128 A ren icolidae 



specimens, which have nineteen segments, and thus belong to the 

 variety affinis. In this memoir Prof. Ehlers makes the following 

 statement : " Arenicola assimilis Ehl. kommt im antarctischen Kreise 

 und im magellanischen Gebiete vor ; ebenso an der chilenischen 

 Kiiste, denn die von Schmarda erwahnte Arenicola piscatorum von 

 ' den Kiisten der Sudsee ' ist nach Ausweis eines der Schmarda'schen 

 Stucke der Sammlung des Zoologischen Instituts in Wien Arenicola 

 assimilis; und die Fundortsangabe des Thieres heisst hier Chile". 

 Die Art tritt an der kalifornischen Kiiste wieder auf ; ob eine litorale 

 Verbindung zwischen dem nordlichen und sudlichen Verbreitungs- 

 gebiete besteht, bleibt noch zu erweisen ; sollte Arenicola pusilla 

 Qtrfgs. von Coquiinbo mit Arenicola assimilis Ehl. zusammenfallen, 

 so ware damit, wie niit dem Schmarda'schen Funde, eine Anbahnung 

 gegeben." The specimen from the Californian coast, erroneously 

 referred to the species A. assimilis, has been discussed above. 

 The writer addressed to Prof. Grobbeu enquiries for the specimen 

 of Schmarda mentioned by Prof. Ehlers, and he replied that in the 

 catalogue of the collection in the Zoological Institute of Vienna 

 there is no mention of an Arenicola collected in the Bay of Paita. 1 

 There is in the Vienna collection a specimen of "A. piscatorum aus 

 Chile," but this was not obtained by Schmarda. His record states 

 definitely that his specimens were taken in the Bay of Paita, which 

 is on the most northerly portion of the coast of Peru, about a 

 thousand miles north of the nearest point of the Chilian coast. It 

 seems clear, therefore, that the Vienna specimen "aus Chile" has 

 nothing to do with Schmarda's record. This specimen is recorded 

 under A. marina (p. 94), to which species it undoubtedly belongs. 

 It is more probable, judging from the distribution, that the specimen 

 or specimens found by Schmarda in the Bay of Paita belonged to 

 the species A. pusilla, for this bay is within the known range of 

 A. pusilla, but is more than three thousand miles north of the 

 nearest station from which A. assimilis has been recorded with 

 certainty. 



The example recorded by the writer from Kerguelen is that 

 formerly recorded by Grube (loc. cit.) as " Arenicola piscatoi'um Cuv. 

 var." Grube described this specimen as a variety of the common 

 species because in most of the branchial segments he could dis- 

 tinguish only four, instead of the usual five, rings. The specimen is 

 in very bad condition, but as it is the only one recorded hitherto 



1 Prof. Grobben was unable to state whether Schmarda's material was 

 preserved or where it might be sought. 



