Australian Botifcra. By James Murray. 17:> 



exist (the Antarctic) showed this impression to be erroneous. After 

 all it is found chiefly in the mountain ranges — Himalaya, Austra- 

 lian Alps, Blue Mountains — and elevated plateaus — Transvaal, 

 Uganda. Egg elliptical, smooth, not knobbed. 



Adineta barbata Janson. 



The Australian form has the spurs somewhat longer and more 

 gradually tapering than in the type. The egg is typical. 

 Habitat. — Katoomba and Australian Alps. 



Summary. 



Bdelloids. — "We recognized 46 species, besides some half-dozen 

 others previously known to other naturalists, but not described, or 

 still insufficiently studied. Forty-five are new to the Australian 

 fauna, as we only found B. vulgaris which had been previously noted. 



The four districts visited gave the following numbers : Sydney 

 10 species, Katoomba 35, Alps 22, Queensland 17. 



Compared with the rest of the world the Australian Bdelloids 

 show a good deal of peculiarity. There are 7 new species described, 

 six confined to Australia (one afterwards found in Canada), and 

 eight others occur as more or less distinct varieties. Two species, 

 C. microcornis and B. montanus, are only known in New Zealand 

 and Australia. 0. punctata, M. scabrosa, H. caudata, and If. auri- 

 culata are in Australia and Africa (M. scabrosa in New Zealand also). 



Of the 22 species from the Australian Alps, 20 are known in 

 Europe and nearly all are common British species. Only 4 species 

 occurred in all four districts in Australia, 3 in three districts, 15 

 in two districts (7 in mountain districts only), 21 in one district 

 only. 



It is evident how much more productive the mountainous dis- 

 tricts are. So far as our work goes it indicates that the arid low- 

 lying districts are poor in Bdelloids — the highest Alpine district 

 has a temperate fauna quite like that of Europe — the intermediate 

 elevation, just high enough to temper the heat somewhat, is much 

 the most productive, and yields most of what is peculiar in Austra- 

 lian Bdelloids. 



With the 8 species noted in the introductory paragraph, which 

 did not occur in our collections, there are 54 Bdelloids recorded 

 for Australia. 



Considering the facility with which new species and peculiar 

 varieties were obtained during an all too hurried journey over a 

 limited area, it is permissible to suggest that the Australian Bdel- 

 loid fauna is far from being thoroughly known, and that any 



April 19th, 1911 x 



