[ 39 ] 

 A NEW IRISH EARTHWORM. 



BY REV. HILDFRIC FRIEND, F F-S 



I had almost come to the conclusion that the list of British 

 terrestrial Annelids must be closed. For years past I have ex- 

 amined specimens by the thousand from every part of the 

 country, and it is now many months since I have seen any- 

 thing new. I had tried in vain to secure collections from the 

 Highlands of Scotland and the western coast of Ireland, where 

 new material was most likely to be found. At last, however, 

 a well-tried collector and devoted naturalist, Dr. Trumbull, to 

 whom we already owe one or two similar discoveries, has 

 visited the west of Ireland and entered upon a successful 

 campaign. His first consignment of specimens, which reached 

 me about the middle of November, contained, in addition to 

 eight representative species, one which is new to Britain, 

 and has hitherto been recorded for only one other locality. 

 Three years ago Prof. Michaelsen published in one of the 

 Hamburg journals an account of a new species of earthworm 

 found at Valencia in Spain. I believe it has not been heard of 

 since, till unearthed at Clonmore, Co. Clare, Ireland. It seems 

 desirable, therefore, that I should give a diagnosis of the worm, 

 especially as I am able to enlarge, as well as endorse, the 

 account already supplied. 



L,et us therefore take Prof. Michaelsen's account of the worm 

 from Valencia (Allolobophora Georgii), and compare our Irish 

 specimens therewith. I give a popular translation of the 

 scientific diagnosis, that those who are not experts may be 

 able to follow the account. My translation is based on the 

 description of the species supplied by Dr. Rosa in his recent 

 and invaluable revision of the Earthworms. 1 The original 

 memoir of Michaelsen is not at present in my possession. 



" The worm is 24 to 29 millimetres in length and i\ in diameter. It 

 contains from 105 to no segments, and the form is somewhat trapezoid. 

 The colour of the living animal has not been recorded, but the bristles 

 are in pairs, of which the individuals are close together. The lip, which 

 is small, has a large backward process or tenon, which cuts about a third 

 of the first segment or peristomium. The girdle covers seven, some- 

 times eight, segments, extending from the 28th or 29th to the 35th. 

 The tubercles on the girdle occupy segments 31 and 33, and are much 

 enlarged transversely. The male aperture on the 15th segment is on a 

 swelling, and the first dorsal pore is between segments four and five. 



1 " Revisione dei Lumbricidi," Torino, 1893. 



