LEODICID^E OF THE WEST INDIAN REGION. 17 



branches, meeting from opposite sides in the mid-dorsal line (text-figure 14). Behind 

 the twentieth pair a good many somites have 8 branched gills, the number decreasing 

 to 1 or 2 near the pygidium, and the last 4 somites are without gills. It seems probable 

 that the number of branches increases with the age of the animal, since very small indi- 

 viduals may have as few as 3 in the middle of the body. In life the gills are bright red 

 because of the contained blood, but this is lost in the preservation. 



The setae are of three kinds, uniform throughout the body. The simple setae (text- 

 figure 16) have their sides nearly parallel except at the end, where they abruptly converge 

 to an acute point. Along either side are numerous striations. The compound setse 

 (text-figure 17) have shafts of varying lengths, some reaching as far as the middle of 

 the dorsal cirrus. The end of the shaft is enlarged and marked by numerous denticula- 

 tions along one edge; the terminal joint is relatively small, with a sharp apical and sub- 

 apical tooth covered by a hood. The pectinate setse (text-figure 18) are small, with 

 about 12 teeth, the terminal ones being longer than the others. 



The maxilla is brown, the color being much denser along the margins of all plates 

 and along the tips of the forceps (text-figure 19). The carrier is short, its wings being 

 relatively rather large. The forceps have the usual form, their basal portions light 

 brown in color, the distal two-thirds being a very dark brown. The proximal plates 

 have 5 teeth on the right and 4 on the left; the distal paired have 8 on the right and 5 

 on the left; the unpaired has 6. A narrow, dark, crescentic pigment patch lies distal 

 to the distal paired plate on either side and is continued into a conical expansion of a 

 much lighter color. The mandible (text-figure 20) has heavy brown shafts marked 

 with concentric lines, while the beveled surfaces are covered with a heavy white deposit, 

 in which are a few dark lines. 



Apparently in the region of the Dry Tortugas the species becomes sexually mature 

 about the middle of June. 



Grube's original description was of a specimen from St. Thomas, noted as collected 

 under Floridese, but no figures were published. Ehlers later redescribed and figured 

 the species. The most important differences between his description and the specimens 

 I have seen relate to the form of the setse and the jaw. According to his figures the 

 simple setse are more lanceolate than I have described them, and the pectinate setae do 

 not show longer terminal teeth. The number of teeth in the maxillary plates are also 

 not the same in the two cases. These differences seem not more than individual varia- 

 tions or, in the case of the pectinate setse, the personal equation of the artist. I have 

 examined Andrews's type of Leodice (Eunice) ornata in the U. S. National Museum and 

 find it the same as rubra. 



Leodice rubra seems to be common throughout the West Indian region, for I have 

 collected it in the Dry Tortugas, in Porto Rico, in Tobago, and in Bermuda. It has not 

 been described before from the latter locality, and I found only one specimen, in Tuck- 

 erstown Bay, in 1916. The U. S. National Museum has specimens from Beaufort and 

 Fort Macon, North Carolina; from Cuba, St. Thomas, Key West, and a large number 

 of stations of the Albatross expeditions in this region, also one specimen from Per- 

 nambuco, Brazil. 



Leodice unifrons Verrill. 

 (Plate 1, figures 5 to 9; text-figures 21 to 30.) 

 Leodice unifrons Verrill, 1900, p. 644. 



A small species resembling in general appearance a small L. stigmalura but usually 

 more slender. It was described by Verrill from a single incomplete specimen collected 

 at Flatts Inlet, Bermuda. An individual of 102 somites was approximately 50 mm. long. 

 Verrill described the color as "pale brown with a median dorsal row of white spots one 



