anterior eye being behind the middle line. From the first foot three strong curved
bristles project forwards at the side of the palpi. These bristles have well-marked
spinous rows. The palpi have tapering extremities. The dorsal bristles are slender
and tapering, with distinct rows of spines, which from the dorsum appear as opposite.
The tips of the ventral bristles are simple, and the spinous region shorter than in the
first species, and from the dorsum the spinous rows seem to show an alternate arrangement.
When eight pairs of feet are present, and the tentacles, palpi, and the anal cirri
fairly formed, the dorsal bristles show a tendency to finer rows of spines, so that they
approach the condition in such as Lepidonotus and Gattyana.
At the stage in which the two caudal cirri appear as two broad short processes there
are at least four scales, and the tentacular cirri are present.
The head is truncated in front, and has a curious spectacle-mark ventrally (Plate
XXVI a , fig. 16), a black spot being situated in each lateral dilatation. The spectacle-
mark is outlined with black and touched with reddish brown, the rest of the head (in
spirit) being pale. I t is bounded by the black belt at the ciliated ring, while behind
is the reddish-brown pigment, followed by streaks of black, which also occur at the
segment-junctions. The caudal cirri are yellowish. On the dorsal surface (fig. 15),
again, are two black eyes, obliquely situated on each side anteriorly, a long interval
occurring between them and the black belt of the ciliated ring. Behind the black is
a definite reddish line. The bristles project considerably on each side, so that the stage
is a nectochsete one.
At a slightly later stage (Plate XXVI a , fig. 17) the palpus arises on each side
at a black spot, which at first marks the budding organ. The growth of the various
appendages, however, is irregular, since in this instance the caudal cirri were less
advanced than in those without elevation of the area of the palpus. Coincident with
the projection of the palpus is that of the median tentacle, which forms a rounded boss.
Pallas (1766) made his description of Harmothoe imbrieata (his Aphrodita lepidota)
from an incomplete and probably young specimen (as Malmgren says) with fourteen pairs
of scales, the latter being partly ciliated, though in the description this is not alluded
to, and the ventral view mistaken for the dorsal (pi. v, fig. 2). He thought it might
readily be distinguished by its longitudinal black band on the dorsum. I t occurs, he
says, frequently in the North Sea, between Britain and Belgium.
The Polynoe fulgurans of Ehrenberg,1 one third of a line long, may be the pelagic
young of this or an allied form.
De Quatrefages considered the Polynoe fasciculosa and the P. maculata of Grube2
as pertaining to this species, but the descriptions are so vague that doubt exists.
This was the only member of the group procured in the Siberian Expedition of
Gerstfeldt, as described by Grube. De Quatrefages, in his work on the e Annelös *
1 ‘ Das Leuchten des Meeres/ 1835.
2 ‘ Actin., Echin., u. Würm./ p. 87,1840.
(1865) says it has forty-two to forty-four segments, but adds nothing of interest. H.
Lenz (1878) agrees with Möbius in considering that this form included Lsenilla glabra,
Antino'e Sarsii, and Evarne impar ; but, as already mentioned, this was due to insufficient
acquaintance with the group.
Thöel (1879) observes that while it is common on the west of Nova Zembla, he
found none in the Kara Sea. He also records his dissent from the view of Möbius and
Lenz, who included under this species Evarne impar, Antino'e Sarsii, and Lsevilla glabra,
the second being supposed to be the young stage of H. imbrieata. I have already alluded
to this in the * Challenger Report/1 The habits, for instance, of Evarne impar quite
differ from those of H. imbrieata, the former being much more irritable and active.
Kallenbach2 gives an account of the minute structure of the scales of this species.
Horn ell (1891) alludes to the varied coloration of Harmothoe imbrieata, e. g. as
striped with a median black band edged with pale border. He considers Thöel is correct
in stating that only the largest examples possess any notable rounded processes on the
scales.
2. Habmothöë spinifera, Ehlers, 1864.
Specific 07&arftc£er$gS-Body narrow and elongate. Head elongated from before
backward, and the anterior peaks produced at the sides of the broad base of the median
tentacle. The anterior pair of eyes lie under these peaks, but are also seen from the
dorsum. Posterior eyes at the nuchal collar, dorsal, and nearer each other than the
anterior pair, from which they are separated by almost the entire length of the head.
Palpi of average length, brownish, with rows of small truncate papillse, which are sometimes
bifid at the tip. Median tentacle with a broad base (ceratophore), a brownish
column (ceratostyle), a pale tip with little or no enlargement beneath, and numerous
clavate papilhe. The lateral tentacles are inferior, subulate, and brownish. Tentacular
and dorsal cirri (which are short) brownish, furnished with a few clavate papillae, and
slightly enlarged below the pale tip. Ventral cirrus with a few clavate papillae. Scales
fifteen pairs, almost smooth at the margin, only a few small clavate cilia occurring in
some. A limited area towards the inner edge shows a series of spikes. First pair nearly
circular, brownish; succeeding anterior scales reniform, blackish, with a metallic lustre j
posterior scales mottled like granite. Bristles comparatively short, the dorsal slightly
curved, finely serrated, and with a short broad tip like a paper-scraper; ventral bristles
with short spinous regions, and the smooth terminal part boldly bifid.
S ynonyms.
1864. Polynoe spinifera, Ehlers. Die Borstenwürmer, p. 96, Taf. iii, figs. 1—4 and 6.
1875. „ , orassipalpa, Marenzeller (?). Sitzb. d. k. Akad., 1875, p. 6 (sep. Abdr.).
1876. Harmothoe Sibbaldii, McIntosh. Trans. Zool. Soc., ix, p. 378, pi. lxviii, f. 1__8.
1880. Polynoe spinifera, Langerhans. Zeit. f. w. Zool., Trami, p. 275.
1888. Harmothoe spinifera, De St. Joseph. Ann. des Sc. nat. (7), v, p. 171, Taf. xiv, f. 4.
1 P. 58.
2 'Inaug. Dissert./ Jena, 1883, p. 23.