COE : NEMERTEANS OF WEST AND NORTHWEST COASTS. 207 



41. Emplectonema gracile (Johnston) Verrill. 



Nemertes graciUs Jolinston, Mag. Zool. and Bot. 1, p. 534, PI. 17, 



Fig. 1, 1837. 

 Emplectonema viride Stimpson, Proc. Phil. Acad., p. 163, 1857 ; 



Griffin, Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 11, p. 207, 1898. 

 Eunem,ertes gracilis Vaillant, Hist. Nat. des Anneles, 3, Paris, 1890. 

 Eunem,ertes gracilis Burger, Fauna u. Flora des Golfes von Neapel, 



Monogr. 22, Nemertinen, p. 543, 1895. 

 Emplectonema gracilis Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., 8. p. 413, 1892. 

 Emplectonema gracile Coe, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., 3, p. 23, 1901 ; 



Harriman Alaska Expedition, 11, p. 23, 1904. 



■ PI. 1, figs. 14, 14rt, 15, 15a ; Text-fig. 32. 



This species may be easily recognized by the following char- 

 acters : ^ — Body long and slender, somewhat flattened below, 

 irregular and ungraceful in form ; head slightly broader than rest 

 of body. Length 20 to 50 cm. or even more ; width about 2 mm. 

 Color uniform, dark green or yellowish green above, and pale yel- 

 lowish green or nearly white beneath (PI. 1, figs. 14, 15) ; ocelli in 

 two groups on each side of head, consisting of a marginal row of 

 8-10 ocelli on each antero-lateral border of head, and a pair of 

 more posterior, cerebral clusters with 10-20 ocelli each; basis of 

 central stylet of proboscis long and slender, two to three times as 

 long as the stylet itself, which is very slender, acutely pointed and 

 gracefully curved like a sabre or scythe ; each of the two accessory 

 pouches contains 5-7 slender, curved stylets exactly similar to the 

 central stylet in shape and size (Text-fig. 32). 



Habitat. — These worms were found in the greatest abundance on 

 the Harriman Expedition at nearly all the collecting stations between 

 Victoria, B. C, and Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island. They occurred 

 everywhere along the shore and were most plentiful near high-water 

 mark, crawling over the thick growth of mussels and seaweeds. 

 Often a number of individuals were found coiled together in a 

 single slimy mass, and on being disturbed would crawl apart and 



1 For descriptions and figures of anatomical peculiarities, see Biirger ("95, 

 p. 543). 



