AMPELISCA GAIMARDII. 133 



The skin, as examined beneath 

 the microscope, is very transparent; 

 it is free from any trace of its cell- 

 origin ; it is moreover perforated by 

 pores of different sizes, which ap- 

 pear to pass in a waving line directly 

 through the tissue. 



The colour of the animal is hyaline white, having a 

 blush of rose-colour on many parts of the body, par- 

 ticularly the extremities, and the posterior segments of 

 the body; the extremities of some of the joints of the 

 peduncles of both pairs of antennae are distinguishable 

 by a distinct spot of red. We have kept several of this 

 species in tanks, but they seldom live long, and imme- 

 diately that they are placed in the vessel, dart to the 

 bottom and hide themselves from view, (a peculiarity 

 probably dependent on the structure of the eyes,) so 

 that we have not been enabled to obtain any knowledge 

 of their peculiar habits. 



The species was first named by Kroyer from an Arctic 

 specimen ; but it is very common all round our coast, 

 in some few fathoms of water, and, we believe, generally 

 in muddy ground. Its long proboscidiform head appears 

 to be peculiarly adapted for burrowing beneath the softer 

 bottoms of the sea, and the character of its eyes also 

 indicates a habitat where organs of vision are but little 

 required. The mandibles, with their tearing processes, 

 (unlike the smooth incisive margins in Lysianassa,) sug- 

 gest a carnivorous rather than a vegetable-feeding habit, 

 decaying animal matter and small creatures found in the 

 mud being probably its food. 



We have received specimens from the Rev. Geo. Gor- 

 don, taken in the Moray Frith ; off the Island of Skye, 

 dredged by Mr. Barlee ; Rishbank, Dublin Bay, from 



