Hamilton. — Occurrence of Paludicella in N.Z. 263 



been noticed by me in the waters drawn from the Eoss Creek 

 Keservoir, which supplies the greater number of the houses 

 at the north end of Dunedin. On examination the Polyzoon 

 proves to be Paludicella ehrenbergi, Van Beneden, a species 

 beautifully figured and well described in Allman's "Mono- 

 graph on the Fresh- water Polyzoa."* I now desire by this 

 note to add the genus and species to the fauna of New 

 Zealand. It is one of those widely distributed genera which 

 seem to be found wherever the conditions are favourable, 

 irrespective of geographical locality, and I have no doubt that 

 it will hereafter be found in many parts of the colony when 

 the fauna of our lakes and rivers is better known. 



The English species is sometimes found in favourable 

 situations with branches 2 in. long, partly free and partly 

 adherent to stones or stems of aquatic plants. It was 

 originally figured by Van Benedenf and afterwards by other 

 observers, but by far the most beautiful figure is that in the 

 Ray Society's monograph. 



Generic description : Paludicella is one of the best marked 

 of all the genera of fresh- water Polyzoa. 



The zooecia are club-shaped, each of which gives rise to 

 two zooecia near their upper end, sharply separated from each 

 other by complete septa. 



Lophophores perfectly orbicular. These, together with 

 its internal anatomical details, remove it by a well-marked 

 interval from the other genera. 



The present locality — Ross Creek Reservoir—is the most 

 southerly of any of those hitherto recorded in the Old or 

 the New World. On the first occasion on which I noticed 

 specimens they had come through the ordinary town water- 

 supply tap, about a mile and a half from the reservoir, 

 and were floating in a white earthenware basin. They 

 at once attracted attention in consequence of their very 

 black colour. This appears to be the normal winter con- 

 dition, and the black membrane is said to act as a covering 

 for the undeveloped buds, ready to be put forth when warmer 

 weather comes round. This has been worked out in the 

 elaborate monograph by MM. Dumortier and Van Beneden, 

 " On the Natural History of the Fresh-water Polyzoa. "J 



Allman says, with regard to this condition, "These hy- 

 bernaculae are gemmae which under the influence of a favour- 

 able temperature would have grown into the ordinary lateral 

 branches of the Polyzoon, but which towards winter acquire a 



* G. J. Allrnan, Monog. Fresh-water Polyzoa. London, 1856. Bay 

 Soc. 



f Bull. Acad. Brux., torn, vi., 2nd part, p. 278, fig. 1. See also the 

 woodcut in the Cambridge Nat. Hist., p. 502, fig. 250. 



I Mem. de l'Acad. Boy. des Sciences et Belles Lettres de Brux., 1848. 



