Benham. — Some New Zealand Polychaetes. 161 



Art. XX. — -Notes on some Neiv Zealand Polychaetes. 



By W. B. Benham, D.Sc, F.R.S. 



[Read before the Otago Institute, 1st December, 1914.] 



The identification and description of the marine Annelids from our shores 

 was undertaken by the veteran zoologist Dr. E. Ehlers,* of Gottingen 

 University, some years ago, and for that purpose I sent him representatives 

 of all the species that I had collected up to that date. To this list I added 

 a few more species as a result of the study of material obtained during the 

 trawling expedition of the s.s. " Nora Niven "f and during the expedition 

 to the subantarctic islands. J I hope to add to our knowledge of the group 

 from time to time as I work out the large amount of material which I have 

 accumulated in recent years. 



On the present occasion I wish to make some remarks on three of the 

 species described by Ehlers, for, as a result of an examination of more 

 abundant material than was available to him, I have come to a somewhat 

 different conclusion on certain points which affect the nomenclature. 



After having found that I was unable to agree with Dr. Ehlers in regard 

 to these points I wrote to him on the subject ; and he was good enough to 

 reply to me to the effect that, as I had at my disposal a more extensive 

 series of specimens than he had, he was prepared to accept most of my 

 conclusions. 



Fam. Syllidae. 

 Odontosyllis suteri sp. nov. 



Eurymedusa picta Ehlers partim (Neuseeland. Anneliden, 1904, p. 21); 

 nee Eurymedusa picta Kinberg, 1865. 



I have examined specimens of a worm which agrees closely with the 

 account given by Ehlers of Eurymedusa picta of Kinberg. § The present 

 specimens were collected by me at Portobello, in the Otago Harbour, and 

 at Port Pegasus, in Stewart Island, and they are similar to that I sent 

 to Ehlers from Tasman Bay. These agree precisely in their external features 

 with Ehlers' description and figures, so that it came as a surprise to me 

 to find that the pharynx is armed with a row of teeth which is characteristic 

 of the genus Odontosyllis. 



The long gizzard which extends from the 10th to 25th segment is pre- 

 ceded by a thick-walled pharyngeal tube (reddish in specimens preserved 

 in formalin), the entrance to which is provided with a thick band of chitin 

 stretching across the ventral margin, which bears 6 backwardly directed 

 teeth. This band is rounded on its free surface, and on each side, beyond 

 the row of teeth, is bent abruptly on itself, forming a rounded knob, from 

 which there projects into the cavity a process which I at first took for a 

 tooth in accordance with Ehlers' account, but further examination showed 

 that it is merely the free end of the elastic band. Of the six teeth, the 



* Ehlers. NeuseelancUsche Anneliden in Abhndl. Kgl. Gesell. Wiss. Gottingen, 

 1904, and pt. ii, 1907. 



f Benham. Annelida, Sci. Results N.Z. Govt. Trawling Exped., 1907, in the 

 "Records Canterbury Museum," vol. 1, 1909, p. 71. 



J Benham. " Report on the Polychaeta, Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand," 

 1909, p. 236. 



§ Kinberg. Annulata nova in Ofversigt af k. Vet. Akad. Forhandl., 1865, p. 249. 



6— Trans. 



