lyfi 7 he Irish Naturalist. August, 



In 14 fathoms to the east of Church IshiiKl one specimen of 

 Kolis tricolor was dredged, and in 10 fathoms to the southward 

 of the island an example of the rare Sea Anemone, Halcampa 

 chrysanthclhim, a diminutive, free, pink ball about 4 inch in 

 diameter, evolving at intervals into a C3'linder about one inch 

 long. But the most interesting fruit of this 14- fathom scrape 

 was a small Galathea or Squat Lobster, 16 mm. long, bearing 

 on its carapace a globular protuberance which proved to be 

 the home of a parasitic isopod. A large famih^ party was laid 

 bare when the protuberance was opened. First came the 

 conspicuous but amorphous and unloveh' female, 4J mm. 

 long by 3 mm. wide ; then the neat and regularly formed male 

 only i^ mm. hy \ mm., completely sat upon by his better half, 

 who carried him hidden away under her tail processes ; and, 

 finalh', just visible to the naked e3'e, a " long family " of about 

 200 S3'm metrically formed 3'oungsters snugly packed within 

 the ovigerous pouch of the mother. Some of the offspring 

 were lost in the course of a lengthy inquisition into their pecu- 

 liar family arrangements, but I was able 10 count 150 of them, 

 and have little doubt that the whole number reached 200. 



A careful examination of male and female, and comparison 

 with the plates and description of G. O. Sars, satisfied me that 

 the parasite was Pleurocrypta microbranchiata of that author, 

 a species which so far does not appear to have been observed 

 in Irish waters. The male agreed perfectl}- with Sars's figure 

 of the male of that species, the female agreed ver}^ closelj^ 

 with the figure of the female and differed from the figures of 

 the females of all the other species of the genus given b}^ 

 Sars. 



In both sexes of the Skerries parasite the ej'es were quite 

 apparent, and in both were oblong and obliquely placed with 

 resrard to the axial line of the animal. But the inclination 

 was dissimilar in the two sexes. While it was forward in the 

 female it was backward in the male, that is to say, the line of 

 inclination in the female was such that, if produced, it would 

 meet the axis in advance of the head, whereas in the male, if 

 produced, it would meet the axis behind the head. Whether 

 this character be constant, and whether, if so, it be of specific 

 or generic value are points worthy of further inquiry. 



^ Crustacea of Norway, vol. ii., p. 208, pi. 87. 



