ii] MODE OF LIFE 51 



described from so many and such diverse parts of the 

 world as the following. The West Indies (Bermudas, 

 Jamaica etc.), the coasts of South America, of both 

 West and Eastern Africa, the Red Sea, Christmas 

 Island near Java, Sharks Bay in West Australia, the 

 Hawai Archipelago, Celebes, South West Australia 

 etc. In fact there is no great tract of the ocean 

 excepting the antarctic region where this genus is 

 not to be found. It is possible however that this 

 latter statement is not correct and that New Zealand 

 ought to be added. But the species described from 

 those islands, viz. Pontodrilus lacustris, is not a marine 

 form at all as its specific name denotes; nor is it 

 quite certainly to be included in the genus. On the 

 other hand a form from the Chatham Islands in the 

 same quarter of the globe, described originally as 

 Pontodrilus chathamensis, is to be referred to the 

 antarctic region. Altogether some dozen species of 

 Pontodrilus have been described by different natural- 

 ists; but quite recently Dr Michaelsen has reduced 

 these to three only, which are P. bermudensis (F. E. B.), 

 P. litoralis (Grube) and P. matsushimensis (Izuka), 

 with the doubtful addition of P. lacustris already 

 referred to. Whatever may be the ultimate verdict 

 upon this question of species it is clear that the genus 

 is widely spread upon the sea shores of the world 

 and that forms from different regions show some 

 fixed variations, which others may eventually agree 



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