D. BRYCE ON FIVE NEW SPECIES OF BDELLOID ROTIFERA. 91 



A species of rather less than medium size which in its extended 

 position offers no obvious character for its recognition. The 

 rostrum is short and stout, and the dorsal surface has a distinct 

 almost ridge-like thickening of the hypodermis, best seen in 

 lateral view. Its movements are active when crawling about, 

 and when feeding it sways and bends almost incessantly in all 

 directions, the body being well extended and the upper foot 

 joints visible. The trochal discs are rather small and the 

 greatest width of the corona little exceeds that of the collar. The 

 pedicels are adnate to nearly half their height and are very 

 slightly divergent. At the dorsal end of the nexus between 

 them is a small fleshy ligule or tooth, which for the most part is 

 nearly cylindrical, but near the tip tapers rather suddenly to a 

 point. It is so inconspicuous that it can rarely be seen except 

 in direct dorsal view and when the animal keeps steady for a 

 brief interval. Even then the exact shape of the ligule is 

 difficult to determine, but I think that it differs somewhat from 

 the type of ligule possessed by any of the few Bdelloids in which 

 this peculiar ornament or organ has been seen. In Habrotrocha 

 eremita (Bryce), in which it was first noted, it is a simple, short, 

 peg-like tooth, very slender and tapering gradually, and, to judge 

 from the figures given by Murray, it appears to be of the same 

 character in Habrotrocha acornis Murray and Callidina lepida 

 Murray. In the present species the appearance is rather that 

 of a fleshy cylindrical pedestal, with a tapering point inset at 

 the end of the pedestal as if in a socket. 



The upper lip rises in a low curve about as high as the base 

 of the ligule. The rami have four teeth, but one tooth on each 

 is much less prominent than the others. I have noticed that 

 the food pellets are rather small. Examples isolated produced 

 eggs of oval outline, hyaline, smooth-shelled, measuring 70 /x at 

 the longest by 43 //, at the shortest diameter. 



I had this species first in 1894 from a roadside near Deal, and 

 in the following year from a wall in Bognor ; in both cases from 

 small button-like tufts of w T all-moss. I did not see it again until 



