136 The Irish Naturalist. August, 



A NOTE ON PECTINARIA KORENI FROM DUBLIN 



BAY. 



BY NATHANIEL COLGAN, M.R.I. A. 



All of the species of Pectinaria, using that generic name 

 in its wide sense, appear to be quite rare in East Ireland. 

 In his " Marine Worms (AnneHda) of DubHn Bay and 

 the adjoining District '' ^ Mr. Southern gives but two 

 records for P. auricoma and one for P. helgica, all three 

 records referring to specimens dredged in from 5 to 26 

 fathoms. While shore-collecting on Dubhn Bay between 

 Merrion and Booterstown in April last I found two specimens 

 of a third species, P. Koreni (Malmgren), one on the 21st, 

 the other on the 28th of the month, both embedded in the 

 sand near low water mark. So far as I can discover, this 

 species has not been previously recorded for East Ireland. 

 In one specimen the tube, so admirable as a sample of 

 Annelid vvorkmanship, was quite buried in the sand ; the 

 other tube, of more slender and tapering form, had its 

 lower or tail end projected fully an inch from the surface 

 at the edge of a shallow tidal channel. The tubes, one 

 65 mm. long tapering from 10.5 mm. to 6.5 mm., the other 

 60 mm. tapering from 8 mm. to 3 mm., were both quite 

 straight, and this feature, taken together with the characters 

 of the enclosed worms, led me to identify the species as 

 Pectinaria helgica. On mentioning the find to Mr. Southern 

 he suggested that the species on closer examination might 

 turn out to be Lagis Koreni of Malmgren (referred by later 

 authors to Pectinaria) as he was convinced that many 

 records for P. helgica should be transferred to the species 

 which Malmgren in 1865 had taken as the type of his new 

 genus Lagis. On re-examination of the Dublin specimens 

 I found that Mr. Southern's surmise was justified. They 

 agreed in all points with Malmgren 's description and 

 figures^ of Lagis Koreni save that the tubes, which he 



^ Proc. R.I. A., vol. xxviii., p. 215. 



2Nordiska Hafs-Annulater. Ofversigt af K. Vet. Akad. Fork. 1865, 

 and plate xiv. Ofversigt, 1867, 



