Pallas (‘Miscellanea Zoologica’) mentions that Linnaeus found it in deep water.
I t occurs also with pelagic Fuci, and amongst the latter and Sertularians at the bottom of
the sea. He gives an account of the external appearance and arrangement of the scales,
and a brief outline of its anatomy.
I t is doubtfulif 0. F. Muller’s Aphrodita punctata refers entirely to this form, since
he speaks of sub-crescentic bluish spots.
Audouin and Milne Edwards (1884) describe it as having twenty-seven segments,
and reaching eighteen lines in length. They think that tbe Polyno'e punctata of O. F.
Müller comes near P. squamata, and so with the Aphrodita clavigera of M. Freminville;1
but this-cannot be, as M. Freminville found it phosphorescent.
I t is difficult to say what H'. B-athke’s (1837) Polyno'e granulosa2 is. It may be
this species in which a pair of scales has been lost.
Leidy’s 8 L. armadillo appears to be allied to this species or to L. clava. His
observation in regard to the unusual number of the tentacles is erroneous.
Kinberg1 2 * 4 rested 'khis specific characters on the comparative length of the tentacles,
and the fact that the inferior bristles were serrated below the apex. He’ gave a correct
account of the scales. De Quatrefages5 adds nothing new to the foregoing, and he
includes Lepidonotus clava, Mont., as a synonym, though with doubt. Subsequent French
authors have corrected this error.
2. Lepidonotus olava, Montagu. Plate XXYI, fig. 1.
Specific Characters.—Head similar to that of L. squamatus±_ The large anterior eyes
are in front of the middle line, and tbe respective pairs on each side are wider apart.
Anteriorly the broad basal region of the median tentacle is more distinctly separated
from the bases of' the lateral tentacles than in L. squamatus, and the transverse diameter
of the three processes is greater. Median and lateral tentacles thicker, and the bulbous
region below the tip marked by a more distinct band of blackish pigment. Palpi with
five rows of minute papillm. Segments twenty-seven, characteristically marked with
pigment on the dorsum; segmental (nephridial) papillae large and thick. Scales more or
less circular throughout, and do not quite cover the dorsum, more flexible than in L.
squamatus, and, with the exception of the first four pairs, smooth. The first three have
numerous small tubercles generally distributed, while the fourth pair have a smaller
number. Papilla for the dorsal bristles more prominent than in L. squamatus. -The dorsal
bristles are shorter, thicker, less tapered and more curved than in L. squamatus, but
have similar structure. The ventral bristles have shorter curved or falcate tips, with
fewer rows of spikes, and the bare portion is shorter than in L. squamatus.
1 ‘Nouveau Bulletin de So. par la Soc. Philomat./ iii, p. 253.
2 | Beitr. z. Fauna der Krym/ p. 408.
8 ‘Americ. Journ. Nat. Sc./ p. 148, pi. xi, f. 54.
4 Op. cit., 1857.
8 Op. cit., 1865.
SYNONYMS.
1808. Aphrodita clam, Montagu. Trans. Linn. Soc., ix, p. 108, pi. vii, £ 3.
1824. Lepidonotus clavatus, Leach. Supp. Ency. Brit., i, p. 452.
1826, Polmoë scutellata, Kisso. Hist. nat. Europ. mérid., iv, p. 414.
1828. Eumolpe squamata, Blainville. Diet. Sc. Nat., lvii, p. 458, Atlas, f. 2.
1829. Eumolpe squamata, D. Chiaje. Mem. sulla Storia, iv, p. 155, tab. lvii, f. 8 and 17.
1836. Ealithæa clava, Templeton. Loud. Mag. N, Hist., ix, p. 234.
1838. ? Polynoë squamata, Grube. Anat. u. Physiol. Kiemenw., p. 60, tab. ii, f. 13.
1840;? „ ,■ (Sav.f, Grube. Act. Echin. u. Würmer, p. 87.
1860. „ cVypeata, Grube. Arch. f. Naturges., Bd. xxvi, p. 71, taf. iii> f. 1.
1861. „ i,r ■ Grube. Ausflug n. Trieste, p. 138, taf. iii, f. 1.
1864. - „ „ Grube. Insel Lussin, p. 77.
1865. Lepidonotus clava, Johnston. Cat. Brit. Mus., .111, pi- iv, f. 5 and 6.
,, Polynoë modesta, De Quatrefages. Hist. nat. Annel., i, p. 243.
1867. Lepidonotus clava, Malmgren. Ann. Polych., p. 130.
1870. Polynoë grubiana, Claparède. Suppl. Annel. Chétop., 9 (373), pi. i, f. 2.
1875. Lepidonotus clava, Marenzeller. Sitzb. der k. Akad., 1 Abth., Juli-Heft (sep. Abd.), p. 1.
1876. „ McIntosh. Trans. Z. S., ix, p. 374.
1880. „ „ Langerhans. Zeit. f. w. Zool., xxxiii, p. 273, taf. xiv, f. 2 ?
1881. Polynoë clava, Langerhans. Canar. Annel., Nova Acta, 42, iii, p. 108.
1884. „ ' ,, A. G. Bourne. Trans. Linn. Soc. Zool., ii, pp. 347—356, pis. xxiv xxvi.
,, Lepidonotus clava, Carus. Faun. Medit., p. 202.
1885. Polynoë grubiana, Jourdan. Zool. Anz., viii, p. 128, f. 1, 2.
1887. „ T, Jourdan. Arch. Zool. Expér., v, pp. 115—120, pi. iv, f. 11, 12, 16, 17.
1898. Lepidonotus clava, De Saint-Joseph. Ann. d. Sc. nat., 8 ser., v, p. 225.
Habitat.—This species is a southern and western form—ranging from Falmouth
and the Devonshire coast to Gairloch, Boss-shire, and extending to Valencia Harbour in
Ireland. None appear on the eastern shores. I t is chiefly littoral, occurring under
stones in tide-pools even near high-water mark, as in McNiel’s Bay, Lochmaddy, as well
as on oyster-beds under water. I t is distributed along the shores of France to the
Mediterranean, Adriatic, and perhaps to the Canaries (Langerhans).
Length about 30 mm. ; breadth 8 mm.
Head (Plate XXXVII, fig. 4) similar in outline to that of L. squamatus, bounded
posteriorly by the nuchal collar, which has the dark pigment of the dorsum on its edge.
The surface is smooth and iridescent, as in the former species. The eyes are visible from
the dorsum, the larger anterior pair in front of the middle line and wider apart, and two
posteriorly. Anteriorly the broad basal region of the median tentacle is more distinctly
separated from the bases of the lateral tentacles than in L. squamatus, and the transverse
diameter of the three processes is greater than in the latter species, as might be expected
from the larger size of all the appendages. The median and lateral tentacles are
proportionally thicker, and the bulbous region-below the tip better marked, especially as
a band of blackish pigment occurs below the enlargement. A little brownish-black
pigment also exists on the columns of these processes and of the tentacular cirri, all these
organs being somewhat stouter and more boldly pigmented than in L. squamatus. The
palpi are somewhat filiform at the tip, and, as shown by Grube, are marked by five rows