E, oerstedi, again, the anterior edge of the typical scale (anterior third) is smooth, but
otherwise the entire margin has short clayate cilia scattered at intervals amongst the
tubercles and spines, the outer edge having these no more prominent than the inner.
Considerable variation exists in regard to the size and distribution of the smaller
spines over the surface. Thus in the figure from the specimen in the British Museum these
are comparatively small both towards the inner border and along the anterior edge, but,
on the general surface, the size increases while the number diminishes. The contrast
between the outer and the inner borders is marked, the former having fewer and larger
spines. The number of the large papilla; along the posterior edge is nine to eleven,
which is more than usual, and some of them show spinous tips. The cilia are
confined to the outer edge.1 An increase in the size of £§ the spines takes place in
an example from Spitzbergen, the larger forms on the general surface being proportionally,
few. Only five large tubercles are present, with traces of spines at the tip of one or two;
some sparsely distributed cilia occur along the posterior border as well as the denser
series of the outer edge. In fine specimens from the Gulf of St. Lawrence the proportions
of the various spines agree rather with-the British forms, but a few short cilia are
found along the posterior border in addition to the longer outer series.
Colour—No fresh example has been seen, so that all that can be said is that the
scales are marked with reddish-brown or madder-brown touches, darkest in the anterior
scales.. Malmgren observes that the scales have a violet-brown hue, generally with a
white spot in the middle.
Feet. The first foot—bearing the tentacular cirri—has-a-few (about three) bristles,
which conform to the type of the dorsal, being stout, slightly curved, and spinous on the
convex margin, with a short, smooth tip, which affords a contrast to the more elongate
tip in E. oerstedi. ,
The second foot is distinguished, as usual, by its long ventral cirrus, and by
the diminution and modification of its parts. The dorsal division has bristles of
the ordinary type. The tip of these is short and smooth, and the curvature of the inner
bristles is marked. The same foot in F. oerstedi has much longer and less ourved bristles,
and the smooth region at the.tip is longer and has a different outline.
Ventrally is a group of much more slender bristles, with long spines on the distal
region and a needle-like, smooth extremity (Plate XXXVTT, fig. 20). The tip of the
corresponding bristle in F. oerstedi is less elongate, and, instead of the finely-pointed tip,
||th a s the outline of a narrow knife-blade (Plate XXXVII, fig. 21).
In the third foot the dorsal bristles are smaller than in the typical foot, but have the
same structure. The ventral bristles, again, though slender, already show shorter tips,
which, further, are less acute than in the first foot.
The changes in the bristles have considerably advanced in the fourth and fifth feet,
so that the typical arrangement (Plate XLII, fig. 28), in which the longest dorsal
bristles reach a little beyond the spine of the ventral, is soon reached. These bristles
(Plate XXXVII, fig. 26) are shorter and more distinctly curved internally, the longer and
_ 1 A large Zetlandie example, the Aniinoe zetlanctica of Prof. Ray Lankester, corresponds in the
mam with the foregoing, though the large spines posteriorly extend along the onter border, and,
like the former, the cilia are confined to the onter edge.
straighter forms being external, that is, next the ventral. The tips have the character
shown in fig. 24, Plate XXXVII, viz. less tapered than in E. oerstedi (Plate XXXVII,
fig. 25)—with a shorter smooth portion and more boldly marked spinous rows.
The ventral bristles (Plate XXXVII, figs. 22 and 27), on the other hand, have proportionately
longer spinous regions superiorly than in E. oerstedi; the tips are more
distinctly hooked, and the bare portion is broader on an average than in the species just
mentioned (Plate XXXVII, fig. 28). The latter is not what might have been expected
from the condition anteriorly. The ventral cirrus extends a little beyond the inferior
border of the foot.
Posteriorly both dorsal and ventral bristles become more attenuate, as well as smaller,
in conformity with the diminished feet, but they do not assume the elongate and slender
condition observed anteriorly.
Two very large examples from the stomach of a cod agree with the fine Zetlandie
specimen in having the smooth tips of the dorsal bristles somewhat shorter. On the other
hand, young specimens (about £ of an inch) have longer tips to the dorsal and ventral
bristles, and the scales are more rounded and have proportionally thicker cilia.
While the scales in the examples from Spitzbergen agree in shape and structure
with those from the Grulf of St. Lawrence and Britain, the dorsal bristles have
assumed a more elongated condition, so as to resemble those of E. oerstedi, being
more tapered, and with a longer bare portion at the tip ; yet the general curve of these
bristles.is more pronounced than in E. oerstedi. The tips of the ventral bristles are also
proportionally longer than in the ordinary type. The typical characters of E. nodosa
are seen in examples from the Arctic seas (Greenland), where the species attains a large
size. The distinctions between the two forms are therefore evident, but whether two
species should be formed may be to some an open question.
A parasitic sponge, with long processes, occurs on a scale of the example from
Cumbrae.
Habits.—So far as can be ascertained, the present form is only found in deep
water off the British shores, and that but rarely. I t is more abundant in the northern
seas of both Europe and America. Loxosomae abound on the feet and bristles of those
from the G-ulf of St. Lawrence.
Reproduction.—The only example of the genus observed with fully developed
reproductive elements is a large female of E. oerstedi, from Greenland, distended with
ova, and probably procured in July.
This is one of the many forms that marine zoology owes to the industry and keen
observation of the elder Sars, who patiently explored the shores of his native country
for so many years and with such remarkable success.
I t is difficult to know to what Sir J. Dalyell (1853)1 refers under the name of
Aphrodita squamata, from Shetland, unless it be this species. Th^el (1879) noted that
Eunoa nodosa and E. oerstedi, Malmgren, were the same species, viz. the Lepidonotus scabra
of (Ersted, an opinion coinciding with the remarks made by myself many years previously.
He procured large examples (70 mm.) at a depth of 90—200 metres in the Kara Sea (Nova
1 ‘ Pow. Oreat.,* ii, 166, pi. .24, f. 3, 4.