Ii2 The Irish Naturalist. October 



IRISH ENCHYTRAEIDS IN THE FAROES. 



Light on the Question of Distribution. 



by rev. hilderic friend. 



In x\ugust I received from the Faroe Islands a small sample 

 of the peaty soil taken from the side of a stream about 

 two miles inland from Thorshaven. To the naked eye it 

 appeared to be entirely wanting in living organisms, but 

 by careful and patient examination with a pocket lens I 

 was able eventually to discover about a dozen specimens 

 of microscopic enchytraeids, belonging to four different 

 species and genera, as w^ell as a beautiful little nematode. 



Three of the worms are already known to occur in 

 Ireland, while one of them has, up till the present time, 

 been recorded from no other habitat, and is therefore of 

 peculiar interest to the student of the Irish fauna and the 

 distribution of its members. 



The Enchytraeids are frequently spoken of as white- 

 worms because of their colourless blood, but tw^o genera at 

 least possess blood which is coloured. These red forms 

 are conveniently known as Pachydrilids, the others as pot- 

 worms — the English translation of the scientific name — or 

 white worms. The facts here recorded may be compared 

 with what is known of the distribution of other Irish Annelids 

 or Oligochaets, such as Lumhricus papillosus Friend, or 

 Eisenia veneta Rosa, with its interesting varieties hihernica 

 Friend, and zebra Michaelsen. 



I. Lumhricillus lineatus (O. F. and C). This is not 

 recorded by Southern as Irish under this name, but W. 

 Thompson^ gives Lumhricus lineatus Muller for the coast of 

 Down. Prof. Carpenter informs me that the specimens 

 were named by Dr. George Johnston, author of " A 

 Catalogue of British Worms in the British Museum," 1865. 

 The localities noted were attached to the specimens. I 

 have already pointed out in this Journal (2) that every 

 intermediate stage between L. verrucosus and L. lineatus 



^ " Natural History of Ireland," vol. iv, p. 428. 



