WORMS 



177 



Nereis pelagica. I, male ; 

 2, female. 



dinal muscles in four bands, and muscles to 

 move the parapodia. Breathing is carried on 

 over the whole surface of the body, and es- 

 pecially in parts of the lobes of the parapodia 

 called gills. Its sense-organs are eyes, palps, 

 tentacles, and cirri. 



JV. virens. This species is found from New 

 York northward in muddy and shelly sand, and 

 under rocks between tide-marks, living in burrows, 

 which it lines with a mucous secretion. It is very 

 active and voracious, feeding on other worms, 

 Crustacea, etc., which it captures with its horny, 

 protruded jaw. At night it leaves its burrow and 

 swims freely about like an eel, frequently falling 

 a prey to fishes. In color it is dull bluish-green, 

 with some iridescence. The gills, which are leaf- 

 like appendages on the parapodia, are green ou 

 the anterior end of the body and become bright 

 red farther back. This species, and N. branti of 

 Alaska, are the giants of polychaete worms, often 

 measuring eighteen inches or more in length. 

 N. pelagica. Found in abundance on the New England shore and 



northern coasts under stones and on shelly bot- 

 toms. The female is four to five inches long, 



while the male is only two inches in length. In 



this species the body is widest in the middle, 



while in other species it is widest at the ante- 

 rior end. The palps are long, and the second 



head-piece (peristomium) is twice as long as the 



next segment. The color is reddish-brown and 



iridescent. 

 N. limbata. Five to six inches long ; jaws 



light yellow, sharp, and slender ; parapodia and 



bristles smaller on the anterior than on the 



posterior end ; color dark brown, with light lines 



on the sides and appendages, pale red on the 



posterior end; dorsal blood-vessel apparent, and 



the heart-like pulsations can be distinctly seen. 



The male worm is red in the middle section. 



Found along the middle Atlantic coast on sandy 



shores. 



FAMILY NEPHTHYDID.E 



In this family the worms have a long, 

 thick, flattish body, a section of which has 

 a quadrangular form. The lobes of the 

 parapodia are widely separated and fringed 



Nereis limbata. Male, anterioi 

 part of body, head and extended 

 proboscis. 



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