[CEYLON PEARL OYSTER FISHERIES 1904 SUPPLEMENTARY REPORTS, No. IX.] 



REPO R T 



ON THK 



POLYCLAD TURBELLARIA 



COLLECTED BY 



Professor HERDMAN, at CEYLON, in 1902. 



BY 



FRANK FORTESCUE LAIDLAW, B.A. Cantab. 



[With ONE PLATE.] 



The seas lying about the island of Ceylon appear to support a particularly rich 

 Planarian fauna. Although a greater number of species have already been described 

 from these waters than from any other part of the world, the Mediterranean Sea alone 

 excepted, I have not been able to identify any of the species mentioned below with 

 any already described from them. 



A large collection was made by Schmarda,* who describes no fewer than twenty- 

 nine species from the Ceylon seas, whilst nineteen others are recorded by 

 Dr. Collingwood. t Coloured figures carefully executed are available for all these 

 species, so that I believe I have not overlooked any identities. Unfortunately 

 neither of these writers was able to give sufficient account of the internal anatomy of 

 the species they described, consequently the generic determination of their species is 

 often a matter of uncertainty, and hence it is not possible at present to compare the 

 general characters of this fauna with that of other parts of the world. 



Lang} apparently makes no additions to the list ; and since the publication of 



* 'Neue wirbellose Thiere, beobachtet und gesamnielt auf einer Reise um die Erde 1853 bis 1857,' 

 I. Band, " Turbellarien, Rotatorien und Anneliden," I. Hiilfte, Leipzig, 1859. 



t ' Trans. Linnean Society,' 2nd Series, Zoology, vol. I., p. 83, Plates XVII.-XIX. Three species, 

 Planaria awrea, Penula fulva and Penukt alba, are omitted by Dr. Collingwood from his account of 

 Kelaart'.s species. See Kelaart, ' Journ. Ceylon Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc.,' 1856-1858, pp. 134-139. 



; Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel,' XL, Polycladen, 188L 



