•396 AUSTRALIAN FREE-LIVING MARINE NEMATODES, 



nor do any hairs grow on its surface, if we except those on the 

 head. The neck is conoid to the truncate head, which bears 

 opposite the base of the oesophagus a circlet of six short netse. 

 Some distance behind the cephalic seta3, namely, at one-third the 

 distance from the anterior extremity to the lateral organs, occurs 

 another row of four similar setse, all submedian. N' either lips nor 

 papillte are to be seen round the mouth The lateral organs, 

 which are one- third as wide as the part of the neck on which 

 they occur, are oval in shape, their longer axis being placed parallel to 

 the axis of the body; the distance from the anterior border of the 

 head to these organs is one-fifth as great as from the head to the 

 oblique nerve-ring. From the lateral organs a structure is plainly 

 seen to pass inward and backward. The worm is ej-eless. 

 Through the simple cup-shaped pharynx the food passes into an 

 oesophagus which at first is only one-half as wide as the corres- 

 ponding part of the neck, but which gradually expands until in 

 the posterior part it is three-fourths as wide as the base of the 

 neck. The lining of the oesophagus is apparently much corrugated. 

 Notwithstanding the fact that the cardiac constriction is very 

 shallow and inconspicuous, the beginning of the intestine is plainly 

 to be seen because of its marked diiference of colour. The cardia is 

 shallow. The thickness of the cells of which the intestine is 

 composed is one-fourth as great as the diameter of the intestine, 

 and the cells are of such a size and shape that twelve of them 

 placed side by side build up a circumference. The granules to be 

 found in the intestinal cells are not so arranged as to cause a 

 tessellated appearance. The rectum is twice as long as the 

 anal body-diameter. The ventral gland, situated just in front 

 of the vulva, empties by means of a narrow duct and a 

 much elongated and narrow ampulla, through a ^■entral pore 

 situated a short distance in front of tlie nerve-ring. In 

 the anterior two-thirds of its length the tail is conoid ; 

 thence to the naked, slightly expanded terminus it is cylindroid 

 and one-fourth as wide as at the anus. The anus is inconspicuous; 

 caudal glands are present. The inconspicuous vulva leads 

 through a vagina one-third as long as the body is wide. 



