Benham. — 'Notes on New Zealand Polychaeta. 387 



It seems to be mere guesswork to go further than to acknowledge that 

 Quatrefages probably had before him our two common species ; but to 

 decide which of his two names apply to our two species, without a re- 

 examination of the types, seems impossible. For instance, in E. pycno- 

 branchiata the gills extend practically throughout the length of the body, 

 while in the other species, which Elders identifies as E. australis, they are 

 limited to some 20 to 30 segments. But Quatrefages says nothing as to 

 the extent of the gilled region ; he merely states that the gill commences 

 on the 6th segment in the one and on the 7th in the other. 



I fail to xinderstand how Ehlers has managed to sift the two species 

 from the brief diagnoses given. I am not aware whether any zoologist 

 has re-examined Quatrefages' species in the Paris Museum, or whether 

 Ehlers himself has had access to them. But, so far as the records go, it 

 seems to me that in the meantime it would be better to adopt Mcintosh's 

 specific name for this species, as he gave a good account of it, accompanied 

 by figures. 



As to the worm called by Ehlers E. australis, I must defer any remarks 

 to some future article. 



Localities.- — -Foveaux Strait, 17 fathoms, on the oyster-bed ; Tasman 

 Bay ; Pegasus Bay ; Timaru, 10-20 fathoms ; Massacre Bay. 



Distribution. — Bass Strait ; Tasmanian waters ; South Australia ; New 

 South Wales; in addition to New Zealand. 



Fam. Aphroditidae. 

 Physalidonotus thomsoni sp. nov. Figs. 1-5. 



The genus was founded by Ehlers in 1904* for a large Polynoid which 

 is fairly common on our shores, and described many years ago imder the 

 name of Aphrodita squamosa by Quaterfages, and later by T. W. Kirk as 

 Leyidonotus giganteus.'f Till recently the genus was represented only by 

 this species, but Moore had described two worms under the generic name 

 Lepidonotus from the coast of Japan which undoubtedly belong to Ehlers' 

 genus ; and the " Endeavour " collection contained four new species. 

 The present species I name after Mr. George M. Thomson, who has done 

 so much good work in natural history and for zoology in New Zealand, 

 especially by the establishment of the Portobello Fish-hatchery. It serves 

 also to recall the fact that his son Malcolm worked out the anatomy of 

 P. squaniosus.X 



The new species was found some years ago by the late Mr. A. Hamilton 

 in Dunedin Harbour, though under what circumstances — whether on shore 

 or in a dredge — I do not know. For a long time I regarded it as the 

 young of the common species, than which it is much smaller ; but closer 

 examination recently shows that it is quite distinct from it. 



P. thomsoni is short and relatively broad, measuring 18 mm. in length 

 by 10 mm. over the elytra and 12 mm. over the ventral chaetae. These 

 are of the usual rich golden-brown colour. 



The elytra are nearly white, with pale-brown star-like tubercles with 

 8-10 rays. The tops are flat or feebly convex. These tubercles are 

 sparsely scattered over the exposed surface, more numerous and rather 



* Ehlers, Neuseeland. Annelid., p. 9. 



t For a fuller history see my report in " Endeavour "^Polychaeta, p. 185. 



% Proc. Zool. Soc, 1900, p. 974. 



13* 



