212 MR L. N. G. RAMSAY ON POLYCH^TA OF THE FAMILY NEREID^E, 



ventral paragnaths of the basal ring (VII. -VIII.) do not exhibit an anterior row of 

 markedly larger points, such as is usual in examples from Britain (o. figs. 1 and 2). 



The noto-cirri are rather shorter than in typical British specimens, but nevertheless 

 overreach the noto-ligules all along the body. 



N. lucipeta Ehl., from Great Fish Bay, some distance farther north, very 

 closely resembles the present species, as EHLERS himself states (6, p. 71). EHLERS' 

 specimens were all in the heteronereis condition, and his main grounds for separating 

 the species from pelagica were : the swollen outline of the noto-cirri of the first seven 

 pairs of parapods, the number of parapods in the anterior (unaltered) portion of the 

 body, i.e. 19-20 pairs, and the longer tentacular cirri (the longest reaching to the 

 9th-l 1th setigerous segment). 



I have before me a small example of IV. pelagica, obtained at Plymouth in March 

 1913, 25 mm. in length, and in the heteronereis condition ; this specimen, as regards 

 the parapods and their modifications, exactly agrees with EHLERS' description and 

 figures of N. lucipeta. The change in the form of the parapods occurs at the 21st pair, 

 and the lst-7th pairs of the anterior region have the basal part of the noto-cirrus 

 swollen to a sausage shape, and terminate in a short, unswollen tip, exactly as figured 

 by EHLERS for N. lucipeta. 



The length of the tentacular cirri is not of much importance, as it is subject to 

 considerable variation. 



While the present record forms an important extension of the known range of 

 N. pelagica, it is not surprising that the species should be found to occur on the 

 coasts of South Africa, as it has previously been reported from such widely separated 

 regions as northern Europe, the northern Pacific (both the Japanese and 'American 

 shores), and the west coast of South America. 



Nereis (Perineris) falklandica, n. sp. (Plate, figs. 3-10.) 



Station 118. One specimen, Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. 



Station 349. One specimen, dredged off Tussock Islands, Falkland Islands, in 

 15 fathoms, sandy bottom, December 2, 1903. 



These two are in excellent preservation, but one is incomplete posteriorly. The 

 complete example measures 80 mm. in length by 6 mm. in width over parapods. 

 There are 93 setigerous segments ; the width hardly decreases till the 80th, behind 

 which the body rapidly tapers. The other example is smaller. 



The anal cirri are very short, as are also the peristomial cirri. In the preserved 

 animal (in alcohol) the tentacles and peristomial cirri are livid, in marked contrast to 

 the deeply-pigmented prostomium ; the palps and the basal divisions of the peristomial 

 cirri are intermediate in colour, or slightly pigmeuted. The eyes are unusually small, 

 and each is surrounded by a pale ring. In the incomplete specimen the pigment is 

 more developed than in the larger one, and the dorsal surface of the body-segments 



(UOY. SOC. IODIN. TRANS., VOL. L., 44.) 



