146 ZOOLOGY 



characteristic ; and the four eyes on top of the head, com- 

 bined with two antennae and two palps, serve to determine 

 its family with precision. The parapodia have a dorsal and 

 a ventral cirrus. The commonest species on the coast of 

 New England and in Long Island Sound is Nereis virens, 1 

 which grows to a length of thirty centimetres. Its color is 

 dull green to bluish green, and iridescent. The gills on the 

 parapodia are green at the head end, but farther back they 

 become bright red, owing to the blood which flows through 

 them. This species lives in northern seas, and is found on 

 the coasts of Great Britain, Norway, Labrador, and south 



FIG. 132. Euglycera. One-half natural size. Photo, by W. H. C. P. 



to Long Island Sound. South of Long Island Sound the 

 commonest species is Nereis limbata? which grows to a 

 length of, at most, only fifteen centimetres, and is of a dull 

 brown or bronze color. This species is found as far south 

 as South Carolina. 



Often associated with Nereis in sandy beaches is a large, 

 strong, flesh-colored worm, pointed at both ends, so that the 

 head is not nearly as evident as in Nereis, and having small 

 appendages, so that it looks smooth like an earthworm. This 



1 Green. 2 Bordered or edged. 



