OBSERVATIONS ON LIVING SOLENOMYA. 263 



from this figure that Carpenter, Cooke and others have derived 

 the long tail or tentacle mentioned by them. The excessive 

 length of the two tentacles figured by Deshayes suggests the 

 curious retractile tentacle in Yoldia limatula as described by 

 Brooks. 1 A careful examination of S. velum however showed 

 no trace of such a sense organ. Stempell, 11 who studied this 

 species at Dohrn's laboratory and published an account in 1899, 

 figures two siphonal tentacles 3 mm. in length. Are these 

 differences the result of variation? Is there more than one 

 species of Solenomya in the Mediterranean? Have the drawings 

 been made from alcoholic specimens? The mystery can only be 

 cleared up by a study of the living creature. 



In the following observations of Solenomya velum I have been 

 greatly indebted to Mr. William F. Clapp, of Cambridge, and 

 Miss Marjorie Newell, of Gloucester, for the material herein 

 described. Mr. Clapp brought me thirty-nine living specimens 

 of S. velum, young and nearly full grown. These were collected 

 April 27, on Round Flat, a sandy mud area in Duxbury Bay. 

 They were all buried from six to nine inches below the surface. 

 Mr. Clapp believed they were simply inhabiting abandoned 

 worm holes. Although powerful diggers he thinks they ordinarily 

 dig but an inch or two deep. If they do dig to the depth he 

 found them he believes they must occupy the same burrow for a 

 considerable length of time, for in every case he observed the 

 sides of the hole were discolored, closely resembling worm holes. 

 I placed three specimens in a jar of sandy mud and they soon 

 burrowed to the bottom of the vessel, leaving three sharply 

 defined round holes on the surface of the mud. Drew says: 

 "Solenomya lives in rather hard mud, frequently very sandy 

 mud, and, I think, keeps its burrow more or less open." The 

 holes which Mr. Clapp observed and which he cautiously sug- 

 gested might be abandoned worm holes were undoubtedly holes 

 made by Solenomya. Verrill says in regard to S. velum that it is 

 "occasionally found burrowing in the pure fine silicious sand near 

 low-water mark, about two inches below the surface, but its 

 proper home is in shallow w r ater beyond low-water mark, and it 

 is perhaps most abundant when there is mud mixed with sand 

 and it also lives in soft mud.' 



