1861. Polynoë scabra, Bars. Vid. Selsk. Förh., 1860, p. 58.
„ „ scabriuscula, Sars. Ibid., p. 61.
1864. Lepidonotus cirratus, var. parasiticus, Baird. Trans. Linn. Soc., 1864, p. 161.
1865. Polynoë scabra, De Quatrefages. Ann., vol. i, p. 235.
- „ Lepidonotus imbricatus, Johnst. Cat. Brit. Annel., p. 118.
1867. Nychia cirrosa, Malmgren. Nord. HaEs-Ann., p. 58, Tab. viii, f. 1.
1871. ,, ,, Ehlers. Sitznnsb. phys.-med. Erlangen, 1871, p. 77.
1872. „ „ Sars. Nyt. Mag. f. Naturv., 19, p. 202.
1873. „ „ Sars. Bid. Christ. Faun., p. 2.
1874. „ „ Möbius. Die Zweite deutsche Nordpolarfahrt, ii, p. 253.
>} }} „ Malm. Göteborgs Kongl. Yet. o. Yitt. Samhälles Handl. ; Ny Tidsföljd, Haft,
xiv, p. 87.
1875. „ », McIntosh. Invert, and Fishes, St. A., p. 115.
' „ ,, ■ ,, Ehlers. f Porcupine ’ Annel., 1869, op. cit., 32.
1877. „ „ Marenzeller. Ost.-ung. Nordpol. Exp. (Deutsch, d. k. Akad. Wiss.), 39.
1879. .,, ,, Théel. Kongl. sv. Yet. Akad. Handl., 16, 3, p. 7.
„ „ Tauber. Ann. Danic., 79, .
1883. „ „ "Wirén. Chætop.,f VegaJ Exped., 387.
• ■ „■ „ Levinsen. Nord. Annulât., 195.
1884. „ - „ Webster and Benedict. Ann. Mass., 700.
1886. „ ' ■ „ Giard. Bullet. Sc. Nord., Nos. 9, 10, p. 338.
„ Iphione m/wricata, Harvey Gibson. Yerm. Liverp., 150.
1890. Nychia cirrosa, var. Chætopteri, Malaquin. Ann. Boulon., 15, pi. 1, f. 7 a—7 d.
1891. „ „ Hornell. Trans. Liverpool'Biol. Soc., v, p. 230.
J} „ Trautzsçh. Polynoid. Spitzb., Jenaische Zeitsch., 24, 1 Heft, p. 75; and Arch.
f. Naturges., 55 Jahrg., 1 Bd., 2 Hft., p. 143.
1896. „ ,, Michaelsen. Polych. Faun, deutsch. Meere (Wiss. Meeresuntersuch., Bd. ii),
p. 7.
1897. Qattyana cirrosa, McIntosh. Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, vol. xx, p. 167.
1898. Nychia cirrosa, Michaelsen. Grönl. Annel., Bib. Zool., Heft 20, Lfg. 4, p. 120.
Habitat.—This species stretches from Greenland and the American waters to the
shores of Northern Europe, but is numerically less abundant than many of the
Polynoidse. I t occurs not infrequently in the deeper water off St. Andrews Bay,
and is tossed on shore after storms. Specimens likewise come from Shetland (J. G.
Jeffreys) in sixty fathoms, nine miles off Balta, from Southport Sands (Dr. Carrington),
Hastings, between tide-marks, Channel Islands (Herm), Broadhaven Bay, Bantry Bay,
and Berehaven Bay, in Ireland (A. G. More, Professor Had don, and Dr. Scharff), the
specimens found in the first-mentioned region being very large. Fine examples are not
uncommon in the stomachs of cod and haddock at St. Andrews (E. M.). In Shetland
it clings to the branched form of Melobesia in Bressay Sound. Malmgren pointed
out that it was the form called by Baird Lepidonotus parasiticus in the tubes of
Ghaetopterus, in the British Museum; and Hornell has confirmed this in the tubes of the
same form, and in those of Thelepus in,the Channel Islands, while at St. Andrews it is
partial to the tubes of Amphitrite jigulus, Dalyell.
I t comes from the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Whiteaves), the Atlantic in r580—630
fathoms (Ehlers, * Porcupine ’), and Canon Norman frequently procured it in Norway
and Finmark. Specimens also occur in Iceland.
Length.—A fine example from St. Andrews measured, exclusive of the processes,
47 mm.; and another, 42 mm. in spirit, comes from Broadhaven Bay, W. Ireland
(A. G. More).
The head (Plate XXYII, fig. 5) differs from that in Lepidonotus in the relations of
the median and lateral tentacles, since on each side of the median the head terminates in
a pointed papilla (peak), the lateral tentacles being inferior. The outline of the head is
somewhat ovate, and in life it is rose-red. A conspicuous pair of black eyes occur
posteriorly on the dorsum, while a slightly larger pair are in front at the outer margin,
and rather below the peak on each side of the tentacle. They are not well seen from
the dorsum, and are fitted for anterior vision. The nuchal collar has a prominent
boss or papilla in the centre. The median tentacle arises from a massive base, often of
a slightly brownish tint, as a pale ciliated process about as long as the palpi in the spirit
preparations, though of course the latter are much longer in life, and having a slight
swelling below the filiform tip. The bases of the short lateral tentacles, which are
beneath the massive base of the median, have a brownish bar. They are similarly
ciliated, and have a slight enlargement below the filiform extremity. The cilia
on the tentacles are elongate processes with a slightly bulbous tip, the centre of the
latter and the column being granular.
The pale palpi have numerous small papillae, which are shortly clavate in outline, with
a truncated tip, which has a few minute papillae. These are arranged in six rows—
apparently two dorsal, two ventral, and a lateral on each side, the intervals between the
rows being considerable. Malmgren simply says the surface is densely covered. They
diminish in size towards the tip, and disappear from the filiform termination. Under
a lens in life the organs appear to be smooth, but the minute papillae are visible under
a low power.
Body elongated, somewhat elliptical in transverse section, though more prominent
dorsally than ventrally, gradually diminished in transverse diameter towards the head,
and narrowed somewhat more abruptly towards the posterior end. Bristle-bearing
segments 34—36, as Malmgren says for the Arctic forms. The dorsum is marked laterally
by the papillaa for the scales, and the corresponding elevations in those feet bearing
cirri. Moreover, each segment has a transverse bar, as it were, imprinted on its
middle, the outer edge of thé bar being especially depressed just as the surface of
the segment rises towards the papillae. These are continued to the fourth last segment
posteriorly. On the other hand, the bulging of the body caused by the proboscis
renders them less distinct anteriorly, though traceable in every segment. A tendency
to separation of these bars at the anterior border of the ségment is noticeable, while
posteriorly the central half runs to the junction with the next segment. A median
streak passes along the dorsum. Ventrally, the segments show a broader lateral band on
each side, and .a narrower median, which is opaque whitish in the centre. A little
behind the line of each segment anteriorly an oblique streak passes to the nephridial
process. The ventral surface of the body is iridescent, and in life it has a purplish
sheen along the median region. In others the pinkish nerve-cords and ganglia
form a well-marked moniliform median band, commencing behind the striated lower lip
as a broad stripe. The feet are dull yellow.