly the one
from the other. Mouth with a short proboscis, opening longitudinally at the extremity,
without prominent folds or tentacles, and devoid of jaws. Eyes two or four ; antennæ of
moderate length and generally complete. Sometimes the middle and exterior are
absent; the unpaired is always present and inserted at the front of. the caruncle
superiorly, the latter extending to the third or fourth segment. Feet' with large
separate divisions, each furnished with a single bundle of bristles and without a spine.
Cirri well marked, subulate, enlarged at the base, or in the.form of two articulations, of
which the one, large and short, serves as a support for the other, which is completely
retractile. They are inserted within the orifice of the sheath, behind the bundle of
bristles. The anterior feet do not differ materially from the posterior. The feet of the
first and second segments exist in all the genera.
Lamarck1 (1818) followed Savigny in his classification of the group.
(Ersted1 * 3 4 * placed the family Amphinomaceæ in his division Maricolæ, characterised
by having bristled pinnæ, a depressed body, segments numerous and defined, and with
the alimentary canal often branched. They were finally distinguished as Chætopoda
Trematodina, with branchiae completely ramose. He does not include any representative,
however, in his list.
Kinberg8 describes the Amphinomea as having the mouth inferior, formed by the
anterior segments ; pharynx protrusible, devoid of papillae and jaws ; cephalic lobe with
four eyes and a caruncle. The cirri and branchiae do not alternate. He divided .the
group into two families—the Amphinomacea and the Euphrosynea. His first family,
the Amphinomacea, included Ghloeia, Sars, Notopygos, Grube, Lirione, n., Amphinome,
Bruguière, Hermodice, n., and Eurythoè, n. The characters were—cephalic lobe rounded ;
no tentacle; two antennæ; two antenniform palpi; branchiae on few segments ; dorsal and
ventral divisions of the foot distinct. The representatives of these genera are more
characteristic of the warmer seas, as shown by the earlier writers, as well as by Kinberg’s
paper and the voyage of the “ Challenger.” Even the expedition of the “ Porcupine,” in
1870, brought fine specimens of Ghloeia from the Mediterranean. The labours of Prof.
M. Sars, however, introduced in 1861 a northern example of the genus Eurythoè ; 4 and his
distinguished son, Prof. G. 0. Sars, added another representative of the family in
Paramphinome,6 which he had found amongst the unpublished manuscripts of his
father.
In the catalogue of the B-oyal College of Surgeons6 an account of the circulation
and the branchial plexuses of Amphinome capillata is given.
1 ‘An. sans Vert./ vol. v, p. 327.
3 ‘ Ann. Danic. Consp./ p. 4, 1843.
3 ‘ Ofversigt af Kongl. Vet. Akad. Fôrhandl./ Aug. 14, No. 1, p. 11, 1857.
4 f Christ. Vidensk. Selsk. Forhandl./ 1861.
6 ‘ Some Remarkable Forms, &c., off the Norwegian Coast/ Christ., 1872, p. 45.
6 Vol. vi, p. 14.
Ehlers (1864) placed the Amphinomea as the first family of his order Nereidea,
characterising them as having the mouth on the under surface, surrounded by several
segments. The head is not clearly defined, and bears a caruncle which extends over
several segments. Under this family he includes Ghloeia, Notopygos, Lirione, Amphinome,
Hermodice, Eurytho'e, Euphrosyne, Spinther, Aristenia, Hipponoe, Lophonota, Zothea, and
Didymobranchus.
Grube, in his ‘ Annulata Semperiana’ (1878), comprehended the Euphrosynidse in his
family Amphinomea. He describes them as having an oval or elongate body, more or
less depressed, frequently tetragonal; and with one or two anal appendages. The
cephalic lobe is united with the buccal segment beneath, generally with a caruncle and
a bifid pre-buccal process. Tentacles one or three, sub-tentacles (palpi) two or none.
Eyes two pairs. Mouth inferior. Buccal segments several, rarely one. Dorsal cirri
single or double ; ventral single, cirri rarely absent. Fascicles of bristles double on each
side. Spines none. Bristles simple, now capillary, now unequally bifurcate; rarely compound,
hooked. Branchige dorsal or marginal; pinnate, ramose or simple, rarely absent.
Pharynx (proboscis) somewhat suboval, having neither jaws nor papillge. This is a more
detailed diagnosis than he gives in his * Familien der Anneliden * (1851).
Claus, in his ‘ Grundzuge ’ (1880), made the Amphinominse the first sub-family of the
Amphinomidas.
Carus describes the Amphinomea (‘Prod. Faun. Medit./ 1884) as having the mouth
on the ventral surface, surrounded symmetrically by several segments ; cephalic lobe little
differentiated, or represented by a caruncle on the dorsal surface covering several segments.
The genus Amphinome he characterises thus :—Head with three antennas, four eyes, and a
distinct caruncle; tentacular cirri two; caruncle covering two to three segments, more or
less plicate; feet biramous, divisions distinct, a hiatus between the bristles; branchias
arborescent, branches and ramuscles numerous.
Germs I.—Pabamphinomis, Sars, 1867.
The genus Paramphinome was characterised by Sars as having a moderately
elongate vermiform body, segments few. Cephalic lobe small, produced posteriorly; no
caruncle; no eyes. Five short tentacles, cylindrical and subequal—a median in the
posterior part of the head, two anterior, and two lateral. Dorsal and ventral cirri present
in the first segment of the body, elongate, similar to the cephalic tentacles; rudimentary in
the other segments. Mouth a longitudinal fissure surrounded by four fleshy lips. Anns
terminal. Feet biramous, the dorsal and the ventral divisions, which are small, widely separated.
The dorsal bristles are of two kinds—a shorter simple serrated series, and a longer
and much more slender kind, with a spur at the base of the terminal region. Amongst these
are also some long, slender, and tapering bristles—faintly and sparsely serrated towards
the tip. The inferior bristles have in some the distal end of the shaft dilated and bifurcate,
one of the divisions being short and simple, the other elongate and serrate; others
are long and slender, with fine serrations towards the tip, while a few are shorter and
more boldly serrate. Two strong and somewhat S-shaped hooks are in front of the